NFL Fever 2003 Predicts Raiders 28 Buccaneers 17, After Forecasting the Exact Score of Last Year's Super Bowl Game
January 23, 2003—Today, Microsoft announced the results of Super Bowl XXXVII as part of Playoff Fever on Xbox.com. Playoff Fever is a game summary, with simulated highlight reel and statistics, which appears every Friday on www.xbox.com, previewing upcoming NFL playoff games. All games are played in incredibly realistic replicas of NFL stadiums, using Microsoft Game Studios' NFL Fever 2003 for Xbox.
This past weekend, Playoff Fever correctly predicted the Oakland Raiders over Tennessee Titans, but failed to predict the Tampa Bay Bucs over the Philadelphia Eagles, posting a 1–1 record.
After an entire Monday Night season and three weeks of Playoff action, the Fever record stands at an impressive 18–9. Dating back to last season, Fever holds an overall record of 35–16. In addition, NFL Fever 2003 has picked a winner in 17 of its last 24 game simulations.
This week, Xbox.com features Super Bowl XXXVII just one year after predicting the EXACT SCORE of last year's Super Bowl (New England 20–St. Louis 17).
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Oakland Raiders
After ending its 0–7 mark of losing road playoff games by finally defeating the Eagles, Tampa Bay advanced to its first Super Bowl in franchise history. First-year coach, Jon Gruden led his team to a unique showdown with the team he coached just a year ago, the Oakland Raiders. The game, dubbed the "Gruden Bowl," matched the NFL's number-one-ranked defense (Tampa Bay) agaist the NFL's number-one-ranked offense (Oakland).
On the first possession of the game, Oakland QB Rich Gannon exploited Tampa's secondary, completing five of six passes and hitting future-Hall-of-Famer Jerry Rice on a 10-yard touchdown pass. The Bucs answered shortly thereafter, when Brad Johnson found big-play receiver Joe Jurevicius on an 82-yard touchdown pass. With the score knotted at 7–7 and both offenses firing on all cylinders, the scoreboard operator seemed to have a busy night ahead of him.
But, the second quarter wasn't nearly as crisp offensively for either team. Buccaneers' linebacker and NFL Defensive Player of the Year Derrick Brooks nailed Gannon and forced a fumble, which Shelton Quarles recovered. Looking to capitalize on the very next play, Johnson hastily threw an ill-advised ball that DeLawrence Grant batted into the hands of Raider cornerback Tory James for an interception. Unfortunately, Oakland couldn't capitalize on the turnover and punted after three and out.
Gruden went back to the drawing board and ordered Johnson to spread the field. Johnson orchestrated a seven-minute, 79-yard drive, culminating with a Ken Dilger one-yard touchdown grab that put Tampa Bay up 14–7. Oakland had little more than a minute to retaliate before the half, but Bucs' cornerback Ronde Barber picked Gannon's pass for the Raiders' second turnover, ending the drive.
In the third quarter, Oakland found new life, as James picked Johnson for the second time, putting the Raiders in prime field position. Gannon didn't relinquish the opportunity, hitting his other future-Hall-of-Famer Tim Brown on a 12-yard touchdown pass, tying the score at 14–14. Bill Romanowski and the Raiders' defense held the Bucs and forced a punt on their next possession. Gannon, the NFL MVP, went back to work, completing passes of 14 and 19 yards to Brown and one pass for 28 yards to Charlie Garner. Gannon then found his tight end, Doug Jolley, for the 11-yard, go-ahead touchdown.
In the fourth quarter, the relentless Bucs unleashed a flurry of first-down completions, moving deep into Raiders' territory. But, Tampa would have to settle for a 25-yard Martin Gramatica field goal after failing to reach the end zone on three consecutive incomplete passes by Johnson. With a little more than five minutes to go, Oakland led 21–17.
The Raiders' plan was simple: Run the ball to eat up the clock, and win owner Al Davis a Super Bowl. Garner picked up key first downs on runs of 14 and 18 yards and forced Tampa to use its supply of timeouts. Adding to the drama, though, Garner was stopped on the following first and second down from the Raiders' own 45-yard line, and Gannon was forced to throw on third and long. With possibly the game's most important play, Tim Brown pulled down a leaping grab for 27 yards and a key Oakland first down. Going back to ball control and the ground game, Zack Crockett put the exclamation point on the game as he crossed the goal line on a 4-yard touchdown run to seal a Super Bowl win for the Raiders, 28–17.
Oakland had succeeded in defeating its former coach and gave its rookie coach Bill Callahan his first NFL Championship. Tim Brown was named Super Bowl MVP, finishing with six receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown. The Super Bowl win was Oakland's first since 1984, when the then Los Angeles Raiders beat Washington 38–9 in Super Bowl XVIII.
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Super Bowl 2003
Team Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
F
Buccaneers 7 7 0 3
17
Raiders 7 0 14 7 28
Video: Super Bowl Prediction
Game Stats TB OAK
First Downs 8 16
Total Offense 292 320
Rushing Offense 23 95
Passing Offense 269 225
Turnovers 3 2
Player of the Game
Tim Brown, Raiders: 6 receptions for 110 yards and 1 TD
Game Breakdown
1st Quarter
RAIDERS: Rich Gannon 10-yard TD pass to Jerry Rice (Sebastian Janikowski kick); 7–0 RAIDERS
BUCS: Brad Johnson 82-yard TD pass to Joe Jurevicius (Martin Gramatica kick); 7–7 TIE
2nd Quarter
BUCS: Johnson 1-yard TD pass to Ken Dilger (Gramatica kick); 14–7 BUCS
3rd Quarter
RAIDERS: Gannon 12-yard TD pass to Tim Brown (Janikowski kick); 14–14 TIE
RAIDERS: Gannon 11-yard TD pass to Doug Jolley (Janikowski kick); 21–14 RAIDERS
4th QUARTER
BUCS: Gramatica 25-yard field goal; 21–17 RAIDERS
RAIDERS: Zack Crockett 4-yard TD run (Janikowski kick); 28–17 RAIDERS