The Chucky Bowl

[tcjsavannah]

Well, it's the Bucs (Jon Gruden's new team) vs. the Raiders (Jon Gruden's old team) in the Super Bowl.... could be interesting. Always nice to get some new blood into the Super Bowl.. glad to see the Bucs finally make it and end Tampa's professional sports frustration.

 

[Darkness]

Yep, Bucs D vs. Raiders O.... Could be fun half the time...

 

[Flatlander Fox]

I actually think the Raiders will beat the sh!t out of Tampa, because they are much more physical.

Tampa's coverage teams are not good enough to hang with the trio of wideouts that Oakland runs at you.

 

[tcjsavannah]

Dexter Jackson is a mediocre cover safety, but he's fast as hell, so they'll probably put him on Jerry Porter and just hope he has a case of the dropsies, like he did on that one touchdown pass yesterday.

Ronde Barber will be on Jerry Rice, that's easy. Then it's a matter of whether or not Brian Kelly can keep up with Tim Brown.

 

[mad_stork]

This may sound strange, but the Bucs offense has impressed me as of late, and the Raiders defense sucks, so I'm picking the Bucs in a blowout.

 

[Franklyn]

I think the fact that the Bucs have an offense surprised the heck out of the Iggles, who, I suspect, weren't expecting the Bucs to mount much of an attack. But Gruden's a pretty smart guy, and the offense the Bucs ran -- a nice mix of runs and short- and medium passes -- kept the Eagles moving backwards most of the game. I think the Bucs should have some similar success against the Raiders, whose D has been so-so this year.

That said, watch the Raiders O. Did you see how little pass rush the Bucs line mustered at the end of the game? Sapp, Brooks, et. all were sucking wind in the fourth quarter when the Eagles went to a hurry-up offense. Imagine how little punch the Bucs D will have by the third quarter. The Raiders play a pretty up-tempo game, and I think they'll wear the Bucs D to nothing fairly quickly. And if the Bucs can't muster any pass rush, Gannon will eat them alive.

My pick: Raiders 31, Bucs 20.

 

[jiml_63]

Gotta go with Tampa in this one....not only does Chucky know all of their tendencies, the Bucs have a way of manhandling mobile QB's...the over/under on Gannon playing the whole game is 10:00 left in the 3rd quarter....

Chucky 28 Raiders 20

 

[mad_stork]

I'll take the over on that one jiml: Gannons a tough guy.

Franklyn, you make a good point about the Bucs D-line (especially Sapp). But their defensive backs are so good that they can match up with the Raiders 1 on 1 and free up some linebackers to help with the pass rush.

IMO Gruden outcoached Andy Reid last week, and I think he'll do it again this week. I hope the Raiders win, but I just don't see it happening.

 

[Franklyn]

Boy, you guys might be the only ones outside of Tampa picking the Bucs to win.

@ stork -- the bucs do have a great secondary. But they might have their hands full with this one. Rice-Brown-Porter are a heck of a lot scarier than Thrash-Pinkston-Chad Lewis.

I don't have a dog in this particular fight. I'm just hoping for a good game. I doubt it will match last year's Super Bowl in terms of drama - I mean, who can argue against a game-winning field goal as time expires? (Except, of course, our resident Rams fan, Flatlander Fox.) I'm just hoping for a good game. Not even the commercials can keep me glued to the tube if it's a blowout.

 

[tcjsavannah]

Franklyn - true, especially since they sacked the Budweiser lizards a few years ago.

Now -that's- comedy.