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The reason the Raiders will beat the Buccaneers, 28-24, goes beyond the Jon Gruden-Raiders angle. The Raiders will win because this Super Bowl will not go to a one-year wonder like the Patriots. The Bucs and Raiders are teams that have been building for this moment for the past several years.

The Bucs have built this defense for six years. The Raiders are concluding a three-year title run. What gives the Raiders the edge is they survived arguably the toughest schedule in the NFL this year. Their victory will halt a recent trend in which the Super Bowl winner didn't have winning records against winning teams.

The Raiders went 11-5 against teams with combined records of 135-120-1, a .529 percentage. The Bucs come from a tougher than expected 122-131-3 record, a .482 percentage. The revised scheduled pitted the AFC West against the AFC East. That meant at the very least a team such as the Raiders had 10 games against teams with 8-8 or better records. It was the NFL's version of "Survivor."

	C. Woodson

The key to the season was the Raiders' ability to go against those odds and finish with the top seed. They earned a bye week that was more valuable than any team would like to admit. First, it bought an extra week for cornerbacks Tory James and Charles Woodson to come back from broken legs. It rested a banged up offensive line. It gave quarterback Rich Gannon a chance to freshen his mind.

After the game, the Raiders will start to fall apart because of the salary cap. The Bucs are closing in on future cap hell, but they have a couple more years on their cycle. A fitting reward for the Raiders will be winning the Super Bowl.

The Raiders will win if these five things happen:

1. Keep Rich Gannon going, and going, and going: Super Bowls victories usually go to the hot quarterback. Gannon beat out Brett Favre for the MVP. Gannon is amazing. He completed an NFL record 418 passes and had 26 touchdown passes. His completion percentage was 67.5. Nobody moved the chains as well as Gannon this year. He used the short passes like running plays. Look at his first-down numbers. Gannon completed 71.3 percent of 261 passes for 1,840 yards on first down. That's 16 first-down completions a game. That ability to move the ball was so good that Gannon only had to throw the ball 83 times in third or long situations. If the Raiders get in third-and-long situations, they are in trouble. Gannon had 10 of his 36 sacks in those situations, but he still had a 109.2 rating. He can survive, but he should move the ball on first down against the Bucs four-man rush.

	Kennedy

2. Wear down the Bucs' D-line: Size is important in this game. The Raiders have the size on the offensive line. Right tackle Lincoln Kennedy is 6-foot-6, 335 pounds. Right guard Mo Collins is 6-4, 325. Center Barrett Robbins is 6-3, 320. Left guard Frank Middleton is 6-4, 330. Left tackle Barry Sims is 6-5, 300. Warren Sapp at 303 pounds is the only starting defensive lineman weighing over 270 pounds. Ends Simeon Rice and Greg Spires are in the 260s. The key for the Bucs is getting a four-man rush and beating this big offensive line. If they don't beat them early, they won't beat them late. The Raiders have the edge if they want to run the ball or pass it.

3. Utilize all of their offensive weapons: The Raiders offense has many more ways to beat the Bucs than Jon Gruden has at his disposal. There is no question that the Bucs secondary matches up well against the Raiders passing offense. Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin can match up Ronde Barber on Jerry Porter, the Raiders big-play threat. The Bucs have the linebackers who can run with Charlie Garner. But the scheme is perfectly set up by the Raiders to keep constant pressure on a secondary. If Gannon has time to pass, he will get the completion. The play that will drive the Bucs crazy is a high-low approach that will stretch the middle of the field. Gannon can send Porter on an intermediate crossing route and then have tight end Doug Jolley or Tim Brown come underneath with the area that Porter's 17-20 yard routes opens up. If the Bucs come in on Brown, Porter might win deep. Because the Raiders are so powerful on the offensive line, they can often send five receivers into coverage.

	R. Woodson

4. Force an up tempo game: The Bucs will be forced to get into a scoring shootout with the Raiders, and that's where the Raiders hold the edge and win. It's going to take a lot for the Bucs to score 24 points. The Raiders aren't a defense that will shut out good opponents, but the Raiders have experienced playmakers and that's where they will have success. They can create turnovers, and that would be the downfall to the Bucs. To stay with the Raiders, Brad Johnson will either have to force a couple of passes that will turn into interceptions or one of their backs will fumble. The Raiders are so good on offense that the Bucs will have to take chances. Rod Woodson may come up with a key interception or two. Linebackers Eric Barton or Bill Romanowski may come up with a key forced fumble.

5. The Black Hole South shows up in San Diego: The Raiders will win because they will have the crowd on their side. It's rare that a team has a home game in the Super Bowl, but it will seem like it Sunday. Gannon was a 70 percent completion quarterback in home games and only had 3 interceptions in those games. The reason I factor in the crowd is because I watched it happen. On Dec. 8, the Raiders bought enough scalped tickets from Chargers fans to control 60 percent of the seats and 80 percent of the crowd noise. The Chargers tried to keep the Raiders fans out by forcing their fans to buy three tickets to get one Raider game ticket. No problem. The Southern California Raider fans didn't mind splurging on three times the price for one ticket. Those Raiders who haven't bought tickets will be on the prowl Sunday and will get into the stadium. That's bad news for the Bucs.

John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.