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Oakland on a roll Old-school AFL rivalry among the highlights of Week 10
CNNSI.com's Jon A. Dolezar talked with former NFL head coach and current NFL Preview analyst Ron Meyer about several issues and storylines as teams prepare for Week 10, as well as his new endeavor as a head coach in the XFL: Dolezar: There are a couple of good rivalry games this weekend, most notably the Chiefs-Raiders. What is your take on that game? Meyer: There is no question that the Chiefs and Raiders have to rank right up at the top of the best rivalries going today because of their past history. They are two outstanding franchises and they have been going at each other since the existence of the AFL. Oakland, under head coach Jon Gruden, is certainly playing at the top of its game. Rich Gannon has improved from his already impressive performance of a year ago. Tyrone Wheatley came off the waiver wire two years ago and has excelled. In those two veterans they have really caught lightning in a jug. Then Napoleon Kaufman is a changeup guy -- I always though he was one of the most explosive backs that can go the distance on you. He reminds me a lot of fellow former Washington Huskies running back Corey Dillon. And from the Kansas City side, Elvis Grbac is having the best season of his career. He is progressing nicely thanks to All Pro tight end Tony Gonzalez. It's going to be a great game and I like Oakland at home. Dolezar: We just passed the halfway point of the season, so what is your Super Bowl pick going into Week 10? Well, there are some easy picks out there, but I'm still going to go with the Redskins. That's who I picked back in August. And I'm going to stay the course. The AFC representative is a tough one, but I really think Tennessee is possibly a repeat performer there. I just like the Titans' overall design. Dolezar: Who would be your league MVP so far? Meyer: Everyone is going to go with Daunte Culpepper, and I'm not so sure I want to do that. I'd probably say Marshall Faulk right now. He's just continued to excel. How can you improve in his 1999 season? Well, he's actually done it, which is better than outstanding. Sometimes it's that much harder to improve after a season like last year's, because he's obviously the focal point of every defense that goes on the field. And yet they do have the luxury of being surrounded by a talented array of offensive weapons. He was supposed to be hurt last week and he went out and scored four touchdowns. He certainly has my admiration. Dolezar: Who do you see as a possible surprise team in the second half of the season? Meyer: I don't know if you'll have one. I think they sifted out pretty much in the first half. I'm anxious to see if Pittsburgh can keep it up. After starting 0-3, they are now 5-3 -- everyone had the stake driven in Bill Cowher's heart. I'm not so sure that you won't see the Steelers continue to rock along because of their defense. I think it's a surprise that they came on so strong after an 0-3 start. From a personal point of view I'd sure love to see Dick LeBeau win a couple more games at Cincinnati and get that job as a permanent head coach. They are obviously going to have to get Akili Smith some better protection and get him squared away, because it's helter skelter up there right now offensively. But I would like to see Cincinnati solidify LeBeau as its head coach, and I think the Bengals have a chance. How many more games they'll win, who knows, and that's what it's all predicated on. Dolezar: Looking back at last weekend, how did the XFL Draft go for your new team, the Chicago Enforcers? Meyer: I'm putting on my coaching face now. We got everyone we wanted! If our ratings on players are worth a grain of salt then we should have a very good team. You have to be lucky on the injury side and on your evaluation of the players. I kind of went in to the draft with one hand tied behind my back because I only had a week to read the reports and look at the players that we had rated highly. I'm absolutely flying without radar on this one, so I'm relying on the people that were in place here -- especially our player personnel director, Quentin Smith. I have a lot of respect for him , and obviously I tied my career to him a little bit in this first draft. So if this damn thing fails it's all Quentin's fault! He's actually done a heck of a job, and I'm pretty enthused with what we have to go into the season with. The nice thing about it is that all 70 of the drafted players are signed, sealed and delivered, with the exception of two players who decided not to continue playing football. I love John Avery. He brings a tremendous amount of big-play ability to the field like a Kaufman, Warrick Dunn or Tiki Barber. And I'm ecstatic about our two quarterbacks, Tim Lester from Western Michigan and Paul Failla from Notre Dame. Then hopefully we have a defense that will run and knock the snot out of you. If they don't, then they are all going to be fired. Dolezar: What style of football can we expect the Enforcers to play? Meyer: We hope to be the Baltimore Ravens on defense and the St. Louis Rams on offense. That would be the best of both worlds. And then hopefully we can have a slimmed-down version of Sebastian Janikowski kicking for us. Ron Meyer, a former NFL head coach and the new head coach of the Chicago Enforcers of the XFL, is a pro football analyst with CNN/Sports Illustrated and appears weekly on CNN's NFL Preview.
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