lethal
01-16-2003, 06:39 AM
Bucs at Eagles
Tampa has lost 4 straight to Philly, 3 of them at the Vet, including a 20-10 loss earlier this year. TB was ranked #1 in defense this year for both yardage and points. Philly's defense is almost up there, ranked in the top 5 in yards and #1 in points. Given that, you would expect a low scoring game. Tampa just recently broke its cold weather curse with a win at the 4-12 Bears in Champaign (not even the Bears real home field). It will be very cold in Philly this weekend. The TB offensive line is very bad. They don't pass block or run block well and QB Brad Johnson does not move well. Philly's exotic blitz schemes will confuse the TB OL. Johnson was injured in the first game on a sack and he's in for a lot of his again this weekend. The Philly offense ran well against TB last game and TB has shown a bit of a weakness against power running teams. McNabb has one game under his belt coming off the broken ankle, so the rust is gone. The Philly home crowd should be loud and supportive. This is the last football game ever at the Vet.
Pick - Philly
Titans at Raiders
This is a matchup of glitzy stars vs overlooked grinders. The Raiders have 2 hall of famer WRs and the MVP at QB. The Titans had no Pro-Bowlers. Steve McNair has been playing hurt for the past several weeks and is still a little banged up, but he is one tough QB, probably the toughest in the league. Rich Gannon is a late bloomer, hitting his stride in his late 30s and he passes to an arsenel of WRs with Rice, Brown, and the emerging Porter. Titans RB Eddie George suffered a concussion last week, so if he is effective this week remains to be seen. The Raiders fans are probably even louder and more supportive than the Eagle fans. The Titans are banged up.
Pick - Raiders
Tampa has lost 4 straight to Philly, 3 of them at the Vet, including a 20-10 loss earlier this year. TB was ranked #1 in defense this year for both yardage and points. Philly's defense is almost up there, ranked in the top 5 in yards and #1 in points. Given that, you would expect a low scoring game. Tampa just recently broke its cold weather curse with a win at the 4-12 Bears in Champaign (not even the Bears real home field). It will be very cold in Philly this weekend. The TB offensive line is very bad. They don't pass block or run block well and QB Brad Johnson does not move well. Philly's exotic blitz schemes will confuse the TB OL. Johnson was injured in the first game on a sack and he's in for a lot of his again this weekend. The Philly offense ran well against TB last game and TB has shown a bit of a weakness against power running teams. McNabb has one game under his belt coming off the broken ankle, so the rust is gone. The Philly home crowd should be loud and supportive. This is the last football game ever at the Vet.
Pick - Philly
Titans at Raiders
This is a matchup of glitzy stars vs overlooked grinders. The Raiders have 2 hall of famer WRs and the MVP at QB. The Titans had no Pro-Bowlers. Steve McNair has been playing hurt for the past several weeks and is still a little banged up, but he is one tough QB, probably the toughest in the league. Rich Gannon is a late bloomer, hitting his stride in his late 30s and he passes to an arsenel of WRs with Rice, Brown, and the emerging Porter. Titans RB Eddie George suffered a concussion last week, so if he is effective this week remains to be seen. The Raiders fans are probably even louder and more supportive than the Eagle fans. The Titans are banged up.
Pick - Raiders