The fact that the Ravens and the 49ers are coached by brothers makes Super Bowl XLVII interesting enough, but there are other similarities between the two teams that are almost just as interesting. For instance, according to Sports Illustrated's Don Banks, the game between the Ravens and Niners will only be the second time in the history of the Super Bowl that the two teams who lost their conference championships the year before will be playing for the Lombardi Trophy. The Ravens lost to the Patriots and the 49ers lost to the Giants for a chance to go to Super Bowl XLVI last season.
Super Bowl XLVII: Ties between Ravens and 49ers other than the Harbaugh brothers
Sports Illustrated’s Don Banks points out some interesting ties between the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers, who are set to meet in the Super Dome Feb. 3 for Super Bowl XLVII
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Then there's the fact that Ray Lewis' first sack of his 17-year, hall of fame career came against none other than Jim Harbaugh on Oct. 13, 1996 when the Ravens were playing the Colts. Lewis, whose last game will be Super Bowl XLVII as he has already declared his intent to retire, has a chance to have his last sack of the year be against a Jim Harbaugh coached team. The two were also teammates for the 1998 season. Coincidentally, the last time the 49ers beat the Ravens was in 1996; the Ravens have won the last three meetings.
The two teams also have perfect Super Bowl records. The Ravens are 1-0 in NFL Championship games, winning their only Lombardi Trophy in the 2000 season over the Giants. The Niners are 5-0 when it comes to playing in the Super Bowl and one more win would tie them with the Steelers for the most Super Bowl victories in the league. If the Ravens win, they'll be the 12th team in the league to have more than one Super Bowl win.
Finally we come to the coaches not named Harbaugh. Both 49ers offensive and defensive coordinators have their ties with the Ravens. First, offensive coordinator Greg Roman was the assistant offensive line coach for the Ravens in ‘06 and ‘07, and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio was a defensive assistant from ‘06 to ‘09.
Surely, if one was so inclined to dig deep into any Super Bowl matchup, little coincidences such as these would pop up all over, but the fact that the two teams are coached by brothers makes them all stand out a little more. In the end, both teams deserve to be where they are. They both beat good teams on the road in the conference championships and they both had successful seasons. When other teams around the league look for a blueprint on how to win deep in the postseason, they can look at the two teams fighting for the Lombardi Trophy this year.
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