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This feature is the sole opinion of Chris Smith and it may not
correspond to the rankings / projections of the Footballguys.com website.
Super Bowl XXXVII
Oakland Raiders 13-5 vs. Tampa Bay
Buccaneers 14-4
Game Forecast�
Ahoy Matey!� Yo ho ho and a
bottle of rum.� Super Bowl XXXVII is the
all-pirate affair with the swashbuckling Buccaneers trying to steal the
treasure away from the legendary Raiders in what is sure to be a Super Bowl
classic.�
Is it just me or does this Super Bowl resemble an arena football
league game with a bigger field and better players?� Both teams have an
abhorrence to running the football with the Buccaneers simply horrible
at it and the Raiders choosing not to even try on many weeks.� Last week the Raiders gave the ball to the
running back on a running play only 9 times.�
In the entire game!� Rich Gannon
passed the ball 41 times and took off to run with the ball 8 times.� What was once the driving force on a
championship team has become a fifth wheel on the Raiders rise to glory.� Who needs to
run the ball anyways when you have Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, Jerry Porter, Doug
Jolley, Charlie Garner (catching passes) and Rich Gannon playing catch every
weekend.�
While the Raiders can indeed run with some degree of success when
they choose to actually give it a try, the Buccaneers are downright awful when
it comes to the running game.� Last week
for example, the Buccaneers tried to run the football with their running backs
26 times.� Now that is a team that at
least attempts to run the ball in a football game.� However the 26 carries resulted in a grand
total of 51 rushing yards and 9 of those yards came from one carry from
third-string running back Aaron Stecker who had one carry.� A Super Bowl bound team that averaged less
than 2 yards a rush in the Championship game?�
This is certainly not Vince Lombardi�s NFL anymore.
Super
Bowl XXXVII will forever be known as the Chucky Bowl.� I scoffed a little this off-season when the
Buccaneers gave up the farm to land the head coach.� I was (and still am) a big fan of Jon Gruden
but I had my doubts that any head coach is worth a prize such as�
Two
1st round draft picks
Two
2nd round draft picks
Eight Million dollars in cash.
However,
in his first year with the franchise, Gruden has accomplished what no other
coach could do before him.� Win in the
cold and get to the Super Bowl.� Gruden
is an intense, fired up competitor who lives and dreams football.� To go into Philadelphia and lay a whooping on the
Eagles in Philadelphia is one heck of an accomplishment and he
certainly paid back the price the team paid to get him with interest.� It was a long, impossible to ignore
legacy of incompetence the Buccaneers had when it came to cold-weather football
games and Gruden helped the team to put that awful losing streak behind them in
a big way.� His replacement Bill Calahan
is very different from him but they both are very passionate about what they do
for a living.� Here is Gruden�s take on
the Raiders first year coach.
To
view the entire article, click here
"He's a great coach, he's a grinder," Gruden said of
Callahan. "That's the best compliment I can give him. He's a guy that
works hard. There's not a lot of time he spends on the golf course. I don't
think he does the restaurant circuit. This guy is a grinder. He studies tape
fanatically. He knows everything about you and your team. He's just a great
football coach. He is just a great on-the-field coach. He's got charisma with
his players."
It�s pretty obvious that Gruden has a lot of respect for Callahan
and that is very nice to see.
Now
I give the Buccaneers all the credit in the world for going into Philadelphia and winning a huge game for
the Tampa Bay franchise.�
However, did it appear to anybody else that the Eagles were playing the
Championship game not to lose?�
The heart of the Eagles team is an aggressive, attacking defense that
blitzes on every down and attempts to disrupt everything the offenses can throw
at them.� During the entire first half
against what amounts to an average at best offensive team, the Eagles sat back
in a vanilla zone and let the Buccaneers pass the ball down the
field.� I don�t remember the Eagles even
attempting to blitz until the second half and by then all the momentum of the
game was in the hands of Captain Chucky, the man with a thousand faces and his
troops.� This is the second year in a row
that Andy Reid and his coaching staff appeared to freeze up in the big game and
display a very vanilla game plan.� There
is a very fine line in the NFL between being a good NFL coach, a great NFL
coach and an unemployed NFL coach sitting at the local Denny�s and wondering
what happened to his charmed life. To be a great NFL coach, you must be willing
to let it all hang out in big games and give your players the best possible
chance to win.� Coach Jon Gruden did that
on Sunday and Andy Reid did not.� Not
trying to throw the ball down field all game long was simply inexcusable.� If the team didn�t have the confidence in
Donovan McNabb to make it happen, they should have replaced him with A.J.
Feeley and let him pass the football.� It
will be a long, painful off-season for Eagles fans (I know how you feel
being a Dolphins fan in the midst of a painful off-season myself).
Now onto the game.� This game
has more going for it than the story of Jon Gruden matching up against the team
he helped to assemble during his years in Oakland.� This will be a fun game to watch because of
the highflying passing exploits of the Raiders matching up with the ultimate
shut down pass defense in the Buccaneers.�
Last week, Ronde Barber had one of the finest defensive efforts I have
ever seen during the playoffs.� He was
simply a one man wrecking crew and let the entire world know that he was indeed
screwed out of a Pro-Bowl slot this season.�
How could he possibly not be a pro-bowler this season when he was one of
the top few defensive backs in the entire NFL this year?� Very puzzling.� Rich Gannon put up staggering passing numbers
this season in a year that could help him find his way to the Hall of Fame one
day.� He completed 67.5 % of his passes
for a hefty 4475 passing yards on the season and was on pace to break Dan
Marino�s record before stumbling a little in the final two weeks.� The Raiders receiving core is sensational,
with two of the finest to ever play the game in Tim Brown and Jerry Rice
drawing the coverage and allowing the very talented, third year receiver Jerry
Porter to constantly beat single coverage for touchdowns.� Jerry (I don�t want to get old) Rice
continues to cement his legacy as the top player in NFL history.� Note that I didn�t say best receiver of
all-time because I believe that is a given.�
With what Rice has accomplished in the twilight of his career, I believe
he has put himself in the best player of all time category.� Is there any receiving record that Rice
doesn�t own yet?�
It
is almost impossible to slow down the Raiders passing attack when they are on
their game but the Buccaneers have the ability to give it one hell of a
shot.��� The Buccaneers had one of the
finest defensive efforts in the last thirty NFL seasons.� Their pass defense could be considered the
best unit in NFL history.� The defense
gave up a paltry 155.6 passing yards per game on the season (next closest was
182.3 yards per game-Colts), allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete only
50.8 % of their passes (next closest was a distant 54%-Packers), gave up only
10 passing touchdowns (next closest was the Broncos 15 touchdowns against), and
finally the team intercepted the ball a league leading 31 times (next closest
was the Ravens 25).� What is staggering
about those numbers is that the Buccaneers easily won all four of those
categories and the runner-up in each category was a different NFL team.� It truly was a dominating season for the
Buccaneers and if they can pull off a Super Bowl win, the defense will be
remembered as one of the finest to ever play the game.
Now
onto the Buccaneers passing game which has been on fire as
well.� Quarterback Brad Johnson
has been on fire over the final ten games this season and has the offense
rolling in a big way.� Johnson completed
a solid 62.3 % of his passes on the season and threw 22 passing touchdowns
against a miniscule 6 interceptions.�
That my friends, is a very fine season and he has continue to impress
during the post-season with 455 passing yards in the two-playoff games.� While not striking fear into their opponents
like the Raiders trio at receiver, the combination of Keyshawn �Just throw
me the DAMN BALL� Johnson, Keenan McCardell and Joe �I will catch one
pass on the day and completely turn the game around in our favor�
Jurevicius are a solid trio that do a good job each week.�
I
think Keyshawn Johnson actually gets an unfair rep.� I agree with him when he says he is unfairly
treated because of his wanting the football in his hands.� Do you think Jerry Rice would stand idly by
in his prime if the ball wasn�t going to him often enough in games?� How about Terrell Owens?� Randy Moss?�
Most of the top-flight receivers want the ball on every play and Johnson
is no different.� He doesn�t get in
trouble off of the field, carries himself with confidence and doesn�t make a
fool out of himself like so many athletes do in all sports this year.� Here is what Johnson himself wrote on the
matter on ESPN�s site.
To view the entire
article, click here
I made the
statement that if someone doesn't like me, it means
that person has problems with himself. I saw everyone start that little murmur,
like: "There he goes again." But look at it -- it's true. I haven't
done drugs. I haven't been arrested -- at least not in 15 years. I don't beat
people up. If people don't like me, it means they don't like a player who has
worked very, very hard ever since I was a kid to get where I am today -- here
getting ready to play in the Super Bowl, which, even as I write it, gives me a
feeling that I'm unable to describe.
I have always played football with one purpose: to win. Let me say
this loud and clear: I don't care about scoring touchdowns. I care more about
moving the chains. And if that means throwing a block to get someone 15 yards
instead of six, I'm there. Anytime. Take a look at Joe
Jurevicius' big-time run last week. He turned a 5-yard pass into a play that
just might have been the biggest reason we're here in San Diego. Where was I? Blocking
the linebacker to give him room. Two weeks ago against San Francisco, when Alstott scored -- where was I?
Throwing a block for him. And there are very few
touchdowns that felt as good as both of those blocks.
The only time I ever say I should
have gotten the ball more is when we lose, because I feel like I could have done
more to help us get the W. In
just about every athletic situation I've been in, I've been the go-to guy, I've
come up with big plays and I've made things happen. It's what's got us places,
won us championships -- high school, Pop Warner, you name it. That's what I do.
So if people don't like me, they don't like winners. Same
thing. End of story.
Now
this is where the Super Bowl gets interesting.�
The Raiders are not fantastic at stopping opponents from passing the
football.� They have their moments such
as shutting down Chad Pennington and the Jets in the second half of the playoff
game two weeks ago but are certainly prone to giving up yardage down the
field.� Charles Woodson is a tremendous
talent at cornerback but he is playing hurt and is a shell of his former
self.� I expect Brad Johnson and the
receiving core to target a lot of short passes underneath of Woodson who needs
to play off of the receivers right now because of the injury.� With the Buccaneers one of the worst rushing
teams in the NFL and the Raiders one of the top run-stopping defenses, I
suspect that the Buccaneers will likely give up on the run early (if they
attempt to establish the run at all) and move the ball down the field using a
strategy similar to the one they used in Philadelphia.� They will use a lot of short pass patterns to
(a) pick up first downs and (b) keep the Raiders passing attack off of the
field.� The defensive coaches for the
Raiders will have to come up with a really good scheme to have success slowing
down the passing game.
The
Raiders are a team that can run the football with some success when they choose
to do it.� What I like about the Raiders
is the coaches� ability to change the game plan to reflect on their opponent
each week.� Last week, the Raiders were
going against a Titans team that is one of the strongest run-stopping units in
football.� Instead of trying to be macho
and running the football for little yardage, the Raiders forewent the running
game altogether and passed the ball up and down the field.� That is a sign of good coaching and you may
see some of that come into play this weekend.�
I expect the Raiders to have twice as many rushing attempts in this game
than they did against the Titans a week ago.�
The Buccaneers are certainly solid against the run but nowhere near as
dominant as they are when it comes to defending the pass.� The Raiders have a very capable running back
in Charlie Garner who should get more work in this game than he has had in
weeks past.� I expect him to have at
least 16 carries in this game as the Raiders surprise with a more balanced
attack than we are used to seeing from the Black and Silver.
Must Starts: Rich Gannon, Jerry Rice, Charlie Garner,
Brad Johnson, Keyshawn Johnson
Possible Starts: Keenan McCardell,
Joe Jurevicius, Tim Brown, Jerry Porter, Doug Jolley
Only in a Pinch: Michael Pittman,
Mike Alstott, Zack Crockett, Ken Dilger, Ricky Dudley
Fantasy
related Injuries � TE Roland Williams � doubtful / C Barret Robbins -
questionable
Final Thoughts:� I am really looking forward to
this year�s Super Bowl.� There are so
many interesting stories to follow in this game.� On the top of the list is Coach Chucky
meeting up with his former team but there are other fine stories to follow such
as Rich Gannon, Tim Brown and the other Raider players looking for their first
Super Bowl in the twilight of their career, the Buccaneers looking for their
first Super Bowl victory, the vaunted Raiders passing attack against the mighty
Buccaneers pass defense and whether or not either team will even try to run the
ball this week.� Will it be forever known
as the Super �Arena� Bowl with both teams passing the ball 50 times or
will one of the two teams surprise us by attempting at establish
a running game?� This game is going to be
a treat and it is very tough to predict the outcome.� I have believed the Raiders to be the better
of the two teams all along but it is hard to go against the hot hand of Brad
Johnson and the Buccaneers offense.� If
the Raiders have a problem slowing down Brad Johnson this week, the Buccaneers
should win.� However I think the Raiders
will contain the Buccaneers passing game just enough to pull out an exciting
fourth quarter finish in a Super Bowl that is destined to become a classic.
Raiders win!
Predicted
Score: Buccaneers 20 and the Raiders 24
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