BALTIMORE — For many of the 108 million Americans who watched on television and the 71,024 patrons who crowded into the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, Super Bowl XLVII remains the “blackout game.”
The lights dimmed for 22 minutes and play stopped for 34, an unthinkable halt to one of the most reliable staples on this country’s entertainment calendar. It was a technological failure tailor-made to spawn conspiracy theories and invite jokes about Beyoncé exploding the grid with her luminescent halftime performance.
The Ravens and San Francisco 49ers also played a football game that night. Improbable heroes emerged. Tactical risks did and did not pay off. One team seemed unstoppable before the power failed, then the other bolted from the darkness — younger, swifter and certain it would seize the gleaming silver trophy coveted by both sides.
