JAN 30, 2004
GREENSBORO, NO
Super Bowl 2004 Predictions
Brady's bunch will be victorious
Kurt Cavanauah
Sports Editor
He takes that non-athletic, robotic
drop. His feet move quicker than those
of a puppy who needs to go outside.
The ball leaves his right hand, rather
than spiraling, turns nearly end-over
end. The ball falls into the opponents'
hands four times. And he's the NFL
MVP.
Peyton Manning's career has been
full of choke fests since his days at the
University of Tennessee, where he
never beat Florida or won a national ti
tle. In the AFC title game against the
most complete team in football, Man
ning choked yet again. You could see
the look of dread on his face as he
thought to himself, "Oh no, daddy's
going to be mad. Is little brother (Eli
Manning, considered to be the top
quarterback taken in this year draft)
really better than me?"
His flop in Foxboro opens the door
for the New England Patriots to do
what most football experts deemed
impossible when the playoffs began:
win 15 straight games and become
champions of the NFL.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is
everything Manning isn't. He's a
graceful athlete and is not a statue in
the pocket. He was underrated at
Michigan and was unheralded on draft
day, chosen only to backup proven
veteran Drew Bledsoe.
Manning has better talent surround
ing him than Brady. Manning has the
best receiver in the league in Marvin
Harrison, as well as up-and-comer
Reggie Wayne, not to mention talent
ed but oft-injured Edgerrin James.
Somehow, though, Brady works with
his players (receivers Deion Branch,
Troy Brown, and backs Antowain
Smith and Kevin Faulk) and makes
them better.
Wait, this column is on who I think
will win the Super Bowl, not on how
overrated Manning is. But does any
one else notice how much Peyton re
sembles Gumby?
The Carolina Panthers upset the
SPORTS
Rams in St. Louis then stormed into
Philadelphia and pounced on Dono
van McNabb to represent the NFC in
the big game.
If we simply look at the matchup on
paper, the Pats dominate the feel
good Cats at quarterback, receiver,
linebacker, secondary, special teams,
and coaching. Carolina does have the
edge at running back (Stephen Davis
and DeShaun Foster are tough) and
both the offensive and defensive line.
Steve Smith is Carolina's big play
guy, but Ty Law (who intercepted Man-
ning three times in the AFC title
game) won't let him
get open.
ots do play a lot of
downs in zone schemes, but put Law
one-on-one with elite receivers. Smith
will have about three catches in the
game, none going more than 15
yards. If Law can shut down Marvin
Harrison, he can stop Smith in his
sleep.
The Panthers will try to get to Brady,
but the Pats run short routs very well.
Joe Theismann called Brady the best
thrower in football, he always makes
the right decision and rarely throws a
short pass long or a long pass short
(both lead to interceptions, Peyton).
The thing I see happening is the
Pats get up 10-0, forcing Jake Del
homme and the Panthers to throw
more than they want. This will take
Davis and Foster out of the game,
negating their strength. The Patriots
will win their second Lombardi Trophy
in the Tom Brady era 27-17, raising
Brady's career record in games after
Nov. 1 to 28-4.
I wonder what Manning's record is?
Matt Geiger
Columnist
The Carolina Panthers will beat the
New England Patriots this Sunday to
win the Super Bowl. How can I make
such a bold statement? I am a
Philadelphia Eagles fan and if the
Panthers can beat my Eagles, they
can certainly take the Patriots. But that
is not my only reason to predict Pan
ther success this Sunday.
To start, one of the arguments that
you hear is how hard it is to beat the
Delhomme threw for 273 yards and
one score. Running back Stephen
Davis ran for 104 yards and one score
as well. Wide Receiver Steve Smith
also had a big day gaining 135 yards
while Muhsin Muhammad gained 104
receiving yards.
One of the keys to winning a Super
Bowl is having a good defense and
being able to effectively run the ball.
While both defenses in this game are
very good, there is no doubt that the
Panthers have a far superior running
game. The two Patriots backs, An
towain Smith and Kevin Faulk, com
bined for approximately 1,300 yards
while Panther backs Davis and De-
Shaun Foster combined for about
1,900 yards during the regular sea
son. For the Panthers to win this
game they are going to need to control
the ball effectively, and running the
ball is a key part of controlling the
clock.
The Patri-
If this game turns out the way most
people expect it to, this should be a
relatively low- scoring game with nei
ther team scoring more than 24 points.
This is going to make field position
and special teams that much more im-
Fear the Panther pride
Patriots' defense, but they
will be the second best
defense the Panthers will
face this post-season.
The Dallas Cowboys
had a higher rated de
fense than the Patri-
ots; in fact, the Cow
boys had the best
defense in the NFL
and what happened
in that game?
Panthers quarterback Jake
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portant.
I believe if you compare Panther
kicker Jon Kasay to Patriot kicker
Adam Vinatieri you get pretty much
the same thing; two solid, reliable kick
ers with good range. Vinatieri is prob
ably the best clutch kicker in football,
but in the regular season he was
ranked only 10th in the league, while
Kasay was ranked 4th.
The Panthers do have a distinct ad
vantage in the punting department,
which should give them an advantage
in field position. Todd Sauerbrun is un
doubtedly the best punter in the game
which is why he is a two-time pro
bowler and the highest paid kicker in
the NFL. Ken Walter, the punter for the
Patriots, is one of the most inconsis
tent punters in the league and was ac
tually released from the team in No
vember for one week after a horrible
performance against the Kansas City
Chiefs.
Perhaps the most important thing for
the Panthers is to play mistake-free
football. The Patriots live on forcing
turnovers and if the Panthers turn the
ball over more than once they will
lose, no questions asked. For the Pan
thers to be victorious, they need to
(and I believe they will) play smart
football.
Tom Brady is a nice quarterback, but
at this point, he is still a system quar
terback on a team that relies on its de
fense more than it relies on offense. I
can name five better quarterbacks in
football (Manning, McNair, McNabb,
Favre, Vick) and what these names
have in common with one another and
what makes them different from Brady
is that they are the most valuable
member of their team, while Brady is
not (Pats MVP is Ty Law).
Of course, Delhomme is not the
most important member of the Pan
thers either, but they have an excellent
defense and they are clearly superior
in the running game. The most consis
tent trend in which team wins the Su
per Bowl are teams with a good de
fense and a team that can run the ball
and the Panthers do both.
Prediction: Carolina -20 New
England -17
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