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So yes, most of the Super Bowl's story lines had little to do with Flacco. But this was nothing new for Flacco, who, despite his own professions of self-confidence, has rarely been seen as a member of the N.F.L.'s coterie of top quarterbacks.

After the Ravens' victory over San Francisco, however, the facts can no longer be ignored: at 28, Flacco now has the same number of postseason wins (nine) and Super Bowl titles (one) as Peyton Manning, who happens to be one of the three explosive quarterbacks that Flacco outplayed during the Ravens' magical run to their franchise's second Super Bowl championship.

First, Flacco beat Manning on a bitterly cold day in Denver. Then he knocked off New England's Tom Brady on the road two weeks ago in the A.F.C. championship game. Finally, after taking down two icons, Flacco beat the wunderkind Colin Kaepernick, whose read-option versatility may well be the wave of the future but was not the style of the moment here Sunday night.

Quite simply, Flacco was better: he completed 22 of 33 passes for 287 yards and 3 touchdowns and, perhaps most important, did not throw an interception. Flacco, whose contract expires after this season, was named the game's most valuable player in what might be the best start to a player's free agency in the history of professional sports.

"Joe was phenomenal," Ravens Coach John Harbaugh said. "He's got the guts of a burglar. He was doing it all night making plays."

Last April, Flacco was almost universally mocked when he said he did not think he was among the top five quarterbacks in the league, but rather, that he was the best quarterback of all, better than Brady and Manning and Green Bay's Aaron Rodgers. "I don't think I'd be very successful at my job if I didn't feel that way," he said.

Now, the sentiment does not seem so absurd. Flacco made every kind of throw on Sunday, from in-the-pocket strikes to on-the-run heaves. There was the 30-yard pass to Anquan Boldin in the first quarter where Flacco slipped out of San Francisco linebacker Aldon Smith's flailing grasp. There was the 56-yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Jones in the second quarter in which Flacco flung the ball 50 yards in the air.

Then there was, finally, the critical fourth-quarter third-and-1 completion to Boldin on a perfect back-shoulder throw that moved the Ravens into position for their final field goal.

"I don't think it's going to settle in for a while," Flacco said afterward. "We'll have this thing forever."

When it was over, and the Ravens poured out on to the field, Flacco's typically understated personality was on display. While linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed pranced and preened, sprinting up and down the field, Flacco stayed mostly low-key. He exchanged a few hugs and high-fives and embraced the Ravens' owner, Steve Bisciotti.

In a rare moment of candor for him, television cameras appeared to catch Flacco utter an exuberant expletive, but otherwise he was mostly at ease.

Of course, this is Flacco's style. He generally deals in platitudes and bromides, leaving the visible signs of leadership to other players. Before the game, Lewis was the one in the middle of the Ravens' huddle, shrieking and swaying, whipping his teammates into a frenzied lather.

After the game, too, Flacco seemed content to stay in the background. When the Ravens gathered on the stage for the presentation of the Vince Lombardi Trophy, Jim Nantz of CBS had to call Flacco up to the front for the typical interview with the game's M.V.P. and, after giving a short answer to one question, Flacco again made way for Lewis to step up to the microphone.

"It's just who I am," Flacco said of his personality. "I don't really know if your demeanor off the field impacts that but it may."

Certainly it did not hurt Flacco, who thrived during a season in which he saw negotiations on a new contract break down and had to adapt to a new offensive coordinator after Harbaugh fired Cam Cameron and moved Jim Caldwell into the play-calling role in December. Then, on Sunday, he did not allow the Ravens to break after a power failure seemed to spark the 49ers to a late-game rally.

Unruffled, Flacco shone when it mattered most. He did not throw an interception in the postseason (his last one was on Dec. 16) and he threw 11 touchdown passes in the Ravens' four playoff wins.

"The moment doesn't get too big," Flacco said. "We are comfortable. We've been there before. We've failed before. We've succeeded before. We are not worried about the outcome. We just go out there and play football, execute and we believe that if we do that, and do that to our ability, then eventually it is going to work out."

Is he the best quarterback in the league? Some will surely continue to say no. But it is impossible to deny what Flacco accomplished this season. And even though history may remember Sunday as Lewis's last ride or the Harbaugh brothers' reunion, it may also have been the true beginning of Flacco's legacy.