Super Bowl 2013: Ray Lewis, Harbaugh Bowl and Five Storylines To Follow in the Big Game

4. Randy Moss might finally win a Super Bowl

Of all the high profile storylines heading into the Super Bowl, one that is getting washed over is the story of Randy Moss. He’s been around since 1998, he’s shattered records and climbed his way to the top of the list when it comes to the best receivers who have ever played the game. But he’s never won a Super Bowl and it’s always been the one thing his critics point to when you ask them about things Randy Moss could never do.

Randy Moss is an entertainer first, Hall of Fame wide receiver second and he’s already gearing up to make what could be his last game ever, one of the most memorable.

Much like his career as a whole, Moss has basically flew under the radar the entire season doing his best to stay out of the headlines. But as soon as the spotlight got it’s brightest, we saw the Randy Moss we all loved to roll our eyes at. Many people believe that if Moss had given 100 percent effort 100 percent of the time, he’d be without a doubt the best statistical receiver ever. But he gave 100 percent of about 25 percent of the time which makes his numbers even more impressive.

If he wins his Super Bowl, he’ll officially become a God to every slacker with talent throughout the world. Moss winning a Super Bowl would send a message that even if you don’t try, if you’re talented enough good things will come. That’s really the only way Moss can go out — straight Super Bowl ring homie.

5. Ray Rice and Frank Gore: the forgotten heroes

All of the talk surrounding the Super Bowl focuses on either Ray Lewis, one of the two quarterbacks or the Harbaugh brothers. But one of the biggest reasons both of these teams are in the Super Bowl is thanks to the hard running style of their featured backs. Ray Rice started out the season virtually the only offensive weapon Baltimore had, but as Joe Flacco began his rise to the top, Rice took a back seat.

Frank Gore was virtually the 49ers only weapon at the start of the season, as the strategy for San Francisco was to run the ball and beat you with defense. But as Colin Kaepernick began his rise to the top, Gore took a back seat.

See a pattern here?

Both of these guys helped put their teams on the map and then handed things off to their quarterbacks. But without Ray Rice’s touchdown at the start of the AFC title game, maybe the Ravens don’t get confident and don’t run up the score and if Frank Gore doesn’t score the game winning touchdown in Atlanta, the Falcons and Ravens are playing each other in the Super Bowl tomorrow.

These backs are two of the best in the league and both could be in for historic days. It’s a shame that they’re not getting more attention but in the grand scheme of things, they’re almost the most important weapon that their respective teams have.

Bonus Storyline: Which Harbaugh Ends Up On Top?

The biggest storyline heading into the Super Bowl surrounds the ultimate sibling squabble. Normal brothers play each other in the Super Bowl in Madden, but the Harbaugh’s do it for real.

First off, a storyline within a storyline is how many times the announcers will mix the two brothers up. Jim, John, John, Jim. When the Harbaugh’s were naming kids, they really weren’t looking out for the rest of us when it came to keeping them apart from one another. But while it may take a while for everyone to sort out who’s who, everyone will know both of them by the time this is over.

Which leads us to another storyline within the storyline: the post-game handshake.

Both brothers have had incidents when it comes to post-game handshakes following insanely emotional games. But what happens when you get two ill-tempered and highly emotional brothers and they’re forced to shake hands after one of them has won the Super Bowl while the other one has lost it. We don’t anticipate a WWE-style smack down but if that happened, no one in the world would ever complain about anything ever again — because we’d be too busy watching the highlight over and over again.

Basically, whatever happens is going to be golden as we couldn’t have asked for two higher profile guys to sqaure off in the Super Bowl. Before, the Super Bowl was about John Elway or Tom Brady but now it’s less about who’s on the field and more about who’s on the sideline.