SUPER BOWL FACTOID

EAT UP!:  It has been estimated that 14,500 tons of chips and 4,000 tons of popcorn are eaten on Super Bowl Sunday.

Four teams – the top seeds of the 2002 NFL playoff field – are one victory from a trip to San Diego for Super Bowl XXXVII on January 26.

"This is it," says Philadelphia Eagles defensive end HUGH DOUGLAS.  "This is what everybody plays for."

Sunday’s schedule:

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (13-4) at Philadelphia Eagles (13-4) (FOX-TV 3:00 PM ET)

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Tennessee Titans (12-5) at Oakland Raiders (12-5) (CBS-TV 6:30 PM ET)

It is a powerful Championship Game package:

The four teams have compiled a 50-18 record in the 2002 regular and postseason for a .735 winning percentage.

The four clubs are all on hot streaks:  Tennessee (12-1), Oakland (8-1), Philadelphia (10-2) and Tampa Bay (8-2).  That’s a combined 38-6 (.864).

The field is comprised of two teams with the highest 2002 differential between points scored/allowed (Philadelphia and Tampa Bay), a club with the second-most points scored this season (Oakland, 450), and a team that went from a 1-4 start to within one game of Super Bowl (12-5 Tennessee).

All four teams are in their second championship game within the past four seasons (Tampa Bay and Tennessee, 1999; Oakland, 2000; and Philadelphia, 2001).

For the fourth consecutive year, there will be a new Super Bowl winner.

In the NFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME on FOX-TV at 3:00 PM Sunday, it’s the "Once Again" Bowl, as the visiting TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS, once again, take on the PHILADELPHIA EAGLES for the third straight year in the playoffs.  The Bucs’ mission is to end their inability to score upon – and beat -- the Eagles.

"We respect Philadelphia," says Tampa Bay head coach JON GRUDEN, whose team this season set a franchise record for wins (12).  "What happened last year is not going to hurt us or help us in any way.  We realize we’ve got our hands full, but we’re going to get on the plane and we’re going to go, and we’ll play any place, whether it be in the Vet or on the Walt Whitman Bridge.  We’re going to be there."

Of course, Gruden knows the Eagles’ lair of Veterans Stadium – hosting its final NFL game Sunday – and its nearby landmarks because he was the Eagles’ offensive coordinator from 1995-97.  He also is familiar with the philosophies of Philadelphia head coach ANDY REID – the Associated Press 2002 Coach of the Year – because the two were on the first staff of Green Bay Packers head coach MIKE HOLMGREN in 1992.

So all that familiarity should – on paper – help the Buccaneers.  But they’ve lost to the Eagles four times in a row, including this past October 20 (20-10), when their only touchdown came on a DERRICK BROOKS fumble return. 

In the past two years (last game of 2001 and the subsequent Wild Card), the Eagles have outscored the Bucs 68-32.  But this year, the matchup couldn’t be more even. 

The Eagles (174) and Bucs (150) led the NFL in 2002 in offensive/defensive point differential.  The best such margins in ’02 (playoff clubs bolded/italicized):

BIGGEST DIFFERENTIAL: POINTS SCORED / POINTS SURRENDERED

Philadelphia, with NFC homefield advantage, received a boost this past Saturday from the return of quarterback DONOVAN MC NABB after missing six weeks with a broken ankle.  He picked up where he left off, completing 20 of 30 passes for 247 yards and one touchdown for a 103.1 passer rating in the Eagles’ 20-6 victory over Atlanta.  Philadelphia plays in its second NFC Championship Game in as many years. 

"I want him to execute the offense just like he’s been doing over the years," says Reid of McNabb.  "Just be Donovan.  That’s all I need."

Meanwhile, Gruden’s saying "Just be Brad" about his QB, BRAD JOHNSON, who also returned from injury (back) after two weeks to lead Tampa Bay’s 31-6 win over San Francisco in the Divisionals.  The steady Johnson – who led the NFC in passer rating this year (92.9) – took the Bucs to six consecutive third-down conversions on their first two scoring drives Sunday.     

Each team has a potent running game also.  The Eagles have a Duce, the Bucs deuces.  Philadelphia’s DUCE STALEY, who ran for almost half (469) his season yards (1,029) starting in the game in which McNabb was hurt (November 17), can bulldoze into the line or go wide and turn on the jets if he has to.  He rushed 18 times against Atlanta for 63 yards.

The Buccaneers’ package is comprised of tank-like fullback MIKE ALSTOTT and running back MICHAEL PITTMAN.  Alstott scored on a pair of two-yard runs in the Divisional Playoff, with his first breaking the Bucs’ drought of an offensive playoff TD tracing back to the 1999 NFC Championship Game.  Pittman, signed as an unrestricted free agent from Arizona this year, led Tampa Bay in rushing with 718 yards.  He’s doubly anxious for the win, because he went to high school (Mira Mesa) in San Diego.

The "matchup of matchups" in the game could come between two defensive coordinators with a combined 37 years of NFL coaching experience – Philadelphia’s JIM JOHNSON and Tampa Bay’s MONTE KIFFIN. 

The two have the respect and ear of their players who know these two can devise defensive schemes to suit just about any offensive wrinkle.  Kiffin’s defense this year ranked first in the league, Johnson’s fourth.

One of Johnson’s charges, cornerback TROY VINCENT, succinctly summarizes Sunday’s NFC Championship.

"They are who they are," says Vincent, "we are who we are.  They’re Keyshawn Johnson, Keenan McCardell, Warren Sapp and Derrick Brooks.  We’re Troy Vincent, Bobby Taylor, Brian Dawkins and Hugh Douglas."

In Sunday’s AFC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME on CBS-TV at 6:30 PM ET, it will be the TENNESSEE TITANS at the OAKLAND RAIDERS, and everybody will be looking back to this past September 29. 

Will it be different?

Oakland dominated visiting Tennessee that day, 52-25 – tying Carolina (on December 8) for the most points scored by a team this year.  The Raiders jumped to a 21-0 lead barely five minutes into the game and late in the third quarter were ahead 38-7.  Four touchdown passes by Oakland’s RICH GANNON and four interceptions by the Oakland defense (three by ROD WOODSON, one for a TD) dropped the Titans to a 1-3 season start that would become 1-4 the next week.  Then, as was typical of this unpredictable NFL season, Tennessee turned things around and lost only one more game the rest of the year. 

So will September 29 mean anything on January 19?

"It was difficult to put that game into perspective for the players," says Titans head coach JEFF FISHER.  "That was a very difficult situation." 

The day after the game, Fisher said, "I would love to play Oakland again.  If we have one goal right now, that is to be able to play them again this year."

Mission accomplished, Jeff.  Let’s see what happens this time.

The matchups Sunday are intriguing.

There are the quarterbacks, RICH GANNON of Oakland and STEVE MC NAIR of Tennessee.  Gannon was named by Associated Press as 2002’s NFL Most Valuable Player.  McNair proved that he might be just that for the Titans.

Gannon this year set NFL records for completions in a game and a season, and threw for a record 10 300-yard games while leading the team’s offense to the No. 1 ranking in the league.  McNair, the inspirational leader of the Titans, could not practice for a good portion of the season due to injuries, yet still was there every Sunday.

"The man, to me, is a legend," says Tennessee running back EDDIE GEORGE.  "I’m glad we were able to advance, so people can really appreciate him."

Then there are the receivers.  Everybody knows Oakland’s 40-year-old JERRY RICE (who Sunday tied EMMITT SMITH and THURMAN THOMAS for the most career playoff touchdowns with 21, and set the playoff record for combined net yards with 2,132) and 36-year-old TIM BROWN (who this year became the third man in history with 1,000 career receptions).  But as he proved last Sunday in the Divisional Playoffs, the team’s non-starter, 24-year-old JERRY PORTER, has to be reckoned with.  The third-year-pro posted a six-reception, 123-yard day, with a 29-yard touchdown and a 50-yard reception that set up a Rice TD. 

The Titans’ receivers?  Their two "third guys" have to be watched also.  The starters are DERRICK MASON (second consecutive 1,000-yard season) and DREW BENNETT.  But on Saturday, the real "go-to" guys were veteran tight end FRANK WYCHECK (10 receptions for 123 yards and a TD) and second-year wide receiver JUSTIN MC CAREINS, who had no catches in regulation, but two key ones in overtime in the Titans’ 34-31 Divisional win over Pittsburgh.       

McCareins’ performance typifies the mind-set of Tennessee’s receivers.  "We’ve got our philosophy," says Mason.  "You might not catch a pass the whole game, but at the end you might determine who wins or loses."

And speaking about determining who wins or loses…try the running backs on Sunday -- Tennessee’s George and Oakland’s CHARLIE GARNER.  If they get a hold of the game, they can dominate.  Both are explosive, either pounding it up the middle or breaking outside.  They are among the top five players of the past five years in total scrimmage yards: 

SCRIMMAGE KINGS (1998-2002)

So it comes down to Sunday.  Four teams eager to punch their ticket to San Diego.

"These opportunities are few and far between," says Gannon.  "I am trying to seize the moment, seize the opportunity.  Of course, three other teams are trying to do the same thing."

AFC Conference Championship Game Preview

NFC Conference Championship Game Preview

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE 2002 PLAYOFF SCHEDULE / RESULTS