And although sleep deprivation is a way of life for Jon Gruden, that's not necessarily so for his team. I experienced it first hand when I was with the Washington Redskins. It was tough to have to fly across the country to Pasadena, so look for fatigue to be a factor.

Conversely, the Raiders never left California. So they're probably feeling pretty good about that advantage, especially since there is no extra week between the championship games and the Super Bowl this year.

	Gruden's knowledge of Callahan and the Raiders tips the scales in his favor. He'll prepare his offense with a working knowledge of Chuck Bresnahan's defensive philosophies.

The Tampa Bay coaches weren't trying to avoid the spotlight by traveling separately from the team. They weren't even thinking about distractions. I'm sure they got a decent night's sleep on Sunday and went right to work all day Monday. They got right down to business, breaking down film on the Raiders and building the core of their game plan. This way, when they arrived in San Diego, they could hit the ground running and concentrate on the business at hand.

With Gruden's late arrival, Bill Callahan saw an opportunity for a little gamesmanship. Since Gruden was still in Tampa for Monday's press conferences, Callahan decided to skip it as well. Instead, he sent Jerry Rice to meet the press. Just like in the NBA, if one coach yells at an official, you know the opposing one will start yelling as well -- even if he doesn't have a beef. It's all about keeping things even.

Remember, these guys know each other well. And while Tampa may have the disadvantage in terms of proximity, Gruden's knowledge of Callahan and the Raiders tips the scales in his favor. He'll prepare his offense with a working knowledge of Chuck Bresnahan's defensive philosophies. He knows that Bresnahan likes to attack the Bucs' style of offense. So you can bet Gruden will know how to counter it.

Gruden will try to get into Rich Gannon's head. After all, he coached Gannon to the level he's playing at now and trained him well. If Gruden is the professor, then Gannon is a graduate student, his star pupil, and Brad Johnson is still a promising freshman. According to Brett Favre, it takes at least four years to figure out this offense, so that's a distinct advantage for Gannon.

And don't forget that offensive coordinator Marc Trestman would be the valedictorian of Gruden's graduating class. Trestman, an offensive consultant under Gruden a year ago, knows the nuances of the Raiders' offense as well as anyone, having coached it in Cleveland, San Francisco and Arizona. And he's loaded with weapons to work with. He'll certainly be an integral part of the Super Bowl this year.

If you compare the two offenses, Trestman's has more weapons and is more of a vertical threat than Gruden's. Jerry Porter can go both north and south, as well as east and west. Trestman also has a breakaway back in Charlie Garner. Gruden doesn't have those elements in his offense.

But what Gruden does have is the ability to spread the ball around. The numbers might not jump out at you, but the productivity is there. Since there are a lot of guys who touch the ball, the Raiders defense must account for everyone. And they must tackle -- especially Mike Alstott.

Ultimately, these two teams will come out Sunday and do what they did to get here. There may be some new, creative stuff from each team in the red zone, since as many as 15 red zone plays can be called without taxing the offense. But the Bucs and the Raiders won't change their base strategies.

Both teams will scheme and design to outthink each other, but the key will be execution. Considering the Raiders are returning to the Super Bowl after 19 years and the Bucs are making their first appearance, I don't expect either team to hold anything back.

A game analyst for ESPN's Sunday Night Football, former NFL QB Joe Theismann won a Super Bowl and a league MVP award. He'll be writing a daily Cup o' Joe for ESPN.com during Super Bowl week.