# Super Bowl XLVII Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 3, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249 "2013-02-03T20:16:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 15
**Author:** ![Mince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@Mince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mince)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249/281 "2013-02-04T12:57:21Z")
[QUOTE=etv78] Didn’t the safety swing the betting? [/QUOTE] > [@wolfman](#): > > Pissed the fuck out of the squares players in my bar 😉 And made an equal number of squares players happy. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249/282 "2013-02-04T15:10:34Z")
> [@Mince](#): > > And made an equal number of squares players happy. 😉 It paid $440 to the wife of the couple we were watching it with. She was rooting for SF, and had stopped paying attention to her square notes, but when the safety happened it was, Hey Wait A Minute I Think I Won! Boy, did she stop rooting for SF. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249/283 "2013-02-04T15:20:02Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > Well, at least Harbaugh the Greater Douche didn’t win. Not like there is much to celebrate that Harbaugh the Lesser Douche did. He is one tough guy to like. Piss and moan about every thing from the officiating to the snack tray in the locker room. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249/284 "2013-02-04T15:41:34Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > The 49ers play calls on their final series were atrocious. This was my thought. With 2nd and goal and 2 minutes on the clock, why not run the ball at all? Why didn’t Colin scramble on the 2nd-down play? He wouldn’t have made it but it was better odds than the throw he made, and the clock would have run down some more (didn’t matter, but could have). You have a good running game (including a really fast QB) that has finally started moving the ball against a tired front line, refusing to use it with the game on the line and only needing 7 yards in 3 plays was pretty bad, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Jocko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncle_jocko/32/2932_2.png) [@Uncle\_Jocko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Jocko)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249/285 "2013-02-04T16:24:33Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > Funny how all you guys bitching for a PI on that 4th down play are ignoring the obvious pushoff that Crabtree was doing at the same time. Mutual constant contact is a no-call most of the time. I had no favorite in this game, but that was a good no-call. Alternative is to call offsetting penalities, which is actually a reward to the offense in this case. I think you can dismiss the no-call on 4th down, for several reasons. As you say, there was mutual contact; the ball was overthrown; and the refs tend to swallow their whistles instead of making a judgment call on 4th down that could swing the game. BUT … I thought the play on, was it 2nd or 3rd down, was a much clearer case of PI. The one where Kaep rolled out and threw to Crabtree coming back to the ball right near the pylon. Crabtree got hit early by the Ravens defender, well before the ball got there. That should have been called, in my opinion. Crabtree had a much better chance to catch that ball instead of the 4th down play, but the Ravens defender was climbing on his back at the time. > [@For You](#): > > The PI late in the 4th is almost nothing compared to the sodomy on the 2nd Half kick-off return (you know, that record breaking thing). If you watch as he brings the ball out, at the 25, two purple guys are humping a red guy to the runner’s left. This cuddly stuff continues for 15 yards as he drags the two downfield. None of the zebras noticed it, so I guess they must be allowing gay sex on the field. That holding was blatantly obvious on the replay. Really made it clear how Jones could find an opening right up the middle on that return. > [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > The 49ers play calls on their final series were atrocious. This, this, this. That was perhaps the worst goal-to-go playcalling I have seen, ever. Terrible job by the Niners coaching staff. ---
**Author:** ![CJJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecc23a/32.png) [@CJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249/286 "2013-02-04T17:16:54Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > He is one tough guy to like. Piss and moan about every thing from the officiating to the snack tray in the locker room. Exactly, and his over-the-top sideline antics on nearly every call didn’t help. I heard a postgame interview in which he bitched about the lack of a holding-in-the-endzone call on the safety play, a call which would have made absoultely no difference in the outcome. The guy is an incredible whiner. ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249/287 "2013-02-04T17:19:25Z")
If the 49ers hadn’t gotten a 2nd chance at a field goal earlier, they would have been down 8 instead of 5, so even with a touchdown they might not have caught up. I was rooting for the 49ers, but have no problem with the calls by the refs at the end. The calls by the 49ers themselves could have been better. ---
**Author:** ![HookerChemical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@HookerChemical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HookerChemical)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249/288 "2013-02-04T17:24:44Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Would have been the same outcome. > [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Did anyone else see the SF guy practically tackled while he tried to chase the punter? No. The outcome would be the same (clock chewed up, safety awarded), but it shows how much the refs were swallowing their whistles, especially at the end of the game. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249/289 "2013-02-04T17:33:25Z")
> [@HookerChemical](#): > > No. The outcome would be the same (clock chewed up, safety awarded), but it shows how much the refs were swallowing their whistles, especially at the end of the game. Which is another reason to call a running play or two - let your big guys do some uncalled holding of their own, ya know? You think the refs are going to call back a game-winning QB scramble just because a tackle maybe did a little grab-job? Nah. Either way, yet another SB that was entertaining as a game and not just a spectacle. ---
**Author:** ![UncleFred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f0a364/32.png) [@UncleFred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleFred)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249/290 "2013-02-04T17:34:04Z")
Was the gameclock misoperating in the 3rd quarter, after the power interruption? It looked like several times plays went out of bounds, and the clock kept running. In one case Kupernick ran the ball out of bounds and the clock did stop, but when they lined up for the next play it was running again. It looked like there were 1-2 minutes lost in this way, that I could see. I realize what’s on the screen isn’t necessarily ‘official time’ but it never seemed to get set back either. The 49’ers could have used another minute or two at the end of the game. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249/291 "2013-02-04T17:38:29Z")
Out of bounds only stops the clock during the last two minutes of the first half and the last five minutes of the second half ([cite](http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/timing)). The rest of the game, the clock stops when the player goes out of bounds but then restarts when the ball is spotted. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249/292 "2013-02-04T18:20:00Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Just for the record, Homicide \>\> Date Rape. > > Both guys are scumbags, but you don’t have a leg to stand on here. I agree that murder trumps rape… but for the record it wasn’t date rape, it was rape rape. And Ben has been accused of it three times, one of which he paid to settle the lawsuit. I just got irritated about the Murderin’ Ray comments from people whose team is led by a serial rapist. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249/293 "2013-02-04T18:22:48Z")
Everytime I see them blow it in the red zone I miss Joe Montana. In fact, I always miss Joe Montana. There was never anyone better with under 2 minutes left on the clock. ---
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249/294 "2013-02-04T18:23:13Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Okay, so why do you not attempt a 2-point conversion there? > > I can’t think of any reason why getting the extra point is better than taking the shot at 2. It’s now 28-13. San Fran is down by 15; they need two touchdowns and either would have to try a 2-point conversion on one of them, or will need a field goal. But two TDs and a field goal passes Baltimore’s point total anyway even if they miss the 2-point conversion. But if they get the 2, then they don’t need a field goal to tie it. There isn’t any realistic Baltimore scoring play that changes the math; a Baltimore field goal now puts SF down 18, so they still need a 2-point conversion if they get two TDs and a field goal. Or Baltimore could score a touchdown in which case everything I already said remains true except substitute “two touchdowns” with “three.” No matter how you slice it, trying to make it 28-14 is worth the risk of making it 28-12. > > I just don’t get some of these decisions. I came in here to ask this very question. When the 49ers were down by 22 I figured they had to go for 2 on their next touchdown. I’m still not sure why they didn’t. They could have easily taken that game to overtime if they had made that first two point conversion or, failing that, made the next two. If a two-point conversion is a 50/50 proposition, that raises your chances of catching up from 50% to 75% (assuming the PAT is essentially 100%). ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249/295 "2013-02-04T19:16:27Z")
The probably consulted the all-knowing 2 point chart. [http://www.footballcommentary.com/twoptchart.htm](http://www.footballcommentary.com/twoptchart.htm) I’ve heard coaches blame the chart many times when an obvious 2 point play should have been attempted. You can see it’s a pretty rare occasion that the chart strongly recommends going for 2. ---
**Author:** ![cmosdes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@cmosdes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmosdes)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249/296 "2013-02-04T20:08:38Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#): > > The probably consulted the all-knowing 2 point chart. > > [http://www.footballcommentary.com/twoptchart.htm](http://www.footballcommentary.com/twoptchart.htm) > > I’ve heard coaches blame the chart many times when an obvious 2 point play should have been attempted. You can see it’s a pretty rare occasion that the chart strongly recommends going for 2. According to that chart, if you are down by 16 with 21 minutes remaining you should go for the two point conversion if your chance of success is more than 36%. If you are down by 9 with 20 minutes remaining, you should go for two if your success rate is over 40%. SF did not attempt any two point conversions this year, so no stats on that. In the 20 seconds I tried to find the Ravens stats on defending the two-point conversion, I didn’t see a quick stat. A quick look for stats on two-point conversion success rate is around 40% to 45%, so there is no reason for SF not to have gone for this. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249/297 "2013-02-04T20:15:03Z")
The H brothers make it very hard to root for either team. So I’m glad I don’t have to. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249/298 "2013-02-04T20:35:48Z")
I get Jim, but I’m not sure why you’re down on John too. Was it just the holding on the intentional safety, or is there more going on that I’m missing? ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249/299 "2013-02-04T20:55:50Z")
> [@cmosdes](#): > > If a two-point conversion is a 50/50 proposition, that raises your chances of catching up from 50% to 75% (assuming the PAT is essentially 100%). It goes from 50% to 62.5%, but yeah. With so much time left in the game, it’s at least arguable that taking the PAT is correct. For example, there was a somewhat similar question after the Atlanta-Seattle game, where Atlanta could have tried to go up 28-7 instead of taking 27-7. But say they went for 2 there and missed, making the score 26-7. Then after Seattle’s comeback, _they_ would have gone for 2, in order to go up 29-26 instead of 28-26. Atlanta’s final field goal is then for a tie rather than a win. ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249/300 "2013-02-04T21:11:39Z")
Or even just look at how the game itself turned out. Baltimore ended up with 34 points, so exactly 21 more than SF had after taking the PAT. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249.md?page=14) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/super-bowl-xlvii-thread/649249.md?page=16)