Before we continue, let’s get this out of the way first.

Yes, the Brothers Harbaugh, are going to compete for the Super Bowl title in less than two weeks from now — John coaching the Baltimore Ravens and Jim for the San Francisco 49ers. Both reached their respective conference championship games last year, but both lost.

This time around, they finally pushed through. The Bro Bowl, as some have already called it.

I’ll admit, the Ravens surprised me last week. They knocked off Peyton Manning in Denver, then going to Foxborough to beat Tom Brady and the New England Patriots — or maybe “crush” is the better word — to advance to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2000.

I suppose the writing has been on the wall since Brady opened his postseason career with a 10-0 record and three Super Bowl titles, but 7-7 and two Super Bowl losses since.

It’s been Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco who has looked poised so far this postseason, throwing for eight touchdowns and zero interceptions.

As a former Pitt Panther, who held a clipboard as an understudy for Tyler Palko before leaving for the University of Delaware, Flacco has come into his own this season.

He has won playoff games in each of the past five seasons and seems to have found his niche. Even the Ravens defense has settled in, blanking the Patriots 21-0 in the second half Sunday.

The 49ers allowed themselves to fall into a 17-0 hole early in the second quarter and trailed 24-14 at the half before rallying in the second half for a 28-24 win.

The Falcons had let a 27-7 fourth-quarter lead evaporate the prior week against the Seattle Seahawks before driving for the game-winning field goal.

The Falcons, however, could not pull off that trick two weeks in a row.

Last year, San Francisco was the darling of the NFL and with its dominant defense, looked to be the team to beat in the postseason. That ended with a loss in the NFC championship game against the New York Giants.

This year, playing the hot hand, as Jim Harbaugh said when he made the mid-season switch from Alex Smith, quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been nothing short of amazing. He rushed for 181 yards in a win over Green Bay the previous week, but toted the ball just twice in last weekend’s win.

I was optimistic on the 49ers making it to the Super Bowl entering the playoffs, but wasn’t completely convinced Kaepernick was going to last. He’s shown he has and will give the Ravens fits, as he will most like carry the ball much like he did against the Packers.

Baltimore was fortunate enough not to face a stiff defense against the Broncos and the Patriots, but the 49ers will be a different story. They’ll try to improve to 6-0 in Super Bowls, a win total which would tie the Pittsburgh Steelers (6-2) for most wins.

The pick: San Francisco 27, Baltimore 19

Sam Tallarico is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.