Bucs make more turnovers and the Raiders win.
…and the Bucs led the league in turnover ratio with a +17.
Raiders win and cover. I’m taking the over.
It’s nice for Oakland and the East Bay that the Raiders are in it.
But that’s enough.
The Bucs will (hopefully) win.
I’ll take the Bucs and the under.(specifically, Bucs by 6)
Raiders by 7.
If there are 2 football teams that I do not care to watch, these are the two. The Super Bowl is generally the only pro football game I watch from start to finish. This year, I will watch the commercials, not the game. And I really don’t care who wins.
Bucs, 27-20.
Raiders 35, Bucs 17
Since the 49ers are my second-favorite team, I want to see Jerry Rice get another ring.
Actually one way the Bucs win and get the “over” is because their Defense and Special Teams are quite capable of putting up as many points as their offense. I don’t think it’d be a shock to see the Bucs’ D/ST put up 14 points. If their Offense does the same, and if the D holds the Raiders to 17 points (which is not much by the number one offense in the league), they still get “over” the 43.5.
… or, after reading the rest of the thread, what Shibboleth said.
I’m hoping this’ll be a good game, so this is in the hope of that :
Since the Raider offense isn’t a big play offense, it will be a defensive game. But I think it’ll be the Raiders defense, not the Bucs, that makes the difference. The run defense has been good all year, and the secondary’s really showed up in the playoffs. Turnovers and defensive stops will give the Raiders better field position, and they’ll make much better use of it than the Bucs would. The only thing that could kill It’ll be close, but I need to see the Oakland Raiders win a Super Bowl. Raiders, 27-17.
And I would expect Jon Gruden to stick to what they’re saying about not changing much since he ‘knows’ the Raiders. He certainly didn’t build Tampa Bay up as an anti-Raider machine, and to try and change a lot just wouldn’t work. Oakland’s not the same it was last year any more than Tampa Bay is; I just don’t think it’s a big advantage.
And while it’s exciting enough to nearly merit its own thread,
My sister got Super Bowl tickets!!! - her friend was one of the lucky few to actually get tickets that go to the team, and they’ve both had PSLs from the early days of the return to Oakland. It’s much better odds than winning the lottery, but I think it feels even better.
Bucs 24
Gang members 17
If the Raiders win, does every wannabe from 5 to 15 years ago have to dig out their Raiders hats? I like to know who to hate before I even talk to them and nothing does that for me like a Raiders hat.
Hey dead0man! You in Omaha? Me too. Just thought I’d hijack for a quick hi… I always think it’s weird to see someone else from Omaha on a message board… we might have been pumping gas next to each other the other day or something. Weird.
Bucks by a field goal.
And I’m the guy who called Ohio State over Miami!!
Of course I ALWAYS pick Ohio State.
How’s this for a fearless Super Bowl prediction:
C-SPAN’s “Booknotes” show on Sunday, January 29, 2003 at 8 PM eastern time will be watched by about 12, count’em, 12 people throughout the entire country.
I, for one, would be VERY surprised to see to ST/D touchdowns for Tampa Bay… but then, what do I know… I was born and raised in Alabama, but have been a Raider fan since '76… Musta been Snake Stabler’s fault…
well… there I go perpetuating the stereotype of illiterate southerners… I meant two not to… but you knew that.
Daaaaaaaaaaaaa Bears! I mean Bucs. 
This sucks! I just moved from Tampa to Rhode Island and have no Bucs parties to go to 
Stupid Pats fans. I Say Bucs and under.
And as to the raiders being a “classier” team? Whatever you’re smoking I’d like to buy. Some. Of it. This is going to be some good ole’ fashioned, smashmouth, shit-talking football. I’m predicting very few soundbites presented live durning the game (i.e. the Under the Helmet crap they do)
…and as always I’m going for Bud over Bud Light, Bud Ice, and whatever other Bud pisswater they put out.
GO RAIDERS
Well, as promised, I looked for an Eagles replica jersey at The Sports Authority. They didn’t have any. Incredibly, they had plenty of Lakers jerseys and even some for the Wizards (you know who…), but no Eagles. Damn this fickle buying public…well, then again, fickleness is what a bandwagon is all about.
Ahh, I’m rambling. But hey, so what…there’s a hell of a Super Bowl coming up, and we should all be having some fun.
Right then, since everyone must have picks (I hear ya, Omni), here’s mine.
Bandwagon pick
In all honesty…it’s a push. The Buccaneers have been suffering for a long time, I know, and the starting the franchise with 26 straight losses has become legendary. The Raiders, too, have been suffering through an identity crisis for several years now. Let’s not forget that they’re the only NFL team to move to another city and then move BACK to the original city.
Buccaneers have Sapp. Raiders have Romo.
Buccaneers have never been this good before; even getting here is an accomplishment. Raiders should’ve been here last year.
Again, it’s a push.
Gut feeling
The Buccaneers have never competed for a Super Bowl before, and expecting a team that, until recently, was in the same tank as the Bengals and Lions is a lot to ask. Sure, the Ravens pulled it off, but c’mon, what are the odds of it happening twice in three years? The Raiders not only have been here before, they have players who’ve won it before, including the immortal Jerry Rice. Remember how age was supposed to be their undoing? Sounds kinda silly now, doesn’t it? Raiders with the clear edge here.
Sentimental favorite
The Buccaneers were an expansion team that didn’t have the benefit of a special draft. As a result, they started with…nothing. At a time before there were lots of other equally hopeless teams to give them a fighting chance. Raiders…well, while “Team of the Decades” is definitely overstating it, they have been, by far, a much more fortunate franchise, identity crisis notwithstanding. Easy vote for the silver and orange here.
"On paper" pick
Raiders. I mean, the record speaks for itself. Let’s not forget the gamebreaking ability of people like Rich Gannon and Jerry Rice, which is more than I can say for anyone on the Buccaneers’ roster (Mike Alstott is punishing, but not Terrell Davis or Marshall Faulk punishing).
Crazy-fluke-crap-that-renders-all-the-insight-utterly-worthless-about-five-minutes-in pick
I’m going with the Buccaneers here, because they’re just the kind of team that invites this stuff. Heck, it already happened just last week.
Bobby Riggs pick
Bobby Riggs, you’ll remember, was this washed-up loudmouth who boasted that he could beat any women’s tennis player…and proceeded to get volleyed into the next state by Billy Jean King. A similar thing happened when the Williams sisters offered to take on any men’s player outside the top 200 (this was some time back), and some 211th ranked no-name took them up on it and absolutely mopped the court with both of them. The lesson is clear…shut the hell up or it WILL blow up in your face. (Oh, and never mind Joe Namath’s guarantee. That was different. His team was a huge underdog which had nothing to lose, and he was trying to fire them up; it had nothing to do with chest-thumping.) In fact, the last Super Bowl validated this. In the week prior, many of the Rams were jabbering about how they already had it won, how the Patriots never stood a chance. Shoot, if I’d known about that, you couldn’t have paid me to pick the Rams to win.
So which team’s had the bigger mouth? Or which fans? Hmm…honestly, it’s hard to say. Frankly, I’m not sure either side has much to jaw about. Call this one a no-decision.
Single-grossly-overhyped-guy-who-gets-way-too-much-press-factor pick
Jon Gruden for this contest, of course. Well, the conventional wisdom is that he knows all about the Raiders, so this’ll be an easy win for him. Considering how conventional wisdom has been run through a paper shredder this season, I don’t think so. Raiders.
FINAL TALLY
It will be a closely-fought contest between two teams who really want it and are capable of winning it. There will be a number of spectacular plays, and at least one will decide the game. Oakland’s offense and Tampa Bay’s defense will be tested, and again, one big play could make all the difference.
In the end, though, I just don’t think this is the Buccaneers’ day. Too new, too many question marks. And, like the Bills, there always seems to be something just holding them back.
Prediction: Raiders 17, Buccaneers 14
(Yes, that’s right, I’m making an exact score prediction. Everyone already knows it’s going to be way off, hopefully I won’t catch hell for it afterward. Honestly, I cannot BELIEVE some of you still don’t get what a bandwagon pick is…)
Have a great Super Sunday, everybody. Peace out.