BY STEVEN KUBITZA

There were countless non-game related story lines heading into the game between the Ravens and 49ers, but the focus by the announcers was on the field during the Super Bowl’s first half.

Jim Nantz and Phil Simms did a great job of avoiding talk of off-the-field issues. The issues related to Ray Lewis, (possible PED use) were ignored. Those issues were a focus in the pre-game show, but not during the game.

The one story line addressed in the first-half commentary was the Harbaugh brothers coaching against each other. CBS showed their family and side-by-side shots of their reactions to plays. However, it was not distracting.  The focus on the brothers was acceptable because another set of brothers may never meet up in a Super Bowl, again.

Great plays were highlighted, as they well should be, and the broadcast team was fair in giving praise to certain players during the first half. They focused on quarterbacks for both teams and despite the fact that Joe Flacco outplayed Colin Kaepernick in the first half, the commentators were not overly critical.