RICK MORRISSEY
Bucs’ top-ranked defense will carry the day
For years we’ve been hearing what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers can’t do. If we could sum up all of it into one sentence, it would be: The Buccaneers can’t play football.
Now this is very distressing for a business devoted to the sport. That’s why there is so much skepticism surrounding the team, even as the Bucs have stomped through the playoffs looking for more victims. You’ll notice that the Oakland Raiders are the favorites, and you’ll probably nod in agreement.
But allow me to outline a scenario that is likely to unfold Sunday. It’s the same scenario that unfolded when Tampa Bay disassembled the Philadelphia Eagles for the NFC championship.
The Raiders won’t be able to move the ball. The old theory that defense wins championships? The Bucs have the best defense in the NFL, and the Raiders haven’t seen anything like it. The prediction here is that Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon–steady, disciplined, unflappable Rich Gannon–experiences some early failure and struggles to handle it.
Warren Sapp, Simeon Rice, Derrick Brooks, John Lynch . . . the Raiders haven’t seen this volume of talent in one place before. Tennessee is one thing, Tampa Bay another.
The Bucs’ offense isn’t nearly as good as Oakland’s, but it’s good enough, and it has been improving every week during the playoffs. Forget about the Bucs’ sorry past. On Sunday it’s history.
Tampa Bay 24, Oakland 13.
MIKE DOWNEY
Raiders’ offense gets on a roll and will stay there
Super Bowl Sunday in a nutshell:
I. Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis is shown on TV, looking much like Severus Snape, potions professor of Slytherin House in the Harry Potter stories.
II. Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Somebody is shown on TV, unrecognized by anyone who owns a TV.
III. “The Star-Spangled Banner” gets caterwauled by somebody spangled, trying to show everybody why she’s a star.
IV. Coin flip. Raiders issue challenge. TV replay proves referee was wrong, it was tails.
V. In first big TV commercial, Bob Dole sings and dances, while Britney Spears sits in chair watching him.
VI. Raiders race to 14-point halftime lead, which could have been 28 points if not for 14 penalties for unsportsmanlike conduct.
VII. Raiders win game, Rich Gannon is MVP, says “I’m going to Disneyland!” Raiders fans immediately head north on motorcycles to destroy Disneyland.
Oakland 45, Tampa Bay 24. Jerry Rice and Tim Brown catch two touchdown passes apiece, then begin estate planning, like many people should when approaching 65.
DON PIERSON
Tampa Bay will survive in a thrilling Super Bowl
Never has one coach had as much influence on a Super Bowl as Jon Gruden. The question is how much he can help his new team hurt his old one. If he comes close to duplicating his masterful dissection of coach of the year Andy Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles for the NFC title, the Bucs should prevail.
Gruden’s knowledge of the Raiders and their schemes should give the Bucs an edge that his Oakland successor, Bill Callahan, can’t match. Sentiment and the oddsmakers favor the experienced and accomplished Raiders, who look like an all-star old-timers team, but destiny favors the youngest coach in the league and his speedy, relentless and focused No. 1-ranked defense.
This is the first Super Bowl between the No. 1 offense and No. 1 defense. In a season of unprecedented offense, the old adage about defense winning championships will be tested. The No. 1 defense has played in seven previous Super Bowls, compiling a 6-1 record. The lone losers were the 1982 Miami Dolphins in a strike-shortened season.
Then again, a No. 1 defense never has faced a No. 1 offense led by an MVP quarterback like Rich Gannon, a coach on the field.
If either team is counting on turnovers, it might be disappointed. In the giveaway-takeaway ratio, the Bucs tied for the league lead at plus-17 and the Raiders were fifth at plus-12. Gannon threw a league-high 618 passes and only 10 interceptions. Brad Johnson threw 451 passes and only six interceptions.
Bucs defensive tackle Warren Sapp will try to apply quick inside pressure and prevent Gannon from pump faking and picking his way downfield. The overlooked key to the game, however, will be whether the Raiders’ defense can shut down Johnson.
Tampa Bay 24, Oakland 17. More entertaining than the ordinary pirate show.
JOHN MULLIN
Turnover battle goes the way of the Bucs; so does the crown
The No. 1 offense in the NFL will score some points on even the best of defenses, and Oakland will indeed dent the Tampa Bay end zone. But the “Raidahs” don’t get out of their own Coliseum without a whole lot of help from Tennessee Titans turnovers. Tampa Bay is the league’s best in turnover ratio and doesn’t give the ball away often while pressuring teams into giving it up.
More important, the Tampa Bay defense is more than a match for the Raiders. Oakland was the No. 1 rushing team two years ago but doesn’t run as well or as often now.
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The Bucs are nearly perfect against the pass, holding opposing QBs to abysmal passer ratings with simple schemes executed by very good players.
Coach Jon Gruden gets a traditionally playoff-weak Bucs team over the final hump. Oakland has the veterans. Tampa has the fire and the Lombardi Trophy Sunday night.
Tampa Bay 20, Oakland 17.
MELISSA ISAACSON
Tampa’s defensive pressure will harass Gannon into mistakes
The Buccaneers can play the underdog card all they want, but this Super Bowl is as much of a toss-up as any in recent memory.
Whether that translates into a classic remains to be seen, but when the No. 1 defense plays the No. 1 offense, something has to give and it’s usually offense.
The Bucs don’t need a blueprint but have one nonetheless in Miami’s 23-17 victory over Oakland on Dec. 15. Relentless pressure forced Rich Gannon into hurried passes.
Certainly the Bucs’ pass rush is up to the task, demonstrating last week against the Eagles how to contain a quarterback in the pocket. While Gannon isn’t likely to develop happy feet a la Donovan McNabb, he can be forced into throwing an interception or two against one of the league’s best and most underrated secondaries.
Will the Bucs avoid the big mistake? Like the Raiders, they are an experienced group, but not in Super Bowl games–not a single player on their roster has played in one.
The Raiders also have multiple offensive weapons. Still, they ran the ball only once in three quarters against the Titans. Their special teams have had problems covering punts and kicks, while Tampa Bay ranks in the top five in punt returns and is good enough returning kicks.
For the Bucs to have a real shot, the defense will have to manufacture a touchdown or two. If they want to be mentioned with the all-time great defenses, they’ll find a way to get it done.
Tampa Bay 24, Oakland 21. Martin Gramatica’s tired legs still have enough spring for a celebratory leap after his game-winning field goal.
FRED MITCHELL
Oakland’s veterans will answer the bell and prevail in the end
So many offensive weapons, so little time. Tampa Bay has never been to this dance, and the age-challenged Oakland Raiders are feeling the urgency.
I maintain a growing faith that the Raiders’ offense will find a way to circumvent the Bucs’ punishing defense. Rich Gannon’s resilience in this game will mirror the patience he has shown throughout his career. Tampa Bay defenders Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice may have more trouble than they bargained for with the Raiders’ offensive line and Gannon’s uncanny ability to release the ball quickly.
While Tampa Bay keys on receivers Tim Brown, Jerry Porter, Jerry Rice and Doug Jolley, look for running back Charlie Garner to keep the Bucs off balance with his quick bursts from scrimmage, as well as his pass catching in the flat.
Tampa Bay doesn’t want to get into a shootout, even though the Bucs’ offense has been more productive lately. Visions of Tampa Bay’s 15-0 five-field-goal victory over the Bears in the regular season still dance through my head. I’m not sold on the Bucs’ offense.
The intangibles also favor the Raiders, essentially playing a home game at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium. And don’t forget the Raiders’ big-play defenders: Rod Woodson, Bill Romanowski and Sam Adams.
Kickers Sebastian Janikowski of the Raiders and Martin Gramatica of the Bucs had very similar seasons. The game could very well come down to their late-game efficiency.
Oakland 27, Tampa Bay 23.
TERRY BANNON
Youthful roster propels Bucs over venerable bunch of Raiders
A generation of Chicagoans grew up not thinking much about the Bears’ chances of winning the Super Bowl. Football in late January was for other cities. But that changed.
A generation of fans almost everywhere has grown up not thinking much at all about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, much less their chances of winning a Super Bowl. That’s changed too.
On Sunday, the 17th anniversary of the Bears’ only Super Bowl victory, Tampa Bay will claim its first. And the Bucs will do it in a manner that will look familiar to Chicagoans–with a suffocating defense.
Tampa Bay has the NFL’s No. 1-ranked defense. Just as important, the Bucs have been dominant in other key areas. They led the league in one of the least publicized but most important defensive stats, allowing only 14.8 first downs per game. And they allowed opponents to convert only 33.6 percent of third downs, third best in the NFL.
The accomplishments of Warren Sapp, Simeon Rice, Derrick Brooks, Ronde Barber and John Lynch have been well chronicled. But don’t forget Brian Kelly, the best cornerback you haven’t heard much about.
Jerry Rice and Tim Brown know all about the cornerbacks they’ll face, Kelly and Barber. But their aging legs won’t let them get past the Bucs.
The Raiders do have the league’s MVP in quarterback Rich Gannon and the NFL’s No. 1-ranked offense. But they are an old team taking their last shot at glory. The Bucs have more young, fresh legs than creaky bones. It will show up in the fourth quarter, if not before.
And nobody knows how the Raiders’ age can be exploited like Bucs coach Jon Gruden, who coached the Raiders the last four years. “Jon knows the soul of this team,” Raiders offensive coordinator Marc Trestman said.
Tampa Bay 23, Oakland 13. Simeon Rice gets three sacks and is voted the game’s MVP.