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Super Bowl bust? Expect a tight, low-scoring Super Bowl
Updated: Tuesday January 16, 2001 10:55 PM
It may not be the matchup everybody wanted, but like it or not, the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Giants will do battle in Super Bowl XXXV on Sunday, Jan. 28, in Tampa, Fla. On CNN's Sports Tonight, Bob Lorenz, Kara Henderson and NFL Preview analyst Trev Alberts talked about the conference title games and the Super Bowl with Sports Illustrated's Don Banks, who covers pro football for CNNSI.com. Bob Lorenz: Don, should we believe from what we saw of the Ravens defense that they can do the same thing to the Giants? And should we be shocked at what they did to the Raiders? Don Banks: I'm picking somebody 9-7 in this [Super Bowl] game. I just don't know who yet. Give me 10 days to think about it. The Ravens' defense? I'm a believer. It took me awhile. I kept thinking there's no way they could win three playoff games on the strength of that defense. I thought quarterback Trent Dilfer would have to have a much bigger game Sunday. He proved me wrong; they've proved a lot of people wrong. This looks like the lowest-scoring game in Super Bowl history and I think it will be very entertaining. Trev Alberts: You know, Don, I talked to Sean Payton, the offensive coordinator of the Giants, last week and I asked him about his offense and he said, "Listen, we feel offensively that we're just good enough that we will find a weakness on the opposing defense and we can exploit it." My question to you is, is there any weakness on this Ravens defense? Banks: I would say the only weakness I saw all season, I covered the Week 2 game against Jacksonville and I saw the Ravens' cornerbacks get picked apart. Now, [Giants quarterback] Kerry Collins may never have another day like he had Sunday. But if the Ravens play soft -- and they won't play as soft as Minnesota's corners -- at all, the way Collins was throwing the ball Sunday that could be the only weak spot that I identify. The front seven? I defy anyone to find a hole there. Lorenz: Don, call me crazy, but if we go back to the season finale, we know what happened and the fact is they gave up a ton of yards to quarterback Vinny Testaverde and the New York Jets. Should we throw that game out? Or is it possible to say, "You know what? It happened just a few weeks ago. Why can't it happen again?" Banks: Well, where teams have given the Ravens a little bit of trouble is when they go to the spread offense. The Cleveland Browns, of all people, even gave Baltimore a little bit of trouble when they spread the ball out. Nobody seemed to do that effectively in the playoffs. I'd have to think that some of the game plan from Sunday for New York is going to be reproduced by Payton in the Super Bowl. It's not going to be as big a surprise as it was to Minnesota, which it shouldn't have been, I guess. Alberts: Don, we've got a phone call from California. And, Bob, it's my opinion that this is probably going to be the most boring Super Bowl in history. After last year, it's going to be 3-0. Caller, what do you think? Is this going to be the most boring Super Bowl you have ever seen? Caller: Well, no, I think we have yet to see that. I think at least these teams are fairly evenly matched, as opposed to most of the boring Super Bowls of the 1970s, the supposed "glory days" of the old dynasties. Alberts: Well, come on. It's [Ravens kicker] Matt Stover versus [Giants kicker] Brad Daluiso. I mean, it's the field-goal kickers' game. There's going to be no offense.
Lorenz: Wait a minute, though. We keep hoping and waiting and saying, "The Ravens' defense will win it for them and Dilfer just wants that one big play." Well, guess what? What if Collins gets two big plays? And suddenly it's 14-0 again and the Ravens say, "Well, gosh, I guess we have to do a little more and our defense can't win it for us." What happens then? Alberts: Listen, here's the Baltimore offense. You have an offense, Bob, that basically relies on one big player, Shannon Sharpe , their tight end. I think the Giants match up great with that offense and that one play because of their linebackers. Jessie Armstead and Micheal Barrow have the speed to cover him man-to-man. I feel great for Dilfer, I'm glad he's going back to Tampa. Great story. They will not score any points in Super Bowl XXXV. Banks: Guys, I don't know how you can think this game is going to be boring. Baltimore and New York. When's the last two times we've heard those two teams paired in an NFL championship game? In 1958, Alan Ameche . In 1968, it was Joe Namath. Who's it going to be this year? Tony Siragusa? I love this game. I think it's a great matchup. I agree with the last caller. So many times we had the two best glamour teams and it was 38-3. These two quarterbacks? Yeah, they're great stories. But they have gotten it done. And, really, all season long we've just been trying to discount them. I'm going to stay off that topic because after watching Collins I believe the guy has got the same amount of talent that I thought he did in the second year of his career. After watching Dilfer keep his team in games and win, I don't think you can throw the Ravens' chances out the window, either. Lorenz: Don, do you think this will become a distraction at all over the next two weeks: Dilfer, you were on the scrap heap. Collins, you had the problems. The Ray Lewis story. Banks: Of course, of course. That's what the Super Bowl week is all about, distractions. Yeah, we're going to hear so much of that we're going to be nauseous in about another eight days. But, hey, that happens every year at this time. Kara Henderson: I also have a thought. What if Ray Lewis wins the MVP of the Super Bowl? That will be very interesting and very ironic. But I do have a question for you, Don. How much of Collins coming along this year is because of Giants head coach Jim Fassel? He was known as a quarterbacks guru before he got to the Giants. I've got to imagine that a lot of this is because of him. Banks: I agree. I think it is obvious that what Fassel did is instill him with an awful lot of confidence. No one ever doubted that Collins has talent. They doubted his head, his focus, his mindset. He obviously got his life in order and he is obviously playing with a great deal of confidence. I don't know how you can be playing with anymore confidence that coming off of Sunday's performance. Alberts: I want to shift gears a little and go back to the Vikings team, which looked so horrible against the Giants. Before I start, I want to share an e-mail we got from Tony in Blacksburg, Va., who writes, "After being routed by the Giants and losing to the Falcons two years ago, Dennis Green looks like the NFL's version of John Cooper." I mean, come on. Here is a guy who is 4-8 in the playoffs for what they do in the regular season. Now you have Randy Moss saying, "I don't know if I want to be on the Vikings. I want to be on a contender." What is going on in Minnesota? Banks: Now I understand what Green meant Friday night when he called his team the stealth team, under the radar. They didn't show up at all Sunday. I, for one, was shocked. I have been watching this team for five years, and I have never seen a Vikings team lay down and die like they did Sunday. I've never seen a more unprepared team. It was as if they didn't think that the Giants could possibly throw the ball, or would come out trying. They were horribly unprepared Sunday. The Moss thing is very interesting. I talked to a number of people Monday to try to decipher what he was saying. Here is what he was saying: You guys want me to be a part of this organization past this season, you better show me some changes. You better show me some willingness that this team is headed in the right direction. I really think that means much better personnel on defense, maybe taking that money they had set aside to re-sign Robert Smith and putting it towards defense. I think Moss was firing a clear shot at Green, saying, "Look, folks, don't count on me singing a contract extension automatically. I want to make sure this team is in a position to win a Super Bowl. I don't like the looks of it right now." Lorenz: Yeah, Don, but what ever happened to saying, "We all stunk in this game. Let's all fight together and be on the same page and get better together?" He's taking an individualistic approach. Banks: That's not the first time Moss has been accused of being a player who only cares about his own performance. I'm not going to argue that there is a little too much of that in Randy's statements. What I do like is that he is one of the few guys in that locker room who is not afraid to say what he thinks. And he is not afraid to say what Green doesn't want him to say.
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