Super Bowl 2012: Why Ravens vs 49ers Is the NFL Equivalent of LSU-Alabama

This is the era of the flashy QB, which is why a rematch of the Ravens and 49ers could be like watching the NFL's version of LSU and Alabama. Two excellent defenses, with better than average running games, in a low scoring battle.

Joe Flacco and Alex Smith are certainly the least-heralded of the four signal-callers that remain eligible for football's biggest prize.

If you ranked them, most would order them this way:

Tom Brady

Eli Manning

Joe Flacco

Alex Smith

Yet, I believe, the bottom two will be the last two standing. What kind of reality show is this? It's one that hasn't changed all that much when it comes down to winning. Defense and running the football is still key in the postseason. 

Now I'm not so primitive in my thinking to suggest you only throw on 3rd and long situations, but a look at the recent history of Super Bowl winners suggests that defensive stops and some decent efficiency on the ground is still most important.

In the last 10 years, only one Super Bowl champion team didn't rank in the top 10 in rushing yards or points allowed. That team was the Indianapolis Colts in 2006. It's strange that as football fans, we find ourselves so taken by the high powered offenses, yet they win so rarely.

So, though fans may want to see two teams that throw the ball 50 times, history says it is far more likely, we'll see more balanced teams on offense and strong defensive squads at Lucas Oil Stadium in the Super Bowl. Enter the Niners and Ravens, as they are the only two teams alive that match that profile.

The Ravens and 49ers match-up does have the Brother vs Brother dynamic with Jim Harbaugh leading the Niners into battle against John Harbaugh's Ravens. That will carry some intrigue, much the way it did when the two teams met on Thanksgiving.

The Ravens-Niners game from Thanksgiving broke records, NFL.com reported this of the first matchup:

"The Thanksgiving night game between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens, in which John and Jim Harbaugh became the first brothers to face off as opposing NFL coaches, was the most-watched program in the eight-year history of NFL Network and the most-watched cable program ever on the holiday.

"The game was watched by an average of 10.7 million cable viewers (not including over-the-air stations in San Francisco and Baltimore), surpassing a 2009 game that drew 10.5 million viewers between the Dallas Cowboys and unbeaten New Orleans Saints."

A rematch should be compelling in hype, as two brothers have never opposed each other as head coaches in the Super Bowl, but, on the field, there figures to be little scoring.

I figure it will look a lot like the Crimson Tide and Tigers. The Thanksgiving game featured 57 rushes to only 47 passes and a final score of 16-6, in favor of the Ravens.

Get ready for the rematch because, like it or not, these two teams have the qualities that win championships.

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