When the 49ers and Ravens faced each other in Super Bowl XLVII, it looked like a rematch we could reasonably expect to see again over the next few years. At the least, this was expected to be just the beginning for Jim Harbaugh and San Francisco, a team so absurdly loaded with talent that they could start making luxury mid-round project picks with their draft stockpile.
Now, we find the latest incarnation of this rivalry featuring two last-place 1-4 teams.
"It's not tough at all to not think about it," John said, via The Baltimore Sun. "It just never comes to mind. It's not part of the equation at all. Life moves on.
"I've said this before, many times, but Jim loved his time there. ... He feels great about it. If he feels great about it, I feel great about it for him. Other than that, I'm not involved in that at all. Never was."
If nothing else, Sunday's matchup teaches us a few things:
- Realize that the cliche -- take nothing for granted -- is almost 100 percent true in this league. How many of us would have bought a million shares of the 2011 San Francisco 49ers at a high price? At the end of the day, this is an imperfect system run by humans, many of whom have attitudes and egos.
- Be in awe of the Ravens. This is by far their worst season under Harbaugh and one of the few bad seasons they've had under general manager Ozzie Newsome.
