Some thoughts regarding the Super Bowl relevant to the Stillers:
1. Say Donahoe had signed Warner last March. Since he was essentially an NFL rookie, what would have been his amount of PT in '99?? Answer: ZERO. He would have ROTTED behind Korsmell and Prozac. Sure, he might have sat behind a healthy T. Green, but that's not as bad as rotting behind what might very well have been the 2 worst QBs in pro football.
2. Why is it that the Titans feel secure enough to regularly rotate All-World DE Jevon Kearse to the bench for a breather....but Jason Gildon has NEVER sat out even ONE play the past 2 SEASONS ??
3. Year in and year out, Cowhead bemoans his personnel changes in the offensive line, citing that as one of the reasons why his offense looks like a chimpanzee trying to copulate with a porcupine. Why then, are the Rams able to get rid of starting OT Wayne Gandy, and still field a cohesive offensive line that played solidly from game #1 & was able enough to help win the championship?
4. The Titans were missing their best WR (Thigpen) and DB (Robertson) for this game. They also lost their 2d best DB (Bishop). Yet, they never once cited this as a reason for their loss. Contrast this with Bill Cowhead, who always seems ready to blame losses &/or poor play on personnel losses that aren't even 1/100th as significant as the Titan injuries.
5. Funny how the announcers noted that the Titan coaches SIMPLIFIED their offense to accommodate the dullard, Steve McNair. Anyone think Kevin Gaypride and Bill Cowhead took note?? Or will Gaypride --- as he as done previously in Houston and San Diego --- continue to insist on an offensive scheme that is so complicated that the top 10 Ph.D. graduates from CMU, MIT, and Harvard cannot comprehend a damn thing ??
6. The Rams blocked a FG. The Titans got to the big show with some huge plays on spec teams. Aside from Will Jackwell's fake reverse for a TD versus Balt. in '97, when was the last time the pitiful Steeler special teams made a big play???
7. Had the Rams been saddled with the starting WR duo of Hawkins and Ward, they don't produce even 30% of the yardage the Rams did, nor do they find the end zone for the big gamewinning TD.
9. Isn't it weird that Kevin Gilbride still has an strong influence on this Oiler/Titan team? How else do you explain the game's final play --- which happened about, oh, 68 times this year for the Stillers --- in which the pass play on a "do or die" down (i.e., 3rd down) was well short of the "sticks", and the WR was asked to carry the pigskin in Mark Ingram fashion (remember the '91 Super Bowl?) for the necessary yardage?
10. It's a rather sad indication of just how soft & poor our defense has gotten --- look at the game's final play, in which a former World League LB made a crisp, sure-handed tackle to save the game for the Rams. Then look at the Stiller defense. Carla Emmons and Jason Gildon would have surely softly love-tapped the WR, easily allowing him to spin or plow into the end zone. Even Levon Kirkland might have done his Flop & Flail at the WR's feet, and whiffed badly. Only Earl Holmes would have been a sure thing to make what was a rather simple play.
The Still Mill