| Titans!
AP | Titanic tale not over yet
By Jon A. Dolezar, CNNSI.com
The Tennessee Titans have become destiny's darling, and the fairy tale won't stop just yet.
The music in Music City will be sweeter than ever on Super Bowl Sunday when the Tennessee Titans down the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV.
The Titans will take advantage of their tremendous pass rush to force Kurt Warner into making bad reads on the secondary. The Titans beat the Rams 24-21 in Week 8, and they have improved defensively since then. Also, they have the advantage of watching the game film from the NFC Championship Game.
Titans' defensive end Jevon Kearse will keep the pressure on Warner. And while losing free safety Marcus Robertson will hurt, the Titans' Anthony Dorsett filled in well against the Jags.
On offense, Tennessee can control the clock with its running game, while Steve McNair's ability to scramble will be key to the Titans' cause.
In the end, Tennessee will wear St. Louis down, beat the Rams 27-23 with Kearse turning in an MVP-performance. | Rams!
AP | Warner's too tough for Titans
By David Lundy, CNNSI.com
The Titans' bandwagon is beginning to look like Jed Clampett's truck rolling into Beverly Hills. A whopping 58 percent of the respondents to CNNSI.com's Super Bowl poll are picking Tennessee's vagabond franchise to win.
To these Jethro-come-latelies I have a two-word response: Kurt Warner.
This guy is for real, and he quarterbacks the St. Louis Rams. You know a signal-caller is talented when he throws for more yardage than any of the other quarterbacks playing on Championship Sunday -- and yet it's his worst day ever as an NFL quarterback. More importantly, his team won.
That brings me to the other end of the passing equation. Ricky Proehl, who caught 33 passes all season long, pulled in Warner's fourth-quarter touchdown pass to beat the Bucs. This, friends, is the number four receiver -- the Rams' possession guy. Put Proehl, and frontline receivers Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, and Az-zahir Hakim into the mix, along with running back Marshall Faulk, and no defense is going to keep them covered all the time.
Warner will just drop back and sling it for a Rams victory. |
