It may not have been the most flawless Super Bowl, but it was top tier in my book when it came to excitement and action, both on and off the football field.

Off the field, kudos to whoever made it happen for the Sandy Hook Elementary School students to sing just prior to kickoff. To see those young kids, full of life and innocence, makes you wonder how on earth anyone could ever shoot and kill some of their classmates.

I also enjoyed the National Anthem, performed by Alicia Keys. It wasn’t the way Francis Scott Key intended it to be sung, but hardly anyone sings it that way anymore. I think because they are singing it at the Super Bowl, they have to inject all these extraneous notes.

Beyonce was her bouncy, dancing machine self during halftime and far better than some of the retreads the NFL has trotted out there in the past.

It was unfortunate the Superdome experienced a blackout during the game. It covered approximately half the field and took 34 minutes to regain full power. Everyone seems to be passing the buck for how it happened. I heard a cluster of squirrels providing the power had a 30-minute break in its union contract.

Now to the game, which drew a preliminary 52.5 rating in the Nashville market. That means 596,761 local homes saw all or part of the game. That beat the overnight rating (48.1) from a selection of big cities. It was the most watched TV event in U.S. history.

Viewers saw the quarterback of the future in San Francisco’s Colin Kaepernick. He is 6-4 with a powerful arm and an ability to run, which he did seven times for 62 yards and a touchdown. Kaepernick threw for 302 yards, with one interception. Remarkable numbers, as this was only his 10th NFL game as a starter.

To coincide with Kaepernick’s start, we perhaps saw the NFL offense of the future. That may be a stretch as the NFL is slow to change from a pocket passing offense. The 49ers read option offense requires a quarterback who can pass/run and make split second decisions.

I saw more imagination in the 49ers offense than I have seen from the Titans since they came to town. Locker may be an inch shorter and a little lighter on the scales than Kaepernick, but Locker has proven he can run. But that is another column for another day.

Kaepernick was not widely known going into the 2011 draft. He was the sixth quarterback taken that year and lasted until the fourth pick of the second round, one spot behind Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton. Locker was the No. 8 pick that season, the second quarterback taken behind No. 1 draft pick Cam Newton.

We also saw the value in the traditional NFL offense with Baltimore’s Joe Flacco. It was Flacco who earned MVP honors Sunday night. The fifth year pro plays with a steady hand and is Joe Unflappable.

He finished the season with a remarkable 11 touchdown passes and no interceptions in four playoff games.

It wasn’t a perfectly played game, but then Super Bowl games never are. The pressure is enormous.

Just when you thought the Ravens would run away with it, the 49ers made it a game. And what a game it was.

Contact Sports Columnist Joe Biddle at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .