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The San Francisco 49ers enter the 2013 NFL Draft with 13 draft picks, the most of any team. If they make all 13 picks, it will be the most for any team in the draft since the 2010 Philadelphia Eagles made 13.

Home Grown Team

The 49ers are looking to build on recent draft success and a mostly home grown team. Five of their 10 first-round selections since 2006 have made at least one Pro Bowl, tied for most in the league with the Washington Redskins. By comparison, 30 percent of the first-round selections by other teams since 2006 have made at least one pro bowl (An average of two per team).


Fifteen of the 49ers’ 22 offensive and defensive starters on last season’s Super Bowl roster were drafted by San Francisco, and seven of them were drafted in the third round or later. They have 10 picks in the third round or later this season.

Tough in the Trenches

The 49ers have built their team in the draft starting with the front lines. They started the same offensive line group in all 16 games in 2012 and were the only group to feature three first-round draft picks as their most frequent line combination (Joe Staley, Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati).

Don’t be surprised if the 49ers beef up their defensive line in this year’s draft. With Justin Smith suffering an injury late last season a lack of depth along the defensive line was exposed. The 49ers recorded a sack once every 16.2 dropbacks and allowed a 57.8 Total QBR with Smith on the field last season. With Smith off the field, the 49ers recorded a sack once every 29.4 dropbacks and allowed a 75.2 QBR.

Moving Up?

Will they move up in the draft order to secure one of this year’s top defensive lineman? San Francisco especially needs depth at the position after they lost starting lineman Isaac Sopoaga and backup Ricky Jean Francois in free agency (although they did sign Glenn Dorsey).

Trading up has worked for them in the past. The 49ers moved up in the 2011 Draft to the No. 36 pick and selected quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

The first selections of the NFL Draft are just a day away. Here are our Top 10 overall stats to know on this year’s selections.

A lineman is likely No. 1
Luke Joeckel is primed to become just the fourth offensive lineman drafted first overall since the AFL and NFL held their first common draft in 1967. Each of the first three, Ron Yary in 1968, Orlando Pace in 1997 and Jake Long in 2008, made at least four Pro Bowl trips and were named 1st-team All-Pro a combined 10 times.

49ers will be a prominent factor, but will their draftees be prominent factors?
The San Francisco 49ers enter the draft with a league-high 13 picks and could become just the second team to make 13 or more picks in a draft in the last eight years, joining the 2010 Eagles. But the odds of any 49ers rookie making a major impact in 2013 are slim. The 49ers won the NFC last year despite getting only 12 games (and no starts) from their 2012 draft picks, both NFL lows.

Minimal skill position talent in top 10
The top of the 2013 draft class is expected to be heavy on linemen, with some draft experts projecting West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith as the only quarterback, running back or wide receiver to go in the top 10. The fewest offensive skill position players picked in the top 10 in the common draft era is one, done four times with the last in 1997. That year, it was all offensive linemen and defensive players before the Giants drafted WR Ike Hilliard seventh.

An Irish defender in the top 20
Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o could become the first Notre Dame defensive player to go in the top 20 since defensive tackle Bryant Young was drafted seventh in 1994. From 1995-2012, 59 different schools have had more defensive players drafted in the top 20 than Notre Dame, including New Mexico, Tennessee State and Division II Kutztown (Pa.).

Top-10 trades are frequent
Is your favorite team picking at the back of the draft? Don’t wait to tune in, as the rookie salary scale has made top picks tradable again. In the two drafts with the rookie scale (2011-12), teams have made six trades involving top-10 selections, including five on the day of the draft. There were four trades of top-10 selections in the previous six drafts combined (2005-10).

Raiders have missed out on some good ones
The Oakland Raiders are slated to pick third overall after not having a first-round pick in 2011 and 2012. But Oakland hasn’t had much success in the first round in recent years, drafting the likes of Rolando McClain, JaMarcus Russell, Fabian Washington and Robert Gallery, none of whom are currently with the team.

However, the players drafted with the pick AFTER McClain, Russell, Washington and Gallery have combined for 14 Pro Bowl selections. That would be C.J. Spiller, Calvin Johnson, Aaron Rodgers and Larry Fitzgerald.

The Raiders tend to like them fast
The Raiders have taken the player with the best 40-yard dash time in three of the last four drafts. From 2009-11, the Raiders selected Darrius Heyward-Bey, Jacoby Ford and Demarcus Van Dyke, all of whom were fastest in their combine class. Of those three, only Ford is still a Raider. Last year’s fastest player (cornerback Josh Robinson) was taken by the Vikings 29 picks before Oakland’s first selection. This year’s fastest player was Texas wide receiver Marquise Goodwin, who ran a 4.27 40-yard dash at the combine.

NFC East teams could use help halting deep threats
All four NFC East teams were ranked in the bottom six in Total QBR on defending throws deeper than 15 yards downfield. Of the eight free agent secondary signings by NFC East teams so far, only Philadelphia’s Cary Williams (four) had more than two interceptions last year.

The NFC East has the NFL’s touchdown leader (Tony Romo, 14) and completion percentage leader (Robert Griffin III, 55.7 percent) on throws at least 15 yards downfield. Eli Manning also had 22 plays of at least 30 yards on those throws, tied for second most in the league.

The Cardinals have many needs
How bad was it in Arizona last season? Four different quarterbacks had at least 50 dropbacks for the Cardinals, the most of any team. The Cardinals were the only team in 2012 without a receiving touchdown by a tight end. The Cardinals’ offensive line allowed ball carriers to be hit in the backfield on a league-high 22.4 percent of rushes, and none of the four Arizona backs with at least 50 rushes gained more yards per rush after contact thanthe league average (1.6). The Cardinals added Carson Palmer and Rashard Mendenhall this offseason.

Broncos could use Manning protection
The Broncos ranked 25th in the league with a 3.8 yards per rush average last season. Peyton Manning was sacked every 29.7 dropbacks last season, best among qualified quarterbacks, but four of the seven Broncos linemen with at least 250 snaps have had surgery since October and another (center Dan Koppen) is an unrestricted free agent. Only guard Louis Vasquez has been added so far in free agency to a Broncos’ line that could seek reinforcements at the draft.

The San Francisco 49ers have reportedly traded 2005 first-overall pick Alex Smith to the Kansas City Chiefs. In return, the 49ers would receive the Chiefs’ second-round pick in 2013 (No. 34 overall) and a conditional midround pick in the 2014 draft.

Smith would be the latest in a line of former 49ers quarterbacks who have moved to Kansas City:

• Joe Montana was traded from San Francisco to Kansas City in April of 1993. He led the Chiefs to a pair of playoff appearances in two seasons and advanced all the way to the AFC Championship Game in 1993.

• Steve Bono was a highly regarded backup in San Francisco when he was traded to the Chiefs in 1994. Bono became the Chiefs' starter in 1995 and led the team to a 13-3 record.

• Elvis Grbac spent his first four seasons with the 49ers before signing with the Chiefs as a free agent in 1997. Grbac spent four seasons as the Chiefs' starter before moving on to Baltimore.

• And now it's Alex Smith's turn. Drafted first overall by the 49ers in 2005, Smith led San Francisco to the NFC Championship Game in 2011 before Colin Kaepernick took over as starter in Week 11 of this season.

In terms of Total QBR, the trade makes a lot of sense from the Chiefs’ perspective. Smith was the seventh-most efficient quarterback in 2012 with a rating of 70.1.

The Chiefs, on the other hand, ranked 29th in QBR at 31.9. Only the Browns, Jets and Cardinals were worse last season.

One reason that Smith posted such a high QBR in 2012 is that he was an accurate passer who took care of the ball.

Smith led the NFL with a 70.2 completion percentage last season and, since 2011, has thrown an interception on just 1.5 percent of his pass attempts. Among qualified passers over that span, only Aaron Rodgers (1.3) has thrown interceptions at a lower rate.

In Kansas City, quarterbacks have not been nearly as secure with the ball. Chiefs quarterbacks committed 29 turnovers in 2012, including 20 interceptions. The 29 turnovers trailed only the Jets (33) for most in the NFL and the 20 interceptions were one shy of the league-leading Cardinals (21).

Kansas City also threw a league-low eight touchdown passes in 2012, the fewest in a single season by any team since the 2007 Oakland Raiders (seven).

Alex Smith threw 13 touchdown passes in just nine games last season and his 30 touchdowns since 2011 are nine more than Chiefs passers have thrown over the same span.

Will the move pay immediate dividends? AccuScore seems to think so. According to 10,000 computer simulations, Alex Smith is worth approximately 2.2 wins for the Chiefs in 2013 and improves their chances of reaching the playoffs from 0.2 percent to 8.8 percent.

All that said, Smith will be forced to start from scratch in 2013. Doug Pederson will be the eighth offensive coordinator that Smith has played under in just his ninth season in the league. The past two seasons marked just the second time in his career that he had the same coordinator to begin consecutive NFL seasons.

Today is Valentine’s Day, when the thoughts of young football fans turn to ... well ... more football.

Stats & Information looks at some NFL couples and lets you know who should stay together, who needs to rebuild their relationship and who might want to spend some time apart.

COUPLES WHO NEED TO STAY TOGETHER
• Tom Brady and Wes Welker: Free-agent-to-be Welker has 672 receptions since joining the Patriots in 2007, the most for a player over any six-year span in NFL history.

• Eli Manning and Victor Cruz: Cruz, who is slated to become a restricted free agent, has 168 receptions and 19 touchdowns over the last two seasons. Along with Hakeem Nicks, he gives Manning one of the game’s best deep threats in the league.

• Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson: Johnson set an NFL single-season record with 1,964 receiving yards in 2012, while Stafford set an NFL record with 727 pass attempts. These two need to stay together if only to torture statisticians everywhere.

COUPLES WHO NEED TO REBUILD THEIR RELATIONSHIP
• Tony Romo and Dez Bryant: Early in the season, they didn't appear to be on the same page, but Bryant caught a league-high 10 TD passes from Week 10 until the end of the season.

• Aaron Rodgers and Jermichael Finley: Finley caught a career-high 61 balls in 2012, but just two went for touchdowns. At times it appeared that Rodgers had lost confidence in his tight end and reports have appeared that the Packers might release Finley.

• Cam Newton and Steve Smith: Smith was critical of Newton's sideline demeanor last season, and he could have a point. When trailing in the fourth quarter over the last two seasons, Newton’s QBR of 35.9 is 35th among 45 qualifying quarterbacks.

COUPLES WHO MIGHT NEED TO SPEND SOME TIME APART
• Mark Sanchez and Rex Ryan: After going to a pair of AFC Championship games in their first two seasons together, the relationship hasn't worked recently. Sanchez regressed even further in 2012, and has an NFL-high 52 turnovers over the last two seasons.

• Alex Smith and Jim Harbaugh: Harbaugh has turned to the younger Colin Kaepernick. Since Kaepernick took over as the starter in Week 11, his 81.2 Total QBR is second to only Russell Wilson. Smith’s QBR of 54.1 since the start of 2011 is 19th among quarterbacks with at least 500 action plays.

• Matt Cassel and Andy Reid: The Chiefs and Reid’s Eagles were tied with the Jets for the most turnovers in the NFL last season with 37. Cassel struggled with 19 turnovers in just nine games.

Joe Flacco's exceptional playoff run is a significant reason why the Baltimore Ravens are Super Bowl XLVII champions, but where specifically did he excel? An advanced look into his performance as well as some others from both the Ravens and San Francisco 49ers:

Flacco Dangerous Downfield

For starters, Flacco was able to find success downfield. He was 7-13 for 171 yards and two touchdowns on passes deeper than 10 yards downfield in Super Bowl XVLII. By contrast, Flacco struggled on those throws in the regular season, posting the second-worst completion percentage (41.1 percent).

From 2008-11 in the postseason, Flacco had just one touchdown and six interceptions on throws over 10 yards downfield, but this postseason, he tossed seven touchdowns and had no interceptions. On Sunday, Flacco also took advantage of a San Francisco defense that had been allowing the big play more often.

Including the Super Bowl, the 49ers allowed five touchdowns and a 67.5 completion percentage on passes more than 10 yards downfield in the postseason. In the regular season, the 49ers allowed only three touchdowns (fewest) on those throws and a 38.7 completion percentage (third best).

Bold When it Matters

Flacco completed seven-of-10 third-down throws for 158 yards and two touchdowns, including four-of-four and a touchdown targeting Anquan Boldin. Boldin entered the game with just one third-down touchdown reception in 105 career third-down targets with the Ravens.

Boldin also became more of a threat near the goal line in the playoffs. He caught four-of-four passes thrown into the end zone during the postseason, including a 13-yard touchdown reception to open the scoring. Compare that to the regular season, when he caught three of 10 end-zone targets.

Teammate Jacoby Jones was also a significant threat. Jones scored on a 56-yard reception with 1:45 left in the second quarter, giving the Ravens a 21-3 lead. The pass traveled 47 yards downfield, giving him two touchdowns this postseason on throws at least 40 yards downfield. He is the first player since Larry Fitzgerald in 2008 to score two touchdowns on such passes in a single postseason.

Kaepernick Connection Issues

On the San Francisco side, Colin Kaepernick's strengths often became weaknesses. Including postseason play, Kaepernick entered Sunday leading the NFL with an on-target throw percentage of 87.5 among quarterbacks with at least 20 pass attempts. Against the Ravens, Kaepernick under or overthrew seven of 28 attempts (25.0 percent) including the only interception by either quarterback on a pass that sailed well over the head of Randy Moss.

Targeting Moss has been an issue for the Niners quarterback. Kaepernick threw three interceptions on 42 passes when throwing in Moss’ direction this season (interception every 14 attempts). When targeting his other receivers, Kaepernick threw two interceptions on 242 attempts (interception every 121 attempts).

What's more, the 49ers ran 13 option plays in both the Super Bowl and NFC Championship, but Kaepernick kept only once on those plays. In his first eight starts, Kaepernick kept a third of the time, including seven rushes for 99 yards in the Divisional Playoffs.

The Baltimore Ravens have the best postseason record in NFL history.

They earned their way to that mark by proving they were the best team this postseason, beating the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31 in Super Bowl XLVII.

Let’s run through some of the statistical highlights of a contest that will be well remembered for many things that go beyond the numbers.

The history
The Ravens became the fifth team to win their first two Super Bowl appearances, joining the 49ers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers and New York Giants. They snapped a four-game win streak by the NFC in Super Bowls, becoming the first AFC team to win one since the 2008 Steelers.

The Ravens are 8-1 all-time as a No. 4 seed in the postseason. Both of their Super Bowl wins came as a No. 4 seed, with the other coming in the 2000 season.

Baltimore’s .667 winning percentage (14-7) is the best of any team in NFL history.

The win was Joe Flacco’s ninth in postseason, matching Tom Brady for the most playoff wins by a quarterback in his first five seasons. Flacco joins Eli Manning as the only quarterbacks in postseason history to win seven games on the road or at neutral sites

Ravens coach John Harbaugh improved to 7-0 as a head coach following a bye week. The Ravens 63 wins since Harbaugh took over at the start of the 2008 season are tied with the New England Patriots for the most in the NFL in that span.

The 49ers outgained the Ravens 448 to 347 in combined rushing and passing yardage. Baltimore allowed the most yards in a Super Bowl for any winning team and became the third team to win a Super Bowl despite being outgained by at least that much, joining the 2001 Patriots and 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers.

Super Bowl MVP: Joe Flacco
Flacco had three touchdown passes, giving him 11 with no interceptions this postseason.

He’s the second quarterback with 11 touchdowns and no interceptions in a postseason, joining Hall of Famer Joe Montana for the 1989 49ers.


Flacco saved his most accurate game for last, completing 67 percent of his throws.

He was 7-of-13 for 171 yards and two touchdowns on passes more than 10 yards downfield on Sunday.

Flacco struggled on those throws in the regular season, posting the second-worst completion percentage (41 percent) but found his touch in the this postseason, much more than any of the four previous times he'd been to the playoffs.

Flacco caught the 49ers at the right time.

In the regular season, the 49ers allowed only three touchdowns (fewest in the NFL) on that length of throw throws and a 38.7 completion percentage (third-best).

Including the Super Bowl, the 49ers allowed five touchdowns and a 67.5 completion percentage on passes more than 10 yards downfield in the postseason.

Flacco finished with a Total QBR of 95.1, tied for his second-best in a game in his career. It was nearly 50 points better than his QBR during the regular season (46.8).

Play of the game: Jacoby Jones goes the distance
Jacoby Jones set the record for the longest kick return in Super Bowl history with his 108-yard touchdown to open the second half.

This was Jones’ third kickoff return of at least 105 yards for a touchdown this season. The only other player with multiple 105-yard touchdowns in his career is his teammate, Ed Reed, who has two.

This was the second kickoff return for a touchdown in the Superdome. Desmond Howard had the other for the 1996 Green Bay Packers, a 99-yarder against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI that stood as the record for the longest Super Bowl kickoff-return touchdown until Jones’ score.

Jones is the second player in NFL postseason history with a kickoff return touchdown and receiving touchdown in the same game, joining Dante Hall who did it for the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2003 AFC Divisional Playoffs.

It was the second 100-yard touchdown in Super Bowl history, joining the 100-yard interception return for a touchdown by James Harrison for the 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers against the Arizona Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII.

49ers come so close
The 49ers 31 points tied the most by a losing team in a Super Bowl, matching the total scored by the Dallas Cowboys against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XIII.

It is the most points the 49ers have ever scored in a postseason loss. They were 13-0 in postseason play when scoring at least 31 points prior to today.

The 49ers outscored the Ravens 25-6 and outgained them 260-126 after the third-quarter power outage, but that would not be enough.

Colin Kaepernick also just missed out on Steve McNair's Super Bowl record for rushing yards by a quarterback. He finished with 62, two shy of the mark.

The one issue for Kaepernick on a day in which he threw for more than 300 yards was that he couldn't finish off enough drives needed to complete the comeback.

Kaepernick was 0-for-4 on passes thrown into the end zone in the game and 1-for-8 on such throws in the postseason. Six of the seven incompletions were the result of overthrown passes.

Here's a look back at the Stats and Info Blog's coverage leading up to Super Bowl XLVII between the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers.

GENERAL
Top 10 stats to know on the Super Bowl
We give you the 10 notes, nuggets and numbers you need to know heading into the big matchup on Sunday night.

How does each team handle “sideline chaos” situations?
A look at how the Ravens and 49ers compare in two areas that directly reflect the ability of those to stay calm and communicate effectively: the two-minute drill and the decision to throw the challenge flag.

D II Washburn steals the Super Bowl show
A total of 106 players are on the active rosters of the Ravens and 49ers, and examining the alma maters of Super Bowl teams always produces interesting quirks. Here are three things to know about both teams.

49ERS
The 10 biggest plays this season for the 49ers
For the San Francisco 49ers, what plays were the most important in winning games on their way to the Super Bowl? Here are the 10 plays that most improved their chances of winning through the regular season the playoffs.

Top things to know: 49ers D
The 49ers' defense has ranked among the best in the NFL over the past two seasons. But what else should you know about it?

Breaking down the 49ers option offense
Including the regular season, the Niners have boasted the most efficient option scheme in the NFL. No team which used the option regularly averaged more than San Francicso’s 7.1 yards per rush with the play this season. But what is it that makes the 49ers option so good?

What makes Colin Kaepernick so good?
Colin Kaepernick has made just nine career starts, including the playoffs, but he’s got the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl thanks to his performance from all areas of the field. What makes Kaepernick so good? Let's take a look at three aspects of his game.

Backup quarterbacks who became Super Bowl starters
Colin Kaepernick took over as the San Francisco 49ers' starting quarterback in Week 11 after Alex Smith was sidelined with a concussion in the previous week. He's not the first backup quarterback to lead his team to the Super Bowl after riding the pine early in the season. Who are the others?

RAVENS
The 10 biggest plays of the season for the Ravens
For the Baltimore Ravens, what plays were the most important in winning games on their way to the Super Bowl? Here are the 10 plays that most improved their chances of winning through the regular season the playoffs.

Top things to know: Ravens D
The Ravens defense finished the regular season allowing 350.9 yards per game, 17th in the league. In the playoffs, Baltimore is allowing 415.0 yards per game, up more than 60 yards from its regular season total, but that’s not the whole story.

Ray Lewis and other players that retired with a Super Bowl title on the line
Ray Lewis says that Super Bowl XLVII will mark the end of his NFL career. A number of players have played their final game on the sport's biggest stage, but not all have claimed victory on the way out. Here are some of the game's greats who said farewell after the big game.

Joe Flacco is thriving since the coaching change
Joe Flacco has been a much different quarterback in the postseason. His playoff QBR of 77.5 is a huge improvement over the 46.8 he put up in the regular season. What’s been the difference?

Ravens running game soars under Jim Caldwell
Following a Week 14 loss to the Washington Redskins, the Ravens fired offensive coordinator Cam Cameron and replaced him with quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell. It's a move that appears to have paid off, as the offense averaged 30 points per game during a playoff run that pushed the Ravens to the franchise's second Super Bowl.

New offensive line combination opens up offense for Ravens
The Ravens' five-man offensive line unit of Bryant McKinnie, Kelechi Osemele, Matt Birk, Marshal Yanda and Michael Oher played together for the first time this season in the Ravens' Wild Card win over the Colts. That unit has played every snap this postseason, and is a big reason why the Ravens offense has flourished in the postseason.

Total QBR was developed to capture a lot about a quarterback’s play, from avoiding sacks to scrambling and penalties, on top of all the things they do as a passer.

The above infographic is one way of capturing a lot of those elements for the two Super Bowl quarterbacks, San Francisco 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick and Baltimore Ravens’ Joe Flacco.

Using regular season numbers, the graphic makes a few clear distinctions about their general style. Not surprisingly, Kaepernick makes more of a difference on runs and scrambles than does Flacco.

The black and blue arrows behind the line of scrimmage are almost non-existent for Flacco and huge for Kaepernick. The red splat mark indicates sacks for the two quarterbacks and both have surprisingly lost about the same number of yards per dropback on sacks.

The yellow arrow represents how often they threw the ball away -- Kaepernick threw it away at one of the highest rates in the league. These are essentially zero-yard sacks, but with less contact, that can be an important play for a quarterback.

The yellow flag behind the line of scrimmage is much farther behind it for Kaepernick, who has had problems getting plays off on time. Flacco has earned more post-pass penalties, as represented by his blue flag beyond the line of scrimmage being farther downfield than Kaepernick’s.

The downfield portion of the graphic illustrates how accurate the quarterbacks were this season. The magnitude of the red region represents how often they were off-target; the yellow region represents how often they were on-target but just incomplete; the blue regions represent how often they were on-target and complete.

As shown in the graphic, interceptions and yards after catch were pretty even for both guys, but overall Kaepernick was much more accurate than Flacco.

This all adds up to the dramatically different Total QBR values depicted next to their names. Kaepernick ranked third in the NFL and Flacco ranked 25th during the regular season.

The San Francisco 49ers option rushing attack has generated 244 yards on 8.4 yards per rush, and four touchdowns this postseason. Including the regular season, the Niners have boasted the most efficient option scheme in the NFL. No team which used the option regularly averaged more than San Francicso’s 7.1 yards per rush with the play this season.

But what is it that makes the 49ers option so good?
This postseason, 21 of the team’s options plays have employed a fullback in the backfield, with the 49ers averaging 7.8 yards per rush from those sets.

Utilizing a fullback on options hasn’t been the preference in the NFL this year. Only 44 percent of option plays across the entire league, including the playoffs, were run with a fullback in the backfield.

Since Colin Kaepernick took over as starter in Week 11, fullback Bruce Miller has played on 53 percent of the 49ers snaps. In Weeks 1 through 10, Miller played just 39 percent of the team’s offensive snaps.

And the Niners have greatly expanded their option use in the postseason. They ran out of the option 3.7 times per game in the regular season with Kaepernick starting, but have upped that to 14.5 rushes per game in the playoffs.

However, San Francisco has shown vastly different looks in each playoff game. Kaepernick didn’t keep the ball on a single option in the NFC Conference Championship against the Atlanta Falcons, after keeping it seven times against the Green Bay Packers.

Against Atlanta, Kaepernick handed off to Frank Gore on all 11 option runs. Both times that Gore found the end zone, Miller led the way with key blocks, allowing Gore to go in untouched. Check out those plays here and here.

Of course the Baltimore Ravens will be aware that Kaepernick can keep the ball and do things like this (note Miller on the field again). Against the Packers, Kaepernick kept the ball on seven of 16 plays and was not contacted by a defender on five of those seven, including his 56-yard touchdown run.

With Wednesday’s focus on potential chaos on the sidelines here’s a look at how the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers compare in two areas that directly reflect the ability of those to stay calm and communicate effectively- the two-minute drill and the decision to throw the challenge flag.

The two-minute drill
The 49ers posted the fourth-best point differential in the two-minute drill (plus-34) this season.

While Colin Kaepernick has been adequate passing in the last two minutes of the half (17-for-31, 220 yards, one touchdown, one interception) his success on the ground has made him especially effective.

No quarterback in the league has more rushing first downs in the two-minute drill than Kaepernick (six).

This may be an area in which the 49ers have an edge.

The Ravens had a minus-34 point differential in the two-minute drill, the fourth-worst mark in the league. Baltimore was also one of three teams to make the playoffs with a negative turnover differential (minus-1) in the two-minute drill.

The chart on the right shows the difference in performance between the two teams this season.

However, the Ravens have executed in the two-minute offense in the postseason, outscoring opponents 21-6, with the highlight being the game-tying 70-yard touchdown throw near the end of regulation in the overtime win over the Denver Broncos.

Joe Flacco also had a touchdown throw to Torrey Smith in the two-minute drill in the first half of that game. Flacco is 6-for-9 for 183 yards with under two minutes remaining in either half this postseason.

Jim Harbaugh’s Challenges
No coach was more active with challenge flag than 49ers’ coach Jim Harbaugh.

He threw nine challenge flags during the season, tied with Ken Whisenhunt and Rex Ryan for the NFL lead.

Harbaugh’s 33 percent success rate was below the league average (48 percent of challenges were overturned). However, four of the nine were thrown in the first three weeks of the season with replacement officials.

For more on Harbaugh’s successes, check the article by Grantland’s Bill Barnwell earlier in the week.

John Harbaugh’s Challenges
Ravens coach John Harbaugh had better statistical success when challenging official rulings than his younger brother, winning three of his six challenges.

However, despite the higher success rate, Harbaugh’s decision-making involved some questionable choices.

In Week 2 against the Eagles, John Harbaugh burned a timeout to challenge whether Michael Vick was on the ground as he threw the ball away in the third quarter. Vick’s knees did not appear to be close to the ground, and Baltimore lost the challenge.

Philadelphia had just been flagged for holding and faced a 2nd-and-17 anyway, and the poor challenge cost Baltimore a timeout (Baltimore’s first) when it would have gained only seven yards.

If John Harbaugh had trusted his defense to hold off the Eagles (as they did) and saved the timeout, that might have helped the Ravens avoid the eventual outcome.

Trailing 24-23 late in the game, Baltimore would run an eight-play drive in the two-minute drill.

The drive was all passes and stalled out at the Ravens’ 46-yard line. The Ravens lost 24-23, with both timeouts remaining left unused and running back Ray Rice targeted only once on the drive.

In Week 13 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Charlie Batch was hit while throwing by Ma’ake Kemoeatu early in the third quarter and the ball came out.

Before the whistle blew, Baltimore recovered the football, but the play and subsequent replays clearly showed Batch’s arm moving forward.

Harbaugh challenged the ruling on the field, one that seemed fairly obvious to be ruled correctly.

What made this a costly decision in hindsight was that by 7:57 of the third quarter, the Ravens had used their second timeout in a 13-13 game against the Steelers.

Pittsburgh used a 6:14 drive to close out the game, with Shaun Suisham kicking a game-winning 42-yard field goal with no time left, in part because the Ravens could not stop the clock.

Earlier Wednesday we shared some of the top stats to know about the Baltimore Ravens' defense. In the interests of equal opportunity, let's do the same for the San Francisco 49ers'.

The 49ers' defense has ranked among the best in the NFL over the past two seasons. But what else should you know about it?

The 49ers have stayed together
The 49ers have had nine players play at least 90 percent of their defensive snaps this season. No other team had more than six.

All four members of the 49ers' secondary (Carlos Rogers, Donte Whitner, Dashon Goldson and Tarell Brown) have played between 97 to 98 percent of their snaps this season.

Defense fuels offense
The 49ers allowed only 26.4 yards per opponents drive in the regular season, the sixth-best performance in the NFL.

Including the playoffs, the 49ers' average drive started at their own 31-yard line. Their opponents' average drives started at their own 24. The field position margin of plus-7 yards ranks best in the NFL.

No arm tackling
The 49ers are a team that finishes hits.

The 49ers led the NFL in fewest yards after contact allowed for a second straight year in 2012, allowing just 909 rushing and receiving yards after contact (56.8 per game).

San Francisco has allowed 112 yards after contact in its 2 playoff games (56.0 per game).

The 49ers allow an average of 1.2 yards after contact per rush, the best rate in the NFL.

The 49ers have allowed the fewest yards per rush after contact this season (including playoffs), and have now led the NFL in three straight seasons. The Ravens rank 12th this season with 1.6 yards per rush allowed after contact.

Aldon Smith needs Justin Smith
Aldon Smith has 35.5 sacks in his first two seasons, but none this postseason.
Despite his recent sack drought, his 33.5 regular-season sacks through two seasons are the most by any player since the NFL started tracking sacks in 1982.

Aldon has recorded 34.5 of his 35.5 career sacks with Justin Smith on field. In the 141 dropbacks that Aldon Smith has seen without Justin Smith, he has only one sack.

They handle the deep throw reasonably well
The 49ers are reasonably well-equipped to handle Joe Flacco.

They have allowed only three touchdown passes against them this season on throws that traveled at least 21 yards in the air, tied for the second-fewest in the NFL.

Opponents are 21-for-72 on throws of that length against the 49ers this season. The 29 percent opponnents’ completion percentage ranked 11th-best in the NFL.

The 49ers' defense has allowed multiple completions on passes thrown more than 20 yards downfield in three straight games, with opponents going 7-of-13 on those throws, including Matt Ryan's first-quarter touchdown to Julio Jones in the NFC championship.

The 49ers didn’t allow multiple completions in back-to-back games the first 15 games of the season.

Stat to know: Defense wins championships
The 49ers finished second in the league in scoring defense in 2012, allowing 17.1 points per game. That is 10 spots better than the Ravens' defense.

Teams with top-two scoring defenses are 16-5 all-time in the Super Bowl when not facing another top-two scoring defense and have won eight straight.

Every one since the 1990 New York Giants has won.

The two for which defense played the biggest role were the 2000 Ravens (who did not allow an offensive touchdown against the Giants) and the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (who had five interceptions in their win over the Oakland Raiders).

Colin Kaepernick has made just nine career starts, including the playoffs, but he’s got the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl thanks to his performance from all areas of the field.

What makes Kaepernick so good? Let's take a look at three aspects of his game.

Accuracy
Only 12.5 percent of his pass attempts have been incomplete due to an over- or underthrown pass this season, the lowest in the league (including playoffs).

When he’s off-target, the result is almost always an overthrow. Only four of Kaepernick’s 101 incompletions (including playoffs) have been the result of an underthrown pass.

He’s the most accurate passer in the league on throws more than 20 yards downfield and has completed at least one of those throws in all but one of his starts this season.

Mobility
Kaepernick hasn’t been breaking the pocket as often in the postseason, with 94 percent of his pass attempts coming from within the pocket.

In the regular season, 79 percent of his attempts came in the pocket, the second-lowest rate in the league (Russell Wilson).

Despite not starting until Week 11, Kaepernick has been one of the most prolific rushing quarterbacks this season.

Including playoffs, he’s gained the third-most yards on designed quarterback rushes and the fourth-most yards on scrambles.

In the regular season, when facing added pass pressure (five or more pass rushers), he held onto the ball for 3.8 seconds before passing, taking a sack or scrambling (league average: 3.4 seconds).

That rate has dipped to just 2.8 seconds in the postseason, and the result has been a Total QBR of 98.9 and a completion percentage near 70 percent against such pressure.

Dual Threat
Kaepernick set an NFL record in his first postseason start when he ran for 181 yards, the most by a quarterback in any game, regular season or postseason.

The 49ers have used more option plays in two postseason games than they did in Kaepnerick’s seven regular season starts.

He didn’t keep the ball on a single option play in the NFC Championship, but the 49ers still scored three touchdowns on those plays.

And he’s managed to avoid the big hit in the playoffs. Excluding kneel downs, Kaepernick has taken contact on five of his 16 rushes this postseason (31 percent).

In the regular season, Kaepernick took contact on 55 percent of his rushes.

For the San Francisco 49ers, what plays were the most important in winning games on their way to the Super Bowl?

Here are the 10 plays that most improved their chances of winning through the regular season the playoffs.

Later today, we'll have the list for the Baltimore Ravens.

1. NFC Championship at Atlanta
4th and 4, 1:13 left in 4th Quarter
NaVorro Bowman breaks up pass intended for Roddy White

With the Atlanta Falcons driving for a potential go-ahead touchdown, the 49ers' defense makes the biggest play of their season to essentially lock up a trip to New Orleans. Bowman's pass breakup resulted in a turnover on downs.

49ers' win probablility pre-play: 65.9%; post-play: 97.4% (+31.5%)

2. Week 12 at New Orleans
2nd and 10, 0:31 left in 2nd Quarter
Ahmad Brooks intercepts Drew Brees and returns it for a touchdown

Already trailing by a touchdown with the New Orleans Saints nearing field-goal range to potentially take a two-score lead into the locker room for halftime, Brooks picks off Brees' pass intended for Jimmy Graham and goes 50 yards for a tying touchdown.

49ers' win probability pre-play: 18.4%; post-play: 47.0% (+28.6%)

3. Week 10 vs. St. Louis
Kickoff with 8:40 left in 4th Quarter
Darcel McBath recovers fumble on kickoff return

Just after the 49ers had cut a 17-7 deficit to 17-14, they forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. Tramaine Brock knocked the ball loose from the St. Louis Rams' return man, Isaiah Pead, and McBath picked it up and returned it to the Rams' 20. One play later, Frank Gore took it the rest of the way to give San Francisco a 21-17 lead in a game that would ultimately end in a tie.

49ers' win probability pre-play: 31.3%; post-play: 57.1% (+25.5%)

The rest of the 49ers' top 10:

4. Colin Kaepernick's 50-yard scramble with 2:28 left sets up a game-tying FG vs. the Rams in Week 13 (+23.8%).

5. Kaepernick's 56-yard TD run vs. the Green Bay Packers in the Divisional Playoffs (+19.8%).

6. A 38-yard TD pass from Kaepernick to Michael Crabtree breaks a 31-31 tie at New England in Week 15 (+18.8).

7. Kaepernick's 49-yard pass to Crabtree swings the division-clincher vs the Arizona Cardinals in Week 17 (+17.1%).

8. C.J. Spillman recovers Marcus Thigpen's muffed punt in a Week 14 win over the Miami Dolphins (+17.0%).

9. Aldon Smith recovers Falcons' fumbled snap in the NFC Championship Game (+15.6%).

10. Donte Whitner returns an interception for a touchdown to give the 49ers the winning points against the Saints in Week 12 (+14.2%).

When the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers meet in Super Bowl XLVII on February 3rd in New Orleans, it will be the 10th time the Super Bowl has been held in the city, tying the Miami area for the most Super Bowls hosted by any city or region. While the venue is familiar, it will be new territory for both starting quarterbacks, Joe Flacco and Colin Kaepernick.

An advanced look at how they got here and where they both excel:

Joe Flacco

Much of Flacco's success this season stemmed from his downfield passing. Flacco has the most pass attempts more than 20 yards downfield this season (101) but has yet to throw an interception on those throws. Since the start of 2008, no quarterback has finished a season with more than 58 attempts without an interception (Brett Favre, 2009).

Flacco, however, did not attempt a pass thrown more than 20 yards downfield against the 49ers in Week 12 of the 2011 season. In his career, Flacco has only four games without such an attempt, two of which came in Week 17.

What's more, his downfield attack is becoming increasingly potent. Flacco completed eight passes on throws more than 20 yards downfield in his first nine career postseason games, but has 10 completions in three games this postseason.

The Ravens, however, have been more run-heavy with Jim Caldwell as offensive coordinator. Prior to Caldwell, the Ravens were rushing on 40.4 percent of plays, but under Caldwell that percentage has increased to 48.5.

Colin Kaepernick

Kaepernick, meanwhile, has improved against added pressure during the postseason, primarily because he is making quicker decisions. He held onto the football for 3.8 seconds before passing, taking a sack or scrambling in the regular season when facing five or more pass rushers (league average: 3.4 seconds). That has dipped to 2.8 seconds in the postseason, and the result has been a 98.9 Total QBR (out of 100).

In addition, Kaepernick hasn’t been breaking the pocket as often this postseason, with 49 of his 52 attempts (94.2 percent) coming from within the pocket. In the regular season, 78.9 percent of his attempts came within the pocket, second-lowest in the league (Russell Wilson, 73.3 percent).

His accuracy has been another huge asset. Kaepernick has seen only 12.5 percent of his pass attempts fall incomplete due to an over- or underthrown pass. When Kaepernick is off-target, the result is almost always an overthrow, as only four of Kaepernick’s 101 incompletions (including playoffs) have been a result of an underthrown pass.

Super Bowl XLVII is certainly a matchup of varying experience. Flacco's 62 wins in the regular season and postseason are the most by a QB in his first five seasons in the Super Bowl era, while Kaepernick has just nine career starts including the playoffs.

Colin Kaepernick took over as the San Francisco 49ers' starting quarterback in Week 11 after Alex Smith was sidelined with a concussion in the previous week. Since stepping in, Kaepernick has led the Niners to a 7-2 record and their first Super Bowl appearance in nearly 20 years.

He's not the first backup quarterback to lead his team to the Super Bowl after riding the pine early in the season. In fact, Kaepernick will be the sixth quarterback to start a Super Bowl after not starting any of his team's first five games of the same season. The others:

• Terry Bradshaw, 1974 Pittsburgh Steelers:
Bradshaw attempted a pass in just one of Pittsburgh's first six games of the 1974 season, playing behind Joe Gilliam. Bradshaw took over as the starter in Week 7 and went on to lead Pittsburgh to a win in Super Bowl IX, the first of four Super Bowls the Steelers would win in a six-year span.

• Vince Ferragamo, 1979 Los Angeles Rams
Ferragamo made his first start of the season in Week 12 for the Rams after Pat Haden was injured and Jeff Rutledge was benched. Ferragamo led the Rams to six wins in seven games on the way to Super Bowl XIV, where they fell to the Steelers.

• Jim Plunkett, 1980 Oakland Raiders
Plunkett took over after starter Dan Pastorini broke his leg during Week 5. Though Oakland was just 2-3 when Plunkett made his debut, the former Heisman Trophy winner took the Raiders to Super Bowl XV on the strength of nine wins in their final 11 regular-season games. Plunkett took home Super Bowl MVP honors after a 27-10 win over the Eagles.

• Jeff Hostetler, 1990 New York Giants
Hostetler replaced Phil Simms after the Giants star quarterback broke his foot in Week 15. Hostetler, a career backup, had started just two games in four prior NFL seasons. But that didn’t stop him from leading New York to five straight wins overall, including a 20-19 victory over the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXV.

• Trent Dilfer, 2000 Baltimore Ravens
Dilfer stepped in for Tony Banks in Week 9 after the Ravens' offense was held without a touchdown for four straight weeks. After losing in his first start, Dilfer's Ravens won their final seven regular-season contests and went on to win each of their four postseason games by double digits, including a 34-7 drubbing of the Giants in Super Bowl XXXV.