The 49ers and Ravens returned to practice, which means we are officially closing in on the Super Bowl at a rapid pace. Super Bowl week is a lot of fluff early on, but things get serious once the teams are practicing and the "game week" really gets going.
In the video above, I took a few minutes to look at some of the key matchups for Sunday's game. This list is obviously not exhaustive, but I thought it would be a good starting point to discuss what matters on Sunday. I know plenty will disagree, so please drop something in the comments with your thoughts on the key matchups on Sunday.
I did focus in on Colin Kaepernick for two of the matchups, and really I think this game will come down to Kaepernick in more ways than one. From the running side of things, do the Ravens try what the Falcons did two weeks ago, or do they take their chances that their defensive linemen and outside linebackers will read properly? From the passing side, how will the defense shade toward Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis? It impacts those players, but it dramatically impacts the play-calling and decision-making of Colin Kaepernick. It will be a fascinating chess match.
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