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Sports Illustrated's Don Banks tackles three questions that matter to fans:

1	Does the NFL's anticipated deal to push the date of the Super Bowl back one week have any losers?

Paul Tagliabue Doug Pensinger/Allsport None that we can see. In the end, everybody wins with the Super Bowl being played in New Orleans on Feb. 3. It was not only the most pain-free solution to the NFL's scheduling problems, it was the one that made the most sense. New Orleans gets to host the game, as promised, along with the distinction of being the site of the first-ever February Super Bowl. A conference title game doubleheader at the Superdome might have been interesting in a novelty sort of way, but it wouldn't have made up for losing America's most high-profile sporting event. The NFL's players, coaches and fans get a full and legitimate playoff schedule, without being penalized for doing the right thing in September, when the league took off the week of the terrorist attacks. No asterisks will need apply to the 2001 season. It will be a full 16-game regular season, and four-week playoff format, without any gimmicky scheduling devices or late-in-the-game shift of Super Bowl sites. The Shanahan plan and McKay plan -- both of which would have given birth to mid-week playoff games in the wild-card round -- give way to the original plan. And the National Automobile Dealers Association -- a group we just knew would drive a hard bargain -- gets to win brownie points with the public for playing the good sport and agreeing to flop its convention date with the Super Bowl. True, that reported enticement of $10 million to $12 million was the deal maker, but that hardly registers as sticker shock for the NFL. Sorry, New York (it was a nice gesture, but check the almanac). And no thanks, Los Angeles, Miami and Tampa. New Orleans in February -- can we just stay over and do Mardi Gras? -- will do just fine. Now about those dates for the Pro Bowl and the NFL scouting combine ...

2	From the vantage point of early October, which teams would we most like to see still standing come early February?

Ray Lewis Brian Bahr/Allsport Let's answer that question with a question: Can you imagine a better Super Bowl matchup than the Rams' offense against the Ravens' defense? We can't. It wouldn't even register as hype to bill it as the league's best offense against the league's best defense. Just fact. Ray Lewis and his fellow Ravens linebackers trying to contain Marshall Faulk? Rams wide receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt head-to-head against Baltimore cornerbacks Chris McAlister and Duane Starks? Ravens free safety Rod Woodson studying the eyes of St. Louis quarterback Kurt Warner all day long? If there's a football god in heaven, please hear our prayer. Both the Rams and Ravens had huge statement games Sunday. St. Louis demolished Miami, easily one of the league's top five defenses, with six touchdowns and 441 yards of offense on its nine meaningful drives. The Ravens went to Denver and handed the Broncos their hats. Denver's offense got a gift touchdown 20 seconds into the game, then never got another sniff of the end zone, settling for two long Jason Elam field goals. The Rams and Ravens don't meet in the regular season, so the only way we'll see the best against the best in the NFL this year is in the Super Bowl at the Superdome. Four months out, we can only dream of such a super scenario.

3	Will the Falcons fold once again without Jamal Anderson, as they did when their star running back was lost for the season in early 1999?

Jamal Anderson AP Not likely. At least not to the same degree. These Falcons have a much better chance to salvage their season than the group that finished 5-11 after losing Anderson in Week 2 of 1999. Here's why: First off, there's the schedule. In 1999, coming off their 1998 Super Bowl season, the Falcons drew a first-place schedule. Atlanta started 0-2 in the games that Anderson played in, found itself in a hole, then still had games to come against 1999 Super Bowl contestants St. Louis (2) and Tennessee, along with tough tests against teams like Jacksonville and Tampa Bay. This year, the Falcons drew a fifth-place schedule, thanks to their 4-12 showing in 2000. And Atlanta already is better off in terms of the timing of when Anderson went down. With two consecutive wins, the Falcons sit 2-1 with four of its next five games at home in the Georgia Dome. All four games are against teams with a losing record in 2000: Chicago, San Francisco, New England and Dallas. Only an Oct. 21 trip to New Orleans and an open date the following week break up the homestand. The Falcons should make it through that stretch no worse than 5-3, and could very well be 6-2 at midseason. The schedule gets considerably tougher in the second half, with two games against St. Louis, and trips to Green Bay, Indianapolis and Miami, but by then the Falcons should have some margin for error. Secondly, the Falcons are much better prepared to play without Anderson than they were in 1999. That year, they made do with the underwhelming tandem of Ken Oxendine and Byron Hanspard. That duo combined for 835 yards and two touchdowns on 277 carries (3.0 yards per rush). Atlanta as a team rushed for less than 1,200 yards in 1999, after posting 2,100 in '98, led by Anderson's franchise-record 1,846. This year, a replacement for Anderson quickly emerged in second-year man Maurice Smith. Playing about three quarters at Arizona, Smith rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries, and also took a short pass 79 yards for another score. All told, Smith touched the ball 23 times and produced 188 yards and two scores. That will suffice. Atlanta also has useful veterans Rodney Thomas and Travis Jervey in reserve. The Falcons may not fly high without Anderson in 2001. But chances are, they won't swoon to 1999 levels either.

 

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