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Volume CXXXII, Number 13 |
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The Super Bowl MVP goes to...
BOBBY DESAULNIERS
STAFF WRITER
At the conclusion of Super Bowl XXXVII, everyone had an opinion of who should receive the coveted "Most Valuable Player" award. Households and sports bars across the nation were undecided-even John Madden picked the whole Buccaneers defense to win the award.
True fans glued their eyes to the television and attempted to bear the Bon Jovi performance to see the award presentation. As 1,000 year-old Bon Jovi finished his second blessing of melodic styling, fans across the nation turned the volume on their televisions back on to see Dexter Jackson step on stage and take home the MVP trophy. Well, Penn and Teller knew it all along, right...
It is true that Dexter Jackson did pick off two Rich Gannon passes early in the game to set the tone. However, do you think that league MVP Rich Gannon would decide that he would go out and break Drew Bledsoe's record, of four interceptions in a Super Bowl, just to keep the game close?
No, he was pressured. Simeon Rice had two sacks on Gannon, and the early pressure made Gannon throw passes that resembled those of Gus Frerotte. Jackson's performance was a direct result of pressure from the Bucs' defensive line.
Can one give Dexter Jackson, a second-rate safety, all of the credit? Of course not, he had only three picks all season. What about Simeon Rice?
He finished the game with five tackles and two sacks. One sack stopped the Raiders on a two-point conversion. One can argue that coverage sacks do exist and the reason that Rice had two sacks is because the defensive backfield played so well.
Such an argument would be valid if Rice's sacks occurred when Gannon was scrambling, but they didn't. Let's be honest-Rice was on Gannon quicker than flies on...well... Gannon on Sunday. They were certainly not coverage sacks. Perhaps Simeon Rice deserves the award.
Maybe the whole defense should win the honor. As Rice, Greg Spires, and Warren Sapp did put great pressure on Gannon all night, the defensive backfield did come up with five interceptions. This is no easy task for any team, especially when defending against Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, Jerry Porter, and, oh yeah, Rich Gannon. As the coverage sack argument carries some merit, let's give it to the defense as a whole.
Who else contributed greatly to the Bucs' win on Sunday? Of course, how can one forget the Raiders coaching staff? In playing against the number-one defense in the league that, in successive weeks, shut down QBs Jeff Garcia and Donovan McNabb, one would think that the Raider coaching staff would look to balance off their gross passing emphasis with their running attack this week.
Take into consideration that they may have the biggest and, arguably, the best offensive line in the NFL along with possibly the most explosive runner in the league, Charlie Garner. Zach Crockett and Tyrone Wheatley balance off Garner's style by adding a powerful, brutish aspect to the Raider's running game.
However, the Raider's coaching staff gave Garner the ball only seven times on Sunday. Crockett and Wheatley combined to run the ball only four times as well. Even Garner's baby blue suit couldn't get him noticed by his own coaches.
Defenses that are based on speed and pass rushing ability inherently have a weakness in stopping the run, especially when monsters like Frank Middleton and Lincoln Kennedy are blocking. As well as the Bucs defense played, the Raider coaching staff gave Tampa Bay their biggest advantage in making their own running game obsolete.
Perhaps Bill Callahan and his genius play-callers deserve the award. Of all of those who contributed to the win for the Bucs, I still think the MVP award goes to one man only-Bill Parcells. Although not directly related to the game on Sunday, Parcells played a pivotal role in getting John Gruden where he is today. If Parcells had reneged in the interest in the Bucs last season, Tony Dungee (former Bucs head coach) would still be enjoying Tampa Bay sunshine and John Gruden would still be in Oakland.
Instead, the Bucs fired Dungee to get Parcells, but as Parcells backed out, the Bucs scrambled for Gruden. As great of a coach as Dungee is, he is no Andy Reid, no Bill Parcells, and certainly no John Gruden.
Gruden brought Gannon and Brad Johnson to where they are today. He turned two mediocre quarterbacks, at best in Johnson's case, into NFL stars. His intensity is unmatched and the fact that his two teams played in the Super Bowl demands respect for his overall coaching ability, on and off the field. Parcells put Gruden in Tampa Bay.
Gruden's changing of Bays, from Oakland to Tampa Bay, was the difference in this game. One man is responsible for this change and that man deserves the MVP of Super Bowl XXXVII. That man is Bill Parcells.
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