By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

SAN DIEGO - For the first time in Super Bowl history, the NFL's top-ranked offense will face the No. 1 defense.

There are dozens of compelling stories about Super Bowl XXXVII, which kicks off today at Qualcomm Stadium. The list includes Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden facing his former team, the Oakland Raiders' attempt to win a fifth championship for owner Al Davis, and the Buccaneers' deliverance from league-worst franchise to their first NFL championship game.

But the game probably will be decided by who wins the battle between the Raiders' offense and the Bucs' defense.

Oakland averaged a league-high 389.8 yards of offense and second-best 28.1 points a game this season. The Buccaneers allowed averages of just 252.8 yards and 12.3 points, both NFL bests.

"This is a very, very explosive defensive team," Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon said of Tampa Bay. "They don't give up a lot of plays, have a lot of team speed and have an aggressive front seven."

The Bucs' biggest defensive star is linebacker Derrick Brooks, who set a league record with four defensive touchdowns this season.

"They are going to make some plays, but we can't allow them to make big plays," Brooks said of Oakland's offense. "We have to disrupt their timing. A lot of their stuff is timing routes on this particular offense. Obviously, we have to tackle."

Brooks, like Gannon, is surrounded by stars. Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice anchor Tampa Bay's defensive line and combined for 23 sacks this season.

The Bucs' secondary, which helped the team catch a league-high 31 interceptions, will face a major challenge against the Raiders' passing game.

Tampa Bay's Brian Kelly, who had eight interceptions, will cover Oakland wide receivers Jerry Rice (92 receptions) and Tim Brown (81). Gannon passed for 4,689 yards this season.

"They have some physical guys in the secondary," Rice said. "We can't go into this game being hesitant. We have to stay aggressive and try to generate points."

The hardest hitter in Tampa Bay's secondary is safety John Lynch, who had 96 tackles. Lynch is reminded of the 1999 NFC Championship Game, which the Bucs lost to St. Louis, even though they held the high-scoring Rams to 11 points.

"We fell a little short but handled them pretty well," Lynch said of the Rams. "The Raiders have two Hall of Fame receivers in Rice and Brown, an emerging star in (Jerry) Porter. We feel like the whole deal with Gannon is Charlie Garner."

Garner, Oakland's running back, had more than 1,900 combined yards in the regular season. He caught 91 passes. Gruden built the Raiders' offense and brought Gannon to Oakland.

"Gannon is like a robot," Gruden said. "He's like the Terminator. He's got a lot of ways to destruct a defense - with his legs, with his arm, with his mind. This guy will not waste plays. He will change plays three, four, five times.

"Charlie Garner is as good of an all-purpose back as there is. They are all veterans. But Gannon is the leader of this band."

Tampa Bay defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin said the best way to control Oakland's offense is to keep it on the sidelines.

"You have to get off the field on third down," Kiffin said. "If you're going to do well in the playoffs, you have to do well on third down."

Opposing offenses were successful on third down on 33.6 percent of plays in the regular season. In two postseason games, the Bucs have improved to 28.6 percent.

The Raiders, on the other hand, were successful on third down 45.3 percent of the time in the regular season, a rate that dropped to 40.9 percent in the playoffs.

Tampa Bay's offense has peaked in the postseason, averaging 29 points a game, compared to its 21.6 regular-season average.

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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