Countdown to the All-Gruden Bowl

By David Martin Sports Central Columnist

Surprise. Dismay. Some amount of unwanted expectation. And, maybe, just maybe, the anticipation of one of the most compelling and competitive Super Bowls in a while. Those are just some of the emotions fans are feeling as Tampa Bay earned a trip to San Diego, and opened the door to the All-Gruden Bowl.

But first...

Two things I didn't expect of the National Football League happened this week:

1. Bill Cowher, Head Coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, sat humbly before the media and apologized for behaving like a baby after his team lost to Tennessee. This is noteworthy because he seemed to catch as much flak for making the apology as he did for criticizing the officiating.

For the record, as a Steelers fan, I was appalled, but not surprised that he nearly assaulted the referee, Ron Blum, after the game. Cowher was wrong to blast the last call of the game, but calling the knowledge of the rules into question was not wrong. The officials get paid to know when a play can, or cannot, be reviewed.

2. San Francisco 49ers management fired Steve Mariucci under the guise of "philosophical differences" over power structure. That the Niners "released" Mariucci "from his contract" came as no real surprise. That they out and out concocted fabrications as their rationale shocked me.

I would have been more satisfied by the move if former Head Coach and Hall of Famer, Bill Walsh, had stood before us all and said, "Steve was fired because he didn't call the right plays at the right time." Or even, "I don't like Steve Mariucci, and frankly, I never have." Lying about recent inquiries regarding titles and positions of power seems silly. Just admit that the management believed they had given "The Mooch" the tools to get the job done, he hadn't, and their patience had run thin. There, is that so hard?

And now...

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to the Super Bowl. Having been a fan of the league for a lot longer than just the last six years, only two things sound more bizarre: the Seattle Seahawks are a perennial power and Al Davis is a genuine, normal human being.

I accept that the work Tony Dungy and Rich McKay did over the past six or seven years really changed the fortunes of the franchise, perhaps for the very long term. But, to trade away two years' worth of the team's top round draft picks to get a fairly unproven coach seemed like folly to me.

I'm disturbed by the Eagles flat-out failure to play on Sunday afternoon. The Eagles appeared to approach the game the same way the Steelers did the AFC Championship Game last year: tickets punched, rooms reserved, all they had to do was appear in the game.

With the Buccaneers dominating the Eagles in the final game at Veterans Stadium, Jon Gruden gave real substance to the fairly common position that he is a great coach. While in only his fifth year as an NFL head coach, Gruden has developed a reputation for being an excellent coach. In his third season as Head Coach of the Oakland Raiders, he guided the Silver and Black to the AFC Championship Game, only to lose his quarterback, Rich Gannon, to injury, and hence the game. A heartbreaking loss after a controversial ruling in the divisional game to the New England Patriots ended the Raiders' title bid last year.

And now, after adopting a defense that has been among the league's best for the last five seasons, Gruden's offensive approach appears to have been what the Bucs were missing. In fact, the offensive game plan that the Buccaneers utilized during the first half of the game with the Eagles was brilliant.

Relying on a no-huddle offense early in the game, Gruden's intent to keep the Eagles' blitzing defense guessing and confused worked beautifully. After establishing very early on that the running game could work against the Eagles defense, everything else seemed to click. The Eagles defenders were stunned by the quick drops and occasional rollouts that Bucs QB Brad Johnson relied upon early. Worse, the Eagles defensive line was able to get little penetration on running plays, and the Bucs had an easy time running the ball.

Rather predictably, the Raiders were too much down the stretch for a very game, very tough Tennessee Titans team. The Titans, in fact, led the Raiders with less than two minutes to play in the first half. Two Titans fumbles, one by RB Robert Holcombe, and one by kick-returner John Simon after the Raiders had retaken the lead, seemed to doom the overmatched Titans. Tennessee battled down the stretch, behind the iron will of the underrated QB Steve McNair, but ultimately had too few offensive weapons, and too few defensive playmakers, to pull out the upset.

And so, the stage is set: Gruden's new guys vs. the guys Gruden left behind. Chucky vs. Al "Just Win, Baby!" Davis. Two of the league's most veteran and under-appreciated quarterbacks. Two staunch defenses against effective offenses. The league's number one defense versus the league's number one offense. Both teams will be hungry and motivated. A showdown for the ages.

Of course, we've thought that of Super Bowls past, and been sorely disappointed.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.