Lost in the shuffle of the Ravens upset win in the Super Bowl was the way it started.  I'm talking about before the game even began.

Remember the opening coin flip?  Yeah, usually it is fairly insignificant.  In this years Super Bowl though, it played a huge role, with the Ravens benefitting in every way possible, and I don't think I have heard anyone talking about it.

The coin was flipped, Baltimore called it correctly and then, deferred to the second half.  It is a strategical move that teams will sometimes choose, but it is fairly rare.  The Ravens wanted to make a statement with their defense right off the bat, so chose to put them out on the field first. 

It could have backfired.  If the 49ers take the kick, race down the field and score an opening touchdown, it would look very foolish for Balimore.  It initially seemed that way too, after Colin Kaepernick completed a big play for a 20 yeard gain to the 41 yard line.  Unfortunately for San Fran, they lined up in an illegal formation, causing a nullification of the play and a ten yard penatly.  It resulted in a three-and-out for the Niners.  The Ravens got the ball after the subsequent punt, and drove downfield for the game's first touchdown, a pass to Anquan Boldin.

The Ravens used the early momentum from that to build a 21-6 halftime lead, and it looked at the time like it would be the Ravens day.  The one glimmer of hope that San Francisco had was the fact that they had gone into the locker room with that second David Akers field goal, and maybe a tad of momentum. 

One got the feeling from watching that the 49ers were starting to move the ball and maybe just needed a couple breaks or three and out stops and they might be able to get back in the game.

After the extented halftime show, it was time for that second half kickoff though.  Yeah, remember...the one that the Ravens would be getting after deferring the first half kickoff.  As you know, the ball was caught eight yards deep in the end zone and run out by Jacoby Jones, who then ran pretty much untouched 108 yards to paydirt and a now 28-6 lead for the Ravens.

Of course you know what happened next.  The Niners got the ball back and were driving downfield when BOOM BOOM, OUT GO THE LIGHTS (as Pat Travers would say).  The blackout seemed to give the 49ers life.  They would score on that drive, then after a Ray Rice fumble, San Francisco would score again on a Frank Gore run, and it was game on.

The 49ers roll eventually came up short of course, and there will be many discussions until next years pre-season about how the 49ers woulda, coulda and shoulda won, but the bottom line is....the Baltimore Ravens are your Super Bowl champions.

My bottom line is that it doesn't happen without that choice that Baltimore made after winning the opening coin flip.  I still think that the 49ers are the better team and nothing will convince me otherwise, but that decision to defer made Baltimore champions.