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Pitcher's duel Super Bowl XXXV will be a defensive gem
Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King chatted with CNN/Sports Illustrated anchor Bob Lorenz about the goings-on around the league on CNN's NFL Preview: Bob Lorenz: Peter, why should we look forward to next week's Super Bowl between the Giants and Ravens? Peter King: I think this Super Bowl is going to be like Pedro Martinez against Roger Clemens in baseball. If you like a 2-1 baseball game -- and they can be great -- you are going to love a 16-9 football game or whatever this is going to be. There are two things about this football game that people should look out for:
Lorenz: How do you think Collins will handle the media onslaught in Tampa? King: The key question is, How will Collins handle the pressure of this week? Here's a quick little anecdote. Collins, six years ago when he was drafted by the Carolina Panthers, did not go to a third day of a minicamp. He was afraid; he called Dom Capers and told him he couldn't take the pressure. But when Collins received the game plan for the championship game against the Minnesota Vikings, he laughed. He told me he laughed out of joy because he was so happy they were putting the pressure all on his shoulders.
The Giants have done a good job media-wise; they've gotten all of Collins' TV appearances done this week. Collins laughingly said Roy Firestone tried and failed to make him cry; so now he goes down to Tampa and the Giants are making him do one news conference about his personal life on Monday at 6:45 p.m. at the Giants hotel. After [Monday] night, Collins is going to be pure football, and I think he is going to handle the pressure well. Lorenz: Let's get to other coaching news. The new Houston franchise doesn't start until the year after next, but later [Sunday] afternoon, Houston will name Capers as its first head coach. Why him, why now? King: It is no secret that after the Buffalo Bills asked the Jacksonville Jaguars for permission to talk to defensive coordinator Capers, [and] less than two days later, the Houston Texans had an agreement in principle with Capers. The big thing about Capers and his career is when he left the Carolina Panthers a lot of people were questioning his passion, saying this guy is not a passionate sort, he is not able to instill the type of emotion and enthusiasm in his team that you are supposed to. I talked to Texans' general manager Charlie Casserly [on Saturday] and he told me that it is not a concern with them and that he has addressed it with Capers. Casserly thinks Capers will be a more impassioned guy once he gets to Texas. However, I think the key thing there is once they saw Buffalo go after him, the Houston Texans knew they wanted to get Capers. Lorenz: Where does this leave the Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns and, possibly, the Detroit Lions as they search for a head coach? King: Well, I think all three teams are going to have a lot of interest in Baltimore defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis. In fact, it will be very interesting. Matt Millen, the new president of the Detroit Lions, is calling the Super Bowl on radio in Tampa. It'll be interesting to see if Millen shows up at the Ravens' party after the game to talk to Lewis because there is going to be a race to get to Lewis, whether the Ravens win or lose. The Buffalo Bills are interested in Lewis or John Fox and the Cleveland Browns are also very interested in Lewis. Cleveland was spurned by Bill Parcells. They wanted to offer him full control, the reins of the franchise. Parcells does not want to go into Cleveland and will probably not go back into coaching, but definitely not into Cleveland. And in Detroit, I think Millen will make a change and he would like to talk to Lewis. I think after Super Bowl Sunday we are going to see the chips start to fall. Lorenz: Super Bowl week is here and the St. Louis Rams won't have a chance to repeat as champs, but their busy offseason has already begun. What kind of changes should we expect? King: Well, in the coaching ranks, we can say that they reached an out-of-court settlement, to get Bill Kollar, the Atlanta Falcons defensive line coach, in order to stop the Falcons from protesting that hiring to the commissioner's office. Rams head coach Mike Martz returned from the Senior Bowl on Friday and told me he was only looking at defensive players. I tried to talk to him about quarterbacks and he said he couldn't tell me anything about those guys because they were looking at all defensive players. Martz also told me they will likely make Kevin Carter, their disgruntled defensive end, their franchise player, and if they do that Martz told me that he "guarantees" getting two No. 1 draft picks by draft day for Carter, who is coming off his 16-sack season two years ago. I think the Rams are going to end up with either six or seven draft picks in the first three rounds, and look for them to go maniacally on defense. Lorenz: Randy Moss and the Vikings with another NFC Championship Game disappointment ... but Moss then voiced his displeasure toward the organization afterwards; he wondered about his future there. What do you think? King: I think the Vikings will re-sign Moss, but they have to be very careful. Moss has turned out to be sort of an incendiary device in that locker room and now they will have to pay him $15 million as a signing bonus to sign with them long-term. The Vikings better be absolutely sure that Moss is not going to turn volcanic on them if they don't win the Super Bowl next year. Lorenz: [An e-Blitz question] Who will the New Orleans Saints take in the draft? King: Well, in talking to Jim Haslett this year he told me that the Saints needed to upgrade their defensive secondary. They've got Kevin Mathis in a trade from Dallas, and they will probably re-sign him at one corner. And then I look for the Saints to try to make a big splash at the other corner, either in the draft or with one of the marquee cornerback free agents, Jason Sehorn of the Giants, Ronde Barber of Tampa Bay. I think Barber would be a perfect fit for the Saints. Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and appears each Sunday on CNN's NFL Preview.
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