We are only 24 hours away from the biggest game of the year; it is also the biggest game in the careers of the two opposing quarterbacks.  Joe Flacco and Colin Kaepernick are making their Super Bowl debuts and they could not be more of a contrast in style.  Flacco is the traditional quarterback as he likes to stand in the pocket meanwhile Kaepernick is more of the hot trend in the NFL that is a zone read quarterback. 

Now with Flacco it is a little easier to game plan for.  You don’t have to worry about his mobility burning your defense, but you do have to account for the deep ball.  He is one of the better deep ball passers in the league so he can be extremely dangerous with Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones as Denver found out three weeks ago.  He is the more experienced player having started from game one after being drafted in 2008 at pick number 18. 

Flacco is a more accomplished quarterback than most people give him credit for.  He holds NFL records for most road playoff wins (6), most wins by a quarterback in his first 80 starts (54), and only quarterback to start and win a playoff game in each of their first five seasons.  When it comes to winning football games, Flacco is a man on a mission.

One interesting note on Flacco is that he isn’t the only athlete in the family, one brother Mike is a first baseman in the Orioles organization and John is a walk on receiver for the Stanford Cardinals.

Kaepernick is the next in line of read option quarterbacks.  The second year man out of Nevada (originator of the pistol offense) is starting in only his 10th career game.  He has set a record of his own, most yards rushing by a quarterback (181).  The only difference between him and the record he broke was that he did it on a bigger stage, the playoffs.  Kaepernick is a freakish athlete and creates problems for most teams.  Packers were unable to stop him running the ball and Falcons had trouble with his arm, sure makes it difficult to game plan against him. 

It seems as if Kap is playing with a chip on his shoulders.  He wasn’t offered any major college scholarships other than the one he was offered at Nevada.  This win will solidify the confidence that Harbaugh had in him and put him in elite company.  Now San Francisco is chasing their NFL Record sixth Lombardi Trophy and won their first five with only two different quarterbacks; perhaps the greatest quarterback ever to play the game in Joe Montana and Steve Young being the two. 

One interesting note on Kaepernick is that football may very well be his second best sport.  He was 11-2 with 1.27 ERA as a pitcher in high school, and he also threw 92 mph.  Which might be why the ball gets to his receivers so quickly? 

Either way, you look at it this probably won’t be the last time we see either quarterback on this stage.