By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer

SAN DIEGO - For almost 30 years, a core group of teams claimed the Super Bowl as their exclusive turf. The game always featured at least one of the following teams: the 49ers, Cowboys, Steelers, Dolphins, Redskins, Raiders, Broncos or Packers. Beginning with the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, those eight teams played in 19 of the next 20 Super Bowls.

From a pack of 18 other teams, an interloper such as the Bears, Eagles and even the Bengals would emerge.

But the dawn of free agency almost a decade ago changed everything, giving teams the opportunity to get better in a hurry and challenge for the title. Today's Super Bowl between the Oakland Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is the third consecutive one without a repeat participant. Only one team, the St. Louis Rams, has been to more than one Super Bowl since the 1999 game.

Examining today's post-modern Super Bowl teams, three trends emerge:

They can ride the arm and leadership of a star quarterback.

Although it's now almost cost-prohibitive to have both a great offense and defense, teams are able to win with one superstar unit. Think of the 2000 Ravens defense coordinated by new Bengals coach Marvin Lewis, or the 2002 Raiders and Buccaneers, who come into Super Bowl XXXVII with the No.1-ranked offense and No. 1-ranked defense, respectively.

Organizations are willing to mortgage their futures by overpaying star players with back-loaded contracts and making an intense, short-term run at one or two Super Bowls. Think again of the 2000 Ravens and the current Raiders and Buccaneers.

"You have a small window these days," said Phil Simms, former New York Giants quarterback and current CBS-TV commentator. "You have to have the right talent at the right time and have your key players playing well.

"The Patriots won last year because they had a lot of role players who had career years at the same time. It's timing, and there's a little bit of luck involved."

Tom Brady, the Patriots' quarterback, was Super Bowl XXXVI MVP.

"It takes a lot of luck to get to this game," Brady said. "There are a lot of good players on every team in this league. A lot of things have to happen to get to this game."

Still, some factors seem to help create luck.

Quarterbacks

Superstar quarterbacks are the norm in the past 10 Super Bowls.

Dallas' Troy Aikman won three times; Denver's John Elway twice. Green Bay's Brett Favre and St. Louis' Kurt Warner each split games in two appearances.

"It seems like the longer I do this job, the more I write about quarterbacks," veteran Chicago Tribune NFL writer Don Pierson said.

This season is no exception.

Since Week 9, Oakland's Rich Gannon (the league MVP) and Tampa Bay's Brad Johnson (named Thursday as a replacement on the NFC Pro Bowl team) have been hot.

Gannon, en route to 26 touchdown passes and 4,689 passing yards, threw 16 touchdowns and four interceptions in the final 11 games - nine Raiders victories.

Johnson, despite missing three games with a variety of injuries, led the Bucs to a 7-1 record in his final eight starts by throwing 18 touchdown passes and three interceptions.

Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden had Gannon last season in Oakland and has Johnson this year.

"Both are great competitors and have gotten results that have helped their teams get to this stage," Gruden said.

Quarterbacks regularly shine in the Super Bowl; 19 of the 36 game MVPs have been quarterbacks, including three of the last four (Brady, Warner and Elway).

Gannon has no doubt the Raiders' success or failure starts with him.

"If the quarterback plays well, you have a chance," Gannon said, "and if he doesn't, you probably don't."

Focus on your strength

Another method teams use to get to the Super Bowl is stacking either their offense or defense with stars.

A dominating defense or high-scoring offense becomes the team's identity. This season, it's the Bucs' defense against the Raiders' offense.

The Cowboys, who won consecutive Super Bowls following the 1992 and 1993 seasons - the last before the advent of player free agency - are widely considered to be the last Super Bowl team that was great on both sides of the ball.

Financial constraints, brought on by free agency in 1993 and the salary-cap system in 1994, led some teams to develop either a dominating defense or offense. The thinking is that there isn't enough room under the cap to stock both the offense and defense with top, high-priced talent.

That approach worked to perfection for the 2000 Ravens. Their offense went a month into the regular season without scoring a touchdown. Their defense set an NFL record by allowing just 165 points during the regular season and held the opposition to 16 total points in four postseason games. The Giants scored their seven Super Bowl points against Baltimore on a kickoff return.

The 1999 and 2001 Rams were offensive machines, scoring more than 500 points for three consecutive seasons.

"You have to have a plan (to get to the Super Bowl)," former Steelers wide receiver and current ABC sideline reporter Lynn Swann said. "You have to make up your mind on how you want to build your team and stick to it."

Break the bank

The Raiders are an estimated $50 million over the salary cap, but they don't care. That worry is for tomorrow. Just win, baby.

The Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers and San Francisco 49ers overspent in signing bonuses and deferred salaries to try and win. Pittsburgh paid an estimated $40 million in signing bonuses before the start of the season to keep together what management considered a Super Bowl team.

It's a different game than it was 25 years ago.

"There is less emphasis now on enduring teamwork," said former Miami Dolphins fullback Larry Csonka, the MVP of Super Bowl VIII. "The business side of the NFL is such that guys move on after a couple of years."

Oakland signed nine free agents with a total of 16 Super Bowl rings to make this run: defensive tackle Sam Adams; cornerbacks Darrien Gordon, Tory James, Terrance Shaw and Clarence Love; wide receiver Jerry Rice; linebacker Bill Romanowski; tight end Roland Williams; and safety Rod Woodson.

Woodson and Adams also were high-priced free agents brought in by the 2000 Ravens.

"You have to be good in free agent acquisitions," said Gil Brandt, the former Dallas Cowboys vice president and director of player personnel. "Last year, the Raiders gave up more points than anyone in the playoffs, and they went out and got Adams, (defensive tackle) John Parrella, Woodson and Romanowski.

"It's a combination of things. This league is so competitive. People talk about parity. I don't like the word parity. I like the word competitive balance."

That competitive balance shows during the season and in the Super Bowl.

The willingness to overspend can lift a team from a losing record to the playoffs in a year or two.

The first 15 Super Bowls all were played by teams that had winning records the previous season. That streak ended with Super Bowl XVI in January 1982. That's when the Bengals lost to the 49ers, teams that each had gone 6-10 in 1980.

Not counting this year, five of the previous six Super Bowls featured one team that had a losing record in the previous season.

"When we had our five Super Bowl teams (in the 1970s), you kind of felt that if you looked at the schedule, you could say, 'We have to beat the Vikings. We have to beat the Rams,'" Brandt says. "And now, you can't do that any more. Things are a lot more competitive top to bottom."

E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

Super Bowl Champions

2002-N.England (AFC) 20, St. Louis (NFC) 17

2001-Baltimore (AFC) 34, N.Y. Giants (NFC) 7

2000-St. Louis (NFC) 23, Tennessee (AFC) 16

1999-Denver (AFC) 34, Atlanta (NFC) 19

1998-Denver (AFC) 31, Green Bay (NFC) 24

1997-Green Bay (NFC) 35, N.E. AFC) 21

1996-Dallas (NFC) 27, Pittsburgh (AFC) 17

1995-SanFran (NFC) 49, San Diego (AFC) 26

1994-Dallas (NFC) 30, Buffalo (AFC) 13

1993-Dallas (NFC) 52, Buffalo (AFC) 17

1992-Washington (NFC) 37, Buffalo (AFC) 24

1991-N.Y. Giants (NFC) 20, Buffalo (AFC) 19

1990-SanFran (NFC) 55, Denver (AFC) 10

1989-SanFran (NFC) 20, Cincinnati (AFC) 16

1988-Washington (NFC) 42, Denver (AFC) 10

1987-N.Y. Giants (NFC) 39, Denver (AFC) 20

1986-Chicago (NFC) 46, N.England (AFC) 10

1985-SanFran (NFC) 38, Miami (AFC) 16

1984-L.A. Raiders (AFC) 38, Washington (NFC) 9

1983-Washington (NFC) 27, Miami (AFC) 17

1982-SanFran (NFC) 26, Cincinnati (AFC) 21

1981-Oakland (AFC) 27, Phil. NFC) 10

1980-Pittsburgh (AFC) 31, L. A. (NFC) 19

1979-Pittsburgh (AFC) 35, Dallas (NFC) 31

1978-Dallas (NFC) 27, Denver (AFC) 10

1977-Oakland (AFC) 32, Minnesota (NFC) 14

1976-Pittsburgh (AFC) 21, Dallas (NFC) 17

1975-Pittsburgh (AFC) 16, Minnesota (NFC) 6

1974-Miami (AFC) 24, Minnesota (NFC) 7

1973-Miami (AFC) 14, Washington (NFC) 7

1972-Dallas (NFC) 24, Miami (AFC) 3

1971-Baltimore (AFC) 16, Dallas (NFC) 13

1970-K.C. (AFL) 23, Minnesota (NFL) 7

1969-N.Y. Jets (AFL) 16, Baltimore (NFL) 7

1968-Green Bay (NFL) 33, Oakland (AFL) 14

1967-Green Bay (NFL) 35, K. C. (AFL) 10

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