Well, that turned out to be a much more exciting game than most viewers thought it would be after the first half and the first play of the second. The Ravens jumped out to a 28 – 6 lead just a minute into the 3rd quarter, but then the stadium lights went out for 34 minutes. On the radio a New Orleans city official said there had been a power surge as a result of the halftime events, but whether that was correct or not remains up in the air.

Anyway, when the lights came back on the Forty-Niners looked and played like a completely different team from the one that had given up that huge lead, and the Ravens played much worse than they had building it. The Niners got within two points at 31 – 29 with 9:57 left in the 4th quarter, but then gave up a field goal to make it 34 – 29 Ravens. The 49ers fell short on 4th down after three previous attempts to score from the 7-yard line and take the lead with a little more than two minutes to go and the Ravens allowed a safety with 0:04 seconds left in the game to make the final score 34 – 31.

Rats.

The average point differential between the winners and losers after 47 of these extravaganzas, despite the victory margin being six or under in five of the last six games, is still two touchdowns or 14.11.