LADYDRAGON.COM - NFL FEVER 2003 LOOKS TO PROVIDE GAME WINNER AND EXACT SCORE FOR SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR

Wednesday January 22, 2003

NFL FEVER 2003 LOOKS TO PROVIDE GAME WINNER AND EXACT SCORE FOR SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR

RAIDERS TRIUMPH OVER BUCCANEERS 28-17 IN SUPER BOWL FEVER

Nineteen years after its last Super Bowl victory, the Raiders will become champions again by topping the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and their former coach 28-17 in the Super Bowl. That's the prediction from "NFL Fever 2003" on Xbox.

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)

Today, Microsoft announced the results of Super Bowl XXXVII as part of Playoff Fever on Xbox.com. Playoff Fever is a simulated highlight reel, game summary and statistics, which appears every Friday on www.xbox.com that previews the 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 Tampa Bay Bucs over Philadelphia Eagles, posting a 1-1 record.

After an entire Monday Night season and three weeks of playoff action, Fever's record stands at an impressive 18-9. Dating back to last season, Fever holds an overall record of 35-16.

Oakland Raiders 28, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17

After ending their 0-7 mark of losing road playoff games by finally defeating the Eagles, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers advanced to their first Super Bowl in franchise history. First-year coach, Jon Gruden leads his team to a unique showdown with the team he coached just a year ago, the Oakland Raiders. The game being dubbed the "Gruden Bowl" matches the NFL's No. 1 ranked defense (Tampa Bay) versus the NFL's No. 1 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 TD 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 1-yard touchdown grab that put Tampa Bay up, 14-7. Oakland had a just over 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-Fame receiver Tim Brown on a 12-yard touchdown pass to tie 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 them 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 over five minutes to go, Oakland led, 21-17.

The Raiders plan was simple ... run the ball to eat the clock and win owner Al Davis another Super Bowl. Garner picked up key first downs on runs of 14 and 18 yards and forced Tampa to use their 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 their former coach and gave their 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 the Washington Redskins 38-9 in Super Bowl XVIII.

To see Super Bowl XXXVII's simulated highlights, game summary, and statistics, visit www.xbox.com. Be sure to join us next year for the third season of "NFL Fever on Monday Night," "Playoff Fever" and "Super Bowl Fever."

"NFL Fever 2003", which features cover athlete and spokesperson Peyton Manning, is available where fine video games are sold exclusively for Xbox.

"NFL Fever 2003" is an Officially Licensed Product of PLAYERS INC. The PLAYERS INC. logo is a registered trademark of the NFL players. © 2002 NFLP. Team names and logos are trademarks of the teams indicated. All other (NFL-related marks) are trademarks of the National Football League and NFL Properties. © 2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

MONDAY NIGHT AND PLAYOFF FEVER FAST FACTS

Correctly predicted the exact score of Super Bowl XXXVI (20-17 Patriots).

Correctly predicted 12 out of the last 14 Monday Night games this season.

Came within ten or fewer points of predicting the game's exact final score eleven times

Predicted the winner of eight straight Monday Night football games last season and five straight games three separate times this season.

2001-2002 MONDAY NIGHT AND PLAYOFF FEVER RESULTS
WEEK                            PREDICTION              ACTUAL SCORE            RESULT
(Games within 10 points in Italics)
WEEK 1                  Rams 28-0                       Rams 35-0               W
WEEK 2                          Redskins 7-3                    Cowboys 9-7                     L
WEEK 3                          Eagles 21-14                    Eagles 10-9             W
WEEK 4                          Titans 27-21                  Steelers 34-7                   L
WEEK 5                          Raiders 17-13                   Raiders 38-28                   W
WEEK 6                          Ravens 12-6                     Ravens 16-10                    W
WEEK 7                          Vikings 31-0                  Vikings 28-16                   W
WEEK 8                          Bucs 20-17                      Bucs 24-17                      W
WEEK 9                 Packers 17-8                    Packers 28-21                   W
WEEK 10                 Dolphins 7-6                    Dolphins 41-6                   W
WEEK 11                 Rams 14-11                      Rams 34-21                      W
WEEK 12                 Titans 24-7                     Titans 13-10                    W
WEEK 13                 Ravens 14-0                     Bucs 22-10                      L
WEEK 14                 Vikings 12-7                  Ravens 19-3                     L
WILD CARD               Eagles 24-21                    Eagles 31-9                     W
WILD CARD               Jets 20-17                      Raiders 38-24                   L
WILD CARD               Packers 34-28                   Packers 25-15                   W
WILD CARD               Ravens 13-10                    Ravens 20-3                     W
DIVISIONAL            Eagles 27-24                    Eagles 33-19            W
DIVISIONAL            Raiders 28-13                   Patriots 16-13         L
DIVISIONAL            Ravens 17-14                    Steelers 27-10         L
DIVISIONAL                      Rams 17-13                      Rams 45-17              W
CHAMPIONSHIP            Steelers 14-7           Patriots 24-17         L
CHAMPIONSHIP            Rams 28-10              Rams 29-24              W
SUPER BOWL XXXVI        Patriots 20-17         Patriots 20-17         W

2002-2003 MONDAY NIGHT AND PLAYOFF FEVER RESULTS
WEEK                            PREDICTION              ACTUAL SCORE              RESULT
(Games within 10 points in Italics)
Week 1                 Patriots 28-21         Patriots 30-14         W
Week 2                 Redskins 21-17         Eagles 37-7             L
Week 3                 Rams 38-21              Bucs 26-14              L
Week 4                 Ravens 27-21            Ravens 34-23            W
Week 5                 Packers 35-14           Packers 34-21           W
Week 6                 49ers 20-13             49ers 28-21             W
Week 7                 Steelers 45-24         Steelers 28-10         W
Week 8                 Eagles 31-14            Eagles 17-3             W
Week 9                 Dolphins 27-14         Packers 24-10           L
Week 10         Raiders 23-17           Raiders 34-10           W
Week 11         Rams 23-20              Rams 21-16              W
Week 12         Eagles 27-24            Eagles 38-17            W
Week 13         Raiders 31-24           Raiders 26-20           W
Week 14         Dolphins 39-27         Dolphins 27-9           W
Week 15         Patriots 14-10         Titans 24-7             L
Week 16         Steelers 26-19         Steelers 17-7           W
Week 17         Rams 21-14              Rams 31-20              W
WILD CARD               Jets 35-25                      Jets 41-0                       W
WILD CARD               Falcons 20-10                   Falcons 27-7            W
WILD CARD               Steelers 31-30                  Steelers 36-33              W
WILD CARD               Giants 24-14                    49ers 39-38                  L
DIVISIONAL              Steelers 27-25         Titans 31-28            L
DIVISIONAL              Eagles 23-21            Eagles 20-6             W
DIVISIONAL              49ers 24-21             Buccaneers 31-6 L
DIVISIONAL              Jets 14-6               Raiders 30-10           L
AFC CHAMPIONSHIP        Raiders 20-16         Raiders 41-24           W
NFC CHAMPIONSHIP        Eagles 20-10            Bucs 27-10              L
SUPER BOWL XXXVII       Raiders 28-17           ?????                   ?

Super Bowl Fever - Season Two
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Oakland Raiders

1 2 3 4 F

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS 7 7 0 3 17
OAKLAND RAIDERS 7 0 14 7 28

PLAYER OF THE GAME
Tim Brown, Oakland 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

OTHER NOTABLES
BUCS:
Brad Johnson 17 for 28 for 274 yards and 2 TD 2 INT passing
Joe Jurevicius 2 receptions for 88 yards and 1 TD
Shelton Quarles 9 solo tackles, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery

RAIDERS:
Rich Gannon 19 for 25 for 236 yards and 3 TD 1 INT
Tory James 5 solo tackles, 2 INT
Doug Jolley 3 receptions for 51 yards and 1 TD

GAME STATS                      TB           OAK
First Downs                       8       16
Total Offense                  292      320
Rushing Offense               23       95
Passing Offense              269     225
Turnovers                           3      2