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VW returning to Super Bowl

Volkswagen of America will advertise during the Super Bowl for the third consecutive year, premiering a 60-second spot at the beginning of the third quarter.

The spot will feature the all-new Beetle, which arrived in dealerships in September. The 2012 Beetle was teased as a silhouette in last year's advertisement, but the iconic redesign is now ready for its Super Bowl close-up.

"The Super Bowl is the perfect platform to feature the bold, dynamic, and sportiest Beetle ever made," said Tim Mahoney, chief product and marketing officer of Volkswagen of America.

VW's spots in last year's Super Bowl were "The Force" and "Black Beetle." "The Force" featured the 2012 Chattanooga-made Passat and mini-Darth Vader.

BALTIMORE — John Harbaugh aggressively pumped his fist when Joe Flacco converted a big third-down throw. He jumped on the back of linebacker Jameel McClain as he ran off the field after a key sack in the fourth quarter, and he gave several of his players hugs after receiving the first of two celebratory Gatorade baths.

And when it was all over, when his Baltimore Ravens had turned a superb all-around effort into a 16-6 victory over the San Francisco 49ers in front of an announced Thanksgiving night crowd of 71,435 at M&T Bank Stadium, Harbaugh jogged across the field and pulled his younger brother by 15 months in for an embrace, and some kind words.

The first matchup of head-coaching brothers in NFL history went the way of John Harbaugh’s Ravens as they scored the game’s final 10 points to deliver Jim Harbaugh’s 49ers just their second loss and their first since Week 2.

Flacco’s eight-yard touchdown strike to second-year tight end Dennis Pitta on the first play of the fourth quarter broke a 6-6 deadlock, and was all an inspired Ravens defense would need. Playing a second straight game without middle linebacker and emotional leader Ray Lewis, the Ravens tied a franchise record with nine sacks of 49ers quarterback Alex Smith and held standout running back Frank Gore to 39 yards rushing.

Linebacker Terrell Suggs, who spoke during the week about how badly the players wanted to get the head coach the victory over his younger brother, had three sacks — all in the second half — and defensive end Cory Redding had a career-high 2 1/2 sacks.

The Ravens improved to 8-3 and gained sole possession of first place in the AFC North pending the Pittsburgh Steelers’ game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night. They are 6-0 at home and have won 16 of their last 17 at M&T Bank Stadium.

The Ravens’ lone touchdown drive was one of their finest all season as it covered 76 yards in 16 plays, and took up 7 minutes 34 seconds spanning the third and fourth quarters. Flacco (15 for 23 passing for 161 yards and a touchdown) was 4 for 4 for 34 yards and a touchdown on third down during the drive.

He hit Anquan Boldin for seven yards on third and six, Lee Evans for eight on third and seven, and Pitta for 11 on third and six before finding Pitta again on third and goal from the eight for a touchdown. It was the first of Pitta’s career.

The Ravens had a 6-3 lead heading into halftime, but that was erased when the 49ers opened the second half with a 13-play drive that lasted 7:36. A 10-yard sack by Terrell Suggs — the Ravens’ sixth of the night — forced San Francisco into a long field goal, but David Akers drilled it from 52 yards to tie the game and improve to 6 for 6 from 50 yards or beyond this season.

Both Harbaughs spent the week trying to divert attention off themselves and onto a matchup between two first-place teams. They weren’t very successful.

The story line dominated the couple of days leading into the game and the pregame activity Thursday night. When the two brothers met and embraced at midfield about an hour and a half before the game, they were swarmed by photographers and microphones. Perhaps made uncomfortable by the scene, their chat lasted only a couple of minutes before both Harbaughs headed upfield to be closer to their respective teams.

Nov 24, 2011 - A couple months ago, Laurent Robinson was a backup wide receiver that was probably happy just to be on a NFL roster. After his two-touchdown performance during the Dallas Cowboys' 20-19 win over the Miami Dolphins during Thursday's Thanksgiving Day game, he might just be the hottest wide receiver in football.

Robinson has now scored seven touchdowns in the past five weeks -- with at least one touchdown in each of those games -- when he got his first extended look following an injury to Miles Austin. His second touchdown of the game on Thursday showed an impressive ability to stay with the play, as Tony Romo bought some time while scrabbling around and allowed Robinson to get open in the back of the endzone.



That was the final play of an impressive drive that featured Romo going 7-for-7, including two long completions on plays in which he looked as though he would be sacked. The drive covered 77 yards on nine plays.

Although the Dolphins eventually took back the lead, the Cowboys ultimately won on Dan Bailey's second field goal of the game. His 28-yarder as time expired was his 26th consecutive field goal and finished off 54-yard drive that took up the game's final 2:59.

The Cowboys' ability to finish off their drives proved to be the difference. The Dolphins settled for four field goals, with all of them coming from inside the Cowboys' 20-yard line. Their only touchdown of the game came on a 35-yard catch by Brandon Marshall. Shayne Graham also missed a 47-yarder, which was his first miss in 26 tries that proved to be costly.

Dolphins quarterback Matt Moore outplayed counterpart Tony Romo in many ways, throwing for more yardage and throwing two fewer interceptions, but the Cowboys signal caller was much better when his team needed it most. Romo led the Cowboys to three second-half scores on five possessions. That helped him overcome a disastrous first half in which he was picked off twice and was generally ineffective.