Super Bowl live blog: Ravens vs. 49ers

Mon • 2:54 am EDT • Ben Austro

My coverage of his assignment notwithstanding, Jerome Boger headed two solid playoff games this year. It was a great accomplishment for him. Boger held together quite a great game despite several obstacles: an extra-long halftime, a half-hour delay that had to be draining, and scrapiness from both sides of the ball.

I thought that Ravens cornerback Cary Williams should have been ejected for shoving head linesman Steve Stelljes. Players have been tossed for far less. Of course, this evokes the way that Panthers quarterback Cam Newton got a free pass from Jerome Boger when Boger was bumped by Newton. Newton was not ejected, and an official I talked to said this was no question supposed to be an ejection. (This is one of the eight dings that appeared on Boger’s record that disappeared.)

In the Super Bowl, it was not Boger’s decision to eject or not eject because he was not a witness to the shove. The rulebook says very clearly that an official must witness the entire offense to rule on the ejection.

As far as I know, no player has been ejected from the Super Bowl.

There appeared to be a non-call for taunting on Ravens wide receiver Anquan Boldin. I can see letting that go, but the pot was starting to bubble under the lid.

The holding/defensive pass interference non-call was a good call. When a receiver runs a route right at a defensive back and bumps him, there is an  acceptable amount of holding that does happen, because the receiver initiated the holding. In this case, there was mutual pushing, so it all waves off. There needed to be a more egregious restriction of the receiver in order to draw a foul.

Together, it was an even-called game. The points of disagreement were true judgement calls; there wasn’t anything that really moved out of a gray area throughout the game.

And so begins the offseason. As Jerome Boger would say, “Let’s go.”

Mon • 12:58 am EDT • Mark Schultz

Field judge Craig Wrolstad showed unconventional mechanics on the Frank Gore 33-yard run late in the fourth quarter (video).  On a play like that, Wrolstad should have retreated toward the goal line to rule on a potential touchdown.  Line judge Byron Boston was responsible for the out of bounds spot all the way down the sideline.  Why was Wrolstad coming toward the play instead of retreating?  If you look closely, a Ravens and 49ers player had locked up in a block and both went out of bounds still engaged.  My best guess is that Wrolstad thought the play wasn’t going to go for 33-yards and he was going to go out of bounds to make sure those two blockers didn’t start a fight in the midst of the team bench, while Boston got the forward progress spot.

Sun • 11:08 pm EDT • Mark Schultz

Boger’s crew had a very good game.  He was thrown a monkey wrench with the blackout, and his “let’s go” call to resume play was a nice added touch.  Darrell Jenkins had a very quiet night; I don’t think he even threw a flag.  Stelljes and Boston worked a very good game and had really tough line of scrimmage calls.  How would you like to have the Harbaugh brothers be in your ear all night?  Larrew, Wrolstad, and Paganelli had some really close calls downfield, but it looks like they were all called correctly.  My only real complaint in the game was early on when Larrew didn’t call a taunting foul that could have set to tone and knocked out the chippy play.

All in all, the crew called a very good game and all seven officials can be proud of their efforts.

Sun • 9:55 pm EDT • Mark Schultz

So far, through three quarters, the officiating crew has done a very good job.  The only complaint I have is the lack of flags for chippy play before the melee.  But, in my opinion, all of the judgement calls have been correct.

Sun • 9:45 pm EDT • Ben Austro

3rd Qtr | 7:28. 49ers — Michael Crabtree 31 yard touchdown pass from Colin Kaepernick 

3rd Qtr | 5:05. 49ers — Frank Gore 6 yard touchdown run

3rd Qtr | 3:14. 49ers — Akers 21 yard field goal.

Fourth quarter scoring summary will be unavailable due to server issues.

Sun • 9:10 pm EDT • Ben Austro

The Superdome had a power failure that began at 7:38 p.m. local time. A delay ensued until 8:08 p.m. local time.

Sun • 8:27 pm EDT • Ben Austro

3rd Qtr | 15:00. Ravens — Jacoby Jones 108-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.Ravens 28-3.

Sun • 8:10 pm EDT • Ben Austro

2nd Qtr | :00. 49ers — David Akers 27-yard field goal. Ravens 21-6.

Sun • 7:47 pm EDT • Ben Austro

2nd Qtr | 1:58. Ravens — Jacoby Jones 56-yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco.Ravens 21-3.

Sun • 7:44 pm EDT • Mark Schultz

In the melee after the Kaepernick interception, several officials were roughed up in the scrum.  This is what happens when officials don’t flag chippy action after the whistle.  It escalates and you get a fracas.  Hopefully both teams will settle down.

Update:  Video of incident.

Sun • 7:24 pm EDT • Ben Austro

2nd Qtr | 7:15. Ravens — Dennis Pitta 1-yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco.Ravens 14-3.

Sun • 7:08 pm EDT • Mark Schultz

1st Qtr. | 1:02.  I understand that this is the Super Bowl and this is a high emotion game, but I would have preferred to see side judge Joe Larrew throw an unsportsmanlike conduct flag on Anquan Boldin after he taunted the 49ers defender after that long catch.

Sun • 7:02 pm EDT • Ben Austro

1st Qtr | 4:03. 49ers — David Akers 36-yard field goal. Ravens 7-3.

Sun • 6:49 pm EDT • Mark Schultz

1st Qtr. | 10:42.  Great job by back judge Dino Paganelli to hold his touchdown signal until the WR completed the catch, which included running into the goal post!

Sun • 6:45 pm EDT • Ben Austro

1st Qtr | 10:42. Ravens — Anquan Boldin 13-yard touchdown pass from Joe Flacco.Ravens 7-0.

Sun • 6:43 pm EDT • Ben Austro

1st Qtr  14:50. Good call right out of the chute for umpire Darrell Jenkins. Tight end was covered by a wideout on the line of scrimmage which is an illegal formation foul.