NFL Postseason: Superbowl

It's coming down to the moment we have all been waiting for, the NFL Superbowl.  The match up between the Ravens and the 49ers could be titled as "The Most Relevant Competition" for the beginning of this millennium.  Let's take a glance at the stats for each team.

Defense

49ers - The best run defense in the NFL, lead by Sopoaga, the Hammer Smith Brothers, and the Line backer QB killer Willis in the second row pose a tough small yardage gain for the Ravens.  I honestly don't believe that the Ravens will attempt many running plays, as they are not going to see a whole lot of positive gains through that method.

The second and third tier defense played by the 49ers is the achilles heel for the team, which is where Flacco will have to exploit, if he intends to make large gains in yardage.  The ten to fifteen yard gains is where I see him going the most, with short post passing his most used play during the game.  The disadvantage for this offense for the Ravens will come down to the play of the left guard position, as Aldon and Brian Smith work that side to gain access to the QB.  Once access is granted, the flood gates of pain will force Flacco to shift his passing to the right side and middle areas of the field, limiting his attack plan, and opening up the possibilities for interception.

Ravens - The defense of the Ravens closely matches the 49ers for the run game, led by Ray Lewis in the line backer position, cutting short long run gains down to 5-7 yards a play.  The problem that the Ravens will have to deal with is the multi-prong attack formation that the 49ers use with Gore and James rotating the RB position, each with a unique ability to puncture the front line of the Ravens.

The second and third tier of defense for the Ravens poses a problem for the 49ers, as the Ravens will undoubtedly go with a zone defense, due to the competencies of the 49ers wide outs posing a short and long yardage ability.

This game will be won by the offense, but the victory will be defined by the defense of both teams. 

Offense

49ers - The 49ers offense consists of a "hit you everywhere" type of play.  Leading the wide outs is Moss, who has the most experience with Superbowl appearances, as well as the mentor ability and influence on Crabtree.  If the 49ers are to beat the Ravens through shear brute force offensive play, it will take a sidelines to sidelines methodology with equal amount of ground and pound from the RB's couples with short yardage to Crabtree, and Long yardage from Moss.

Ravens - Good luck

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Concussive Diagnosis of Players in Contact sports

Its a matter of cause and effect.  If a defensive football player hits an offensive player so hard that the person blacks out, throws up, loses his balance, or any of the myriad symptoms of a concussion, then the offensive player MAY have a concussion.  I say MAY because I am not a doctor, and therefore can't make diagnosis of what is going on with the player.

In recent months, the importance of focusing on concussions, with spear focus on Football players, is a good thing, and it puts the right light on organizations protecting the players from successive blows to the head that MAY lead to further brain damage.

But what about Hockey, Rugby, Lacrosse, Soccer? Basketball?  There are times where each and every sport, minus maybe Bowling, which I am not really sure is a fully fledged sport, that contact is going to be made between players.  A spike in Volleyball has a leather bound ball flying through the air at 70 mph with the possibility of hitting an inanimate target human head.

Get Motivated!

The biggest point of this article stems from the study of Junior Seau's brain, which analysts have laid the blame of his suicide on repeated hits to the head.

The brain, or the study of it, called neurology is a science of unknown proportions.  This, in layman's terms means that the whole science is full of unknowns, making a diagnosis of suicide due to defensive lineman hits to the head, completely false.

Could repeated hits to the head have contributed?  Sure.  Could a bunch of other factors have contributed to the suicide, absolutely.  The only surefire way of finding out why a person takes their life into their own hands, is to ask that person, and unfortunately, and with all of today's technology, we still can't make the dead talk.

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