As much as I hate Bud Adams and the Titans, I still like many of the players. I am happy for them, that they get to go to the superbowl. But, I still hope they lose.
<H2> LETS GO OILERS </H2> They can beat the Rams Again. [This message has been edited by Johny Rocket (edited January 23, 2000).]
Everything else aside, Im astounded that the Oilers...err Titans made the superbowl. George is a fine runner, but disappears for games at a time. McNair doesnt seem capable to throw for over 150 yards. Their Defense is I believe ranked 25th in the league. Special teams, short of one miracle play, hasn't been special, just so-so. To be honest with you guys, I sincerely did not want the Titans to go to the bowl. Watching Mcnair throw one screen pass after another is painful on the eyes. I can appreciate an effecient offense and all, but its almost rediculous. Anyways. On that note, even though I love a great D, I sincerely hope that the Bucs don't make it either. They have even less of a passing game. And I dont know why people talk about their running game, because to me, its average at best. Its been a weird, weird year.
I understand people who don't like the Titans, but don't hate cause they skipped town. I will be rooting for the Titans in the Super Bowl cause I was a big Oilers fan. Don't just become a Rams or Bucs fan. Do you think they're people in LA rooting for the Rams? LA isn't a good example cause they don't care about any of their teams. But when the Rockets move to Baltimore, New Orleans, Las Vegas, or Nashville I will still root for them.
I am in a real quandary here. There are no teams I really like and none I really hate (Skins, Steelers, 9ers) or even strongly dislike (Broncos). On the one hand, I hate Butt Adams. I am sorry but fans of the Oilers in Houston and elsewhere made him a ton of money and enriched his life incredibly and he showed his loyalty by taking a sweetheart deal elsewhere. He is purely a greedy and greasy man with no admirably qualities as far as I am concerned, and defending him I think is ludicrous. Having said that I like the toughness and togetherness of the Titan team, like the way the carry themselves on and off the field, and I have a lot of respect for Fisher. Fisher did an amazing job winning the last two weeks on the road against more talented teams. He coached circles around Coughlin and Capers as well as Mora, no doubt about it. Outside of Adams, I admire the team. However, I still would have probably routed for the Titans opponents however except for the totally punkish behavior of the Rams players. There little scrawny receivers were talking you know what despite the fact the Bucs were stopping them cold and making them throw up blood. That behavior just really burns my britches (my philosophy is save your energy for playing the game as hard as you can for as long as you can and do it with absolutely hustle and respect), likewise the behavior of Denver fans and Shannon Sharp--the biggest idiot I have ever seen, is why Denver is on my disgust list. Also, that behavior my that Rams sub by the Bucs bench just about clinched my feelings for the Rams. The Buc players should have teamed up and draw and quartered that guy right there. As far as the Superbowl, objectively I don't like the Titans chances--especially with Robertson (particularly important) and Thigpen now with broken ankles. However, a 9 point spread is crazy and the Titans have showed great perseverance. This weekend also showed the Rams aren't nearly as good as they think they are. I'll be rooting for the Titans, but with the injuries and playing on that stupid rug stuff, I suspect the Rams will be able to score just a little more.
My prediction.... Titans 27 Rams 24 THe most interesting thing about the Titans is how different the offense is from the defense. The offense is calm, cool, and collected. Everything done at a leisurely pace. The Defense is wild and physical. Blitzing all over the place and creating havoc. Gotta love it.
I would say the offense is very physical too. I think that's is why they are winning, certainly they haven't out finessed Indy or JVille, nor will they the Rams. They might be able to pound the Rams however, like the Bucs did, except they may just have enough passing to keep you off balance unlike the Bucs. This ex-Oiler team is quite a bit different than the ole chuck-in-duck days of the Pardee-Gilbride choke-a-lot offense. I do think missing Robertson, Thigpen and playing on the rug will really hurt them. However if Holt can't play or they hit him in the ribs that could compensate a little for not having Robertson back there. Tony D's son will have to have another great day though. My guess on the game, Rams 27, Oilers 21. If the Oilers can be like +2 on turnovers and not give up big special team plays, it could be like 24-21 in their favor though. Finally, if the Oilers are negative on the TO's or lose the special team match-ups badly, it will be a laugher at their expense. [This message has been edited by sir scarvajal (edited January 24, 2000).]
I don't understand why the Rams are favored in this game. They played in a weaker conference and ended up with the same record as the Oilers, and didn't beat anybody good all year. The only team they played that was any good, the Oilers, they lost to. The Oilers have beaten all the best teams in the league -- the Jags 3 times, the Colts, and the Rams. What did the Rams do to become such huge favorites? Anybody else puzzled about this?
The Bucs and Vikings might argue with you Freak. The Jags were pretty overrated. It must be nice to play in the same conference as the Bengals, Browns and Steelers. I think that the Rams are favored because of their very high powered offense, their better than average defense, the fact that they are playing on artificial turf, the fact that whoever sets these numbers probably doesn't believe that the offense will struggle two weeks in a row, and that Robertson and Thigpen aren't playing. Go Rams! BTW, since you hate Houston and their stupid citizens so much, maybe you should start calling them the Titans. Bud killed the Oilers. [This message has been edited by Rocketman95 (edited January 24, 2000).]
I think the line is way to high. If the Oilers were on grass and healthy I would put the Rams maybe 2-3 pt favorite. As it is however, the line should be maybe 5-6. Heck, Minnesotta was only a 7 point dog at the Rams, and they are clearly inferior to the Oilers and not played a roadie. Also, the Bucs proved they were not true 14 point dogs to the Rams, the Rams didn't even score that many points in total. This season the Rams didn't fare that well against good teams, however I suspect their close call with the Bucs will help them now. Also, the Oilers are a strange team. They were not in the same league in yards gained versus yards given up with JV, Rams, or Indy. Usually that is the most important stat yet the Titans beat them all. I guess everybody thought they must have been fortunate to win as many games as they did because of there less than impressive stats. What has become apparent however is that there turnover margin isn't a fluke after all and there physical presence on both sides of the ball is hard for finese teams to deal with.
This is true...the man who sets the spread at +9 doesn't even watch football. It's one person who tries to guess what number will get people to bet on the game. It's true. They showed him during the San Diego-S.F Superbowl. It's freakin weird, but true. He doesn't really know anything about football. I know that's hard to believe, but believe it. I think THE single biggest factor will be the fact that the RAMS QB is a rookie. And he's only seen the 46 defense once. He didn't see it during the comeback the RAMS made against Titans. He saw a relaxed version of it, so I think he's going to get rattled. Think about it. Rob Johnson-essentially a rookie-struggled. Peyton Manning-2nd year-struggled. Brunell-great pro-struggled. Unless he is the next great QB I think the defense will fluster him.
I think the fact that the Rams had the NFL's #1 scoring offense (3rd highest ever) *and* #4 scoring defense might have had something to do with it. Or that they have the NFL MVP and Offensive MVP. Or the fact that they have the only QB besides Marino to throw for 40TDs. And the best all-purpose player in the game. Compared to Tennessee who wasn't even expected to make the Superbowl and outscored opponents by an avg of 4 pts a game... Needed a miracle to beat a mediocre Buffalo team... Scores less than St. Louis... Gives up more points that St. Loise... As RM95 noted, the Titans have had their share of crap teams on the schedule too. I see lots of reasons to give the edge to St. Louis.
They way Minnesota scored on them and the Bucs shut them down them it is clear the Rams padded their stats on both sides of the ball against easy teams. If they are better, they aren't that much better than JV, Indy or Tenn, who all played in a much tougher league this year. In fact no NFC team other than the Rams could have gotten out of the wild card round in the AFC this year. That said, the Rams are still a pretty good team and they should be a slight-moderate favorite. However, this years Rams are nothing like the great early 90's Cowboys teams (HOW BOUT DEM COWBOYS), nor would they belong on the same field as with late 80's 40whiner teams. They might have been able to play a competitive game to the best 90's Broncos or Bills teams, though I'd bet the Rams would be on the losing end to those teams too. Parity they wanted, parity they got.
One note to add to all of this week 8 Rams Loose to the Oilers 24-21 in Tennesse. This was at home plus it was a close game. This is going to be one of the best Superbowls of all time. ~John~ Go Oilers
R95 and Shanna, throw out stats all you want, but the only thing that matters is wins and losses. Piling up numbers against inferior competition means nothing. This isn't college where you have to cover 50-point point spreads to keep your ranking. Fact: the teams had the same record. Fact: the Oilers beat the Rams this year. Fact: the Oilers had a much tougher schedule. When you have 2 teams with the same record, where one beats the other as well as beats tougher teams on the road, who should be favored? Jacksonville's overrated now? That's a good one. They were only 15-0 against everybody but the Oilers this year. Buffalo's mediocre? Better than Tampa Bay, that's for sure.
Well, if the record & competition is all that matters, Tennessee lost to San Franscisco, Baltimore, and Miami -- one playoff team. The three losses were by a combined 48 points. St. Louis lost to Tennessee and Detroit -- much better competition -- two playoff teams. They also lost to Philadelphia after they had clinched the best record in the NFC and played their starters for only the first quarter (they led 14-3 when they took the starters out). The 3 losses were by a combined 14 points, with the first two losses decided by 3 and 4 points. Since you claim the "inferior competition", let's see the results against equal opponents. STL vs. BAL: W 27-10 TEN vs. BAL: W 14-11, L 41-14 STL vs. ATL: W 35-7, W 41-13 TEN vs. ATL: W 30-17 STL vs. CIN: W 38-10 TEN vs. CIN: W 36-35, W 24-14 STL vs. CLE: W 34-3 TEN vs. CLE: W 26-9, W 33-21 Same thing with NO and SF. So either Tennessee just doesn't play as hard and allows their opponents to stay close (thus risks losing), or against the same competition, STL has a better offense and a better defense. Regardless, St. Louis gets the edge in every respect. Offense: STL; Defense: STL; Overall Record: STL (given that STL had one non-game at the end of the reg season) There's absolutely no reason for Tennessee to be favored based on head-to-head matchup decided by 3 points.
