Sports

COLLISION COURSE: RAIDER ‘O’ VS. BUC ‘D’ WILL BE JUST SUPER

Never has the No. 1- rated offense faced the No. 1-rated defense in the Super Bowl.

Until now.

On Sunday, it’s the Raiders’ Sega attack versus a Buccaneer defense with more speed than I-95.

The result is that Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon, the NFL’s MVP, must adjust to Tampa’s track-team defense, led by the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year, Derrick Brooks.

“[Gannon] has to anticipate that this is going to be a much better and much faster defense,” said CBS football analyst Steve Tasker, who played in four Super Bowls with the Bills.

“He is going to have to make quicker decisions, more decisive throws. I think he also is not going to be able to buy himself as much time as he has done in other games. He is going to be under duress a good deal of the time. He is going to have moments where he can’t try to get greedy.

“He will have to take a bad play every once in a while. That is really something he doesn’t like to do. That could cause him some problems.”

The Super Bowl is a different animal than any other game. Tasker thinks his Bills never won one because, in part, they treated it uniquely and, in turn, approached the game differently than they did others.

Tasker thinks both teams must do what they do best.

On Sunday, the best way for the Bucs to stop the Raider offense is to deny it the ball. If you don’t possess the rock, you don’t score.

“Tampa has to keep the ball,” said YES analyst Howard Cross, who played in two Super Bowls with the Giants.

Cross warns against players becoming starry-eyed in the moment. He seconds Tasker’s notion of playing this game like any other.

Cross declined to pick a winner, while Tasker is taking Tampa.

“I really think the Raiders are going to struggle against this defense,” Tasker said. “It is just too fast. I think the Buccaneers’ offense is going to be able to make enough plays to win this game.”