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But unless the Tampa Bay Bucs travel back East on Monday morning with the final component to the three-part equation, a championship, the 2002 season will have been like so many of the other recent ones in which the franchise was pegged for Super Bowl glory.

A disappointing, underachieving calamity.

Make no mistake about it, as much as some Tampa Bay veterans are nudged by pride and money and the spoils that characteristically accompany a Super Bowl champion, the fear of failure is just as much a motivating factor as the team prepares for what it feels is its NFL birthright.

"No matter what happens," said weak-side linebacker and league defensive player of the year Derrick Brooks, "I would never consider myself or any of my teammates to be losers. But in this country, perception becomes reality, and that's the way it goes. And to this point, with all the talent we feel that is in our locker room, we still haven't won anything."

First under the deposed Tony Dungy, now under Gruden's stewardship, the Bucs have been a franchise with a Super Bowl-caliber roster. The football gods, one well-documented gaffe by a game official three years ago, and the kind of pressure that sometimes causes the breathing passage to become just a tad too tight, have led to Tampa Bay previously falling short of its goal.

This time around, insisted cornerback Ronde Barber, failure really isn't an option. The franchise that for most of its 26 seasons has been a bad mistake must defeat a team that trumpets its trademark mystique and, to do so, has to perform better than it has in any of the previous 432 contests in club history. And based on what is said to have been a solid week of practice, in which Gruden is claimed by players to have done a good job limiting distractions (even some of the self-inflicted ones), Tampa Bay is confident it will.

"We are the best team in football," Barber said. "And we'll prove it."

Words are one thing, of course, deeds quite another. For the Bucs to back up their rhetoric they must do several things well. So the Bucs will win if …

	Alstott

1. Mike Alstott carries 20-plus times, and half his rushes come in the fourth quarter: He might be one of the NFL's most overrated players, and certainly is nominally miscast as a fullback, but the seven-year veteran is a grinder who can help Tampa Bay establish a slow-down pace. The last thing Tampa Bay wants is a shootout because it probably can't win a game played in the high 20s or the 30s. Alstott has the power to keep the Bucs out of third-and-long, to erode some of the Oakland inside strength posed by tackles Sam Adams and John Parrella, and to move the chains in short-yardage situations. The Bucs rushed for 100 yards or more as a team just six times in 2002. Alstott owns the team's lone 100-yard individual performance and is a very good receiver in the flat and swing zones. Tampa Bay uses Alstott, usually in a one-back set, but sometimes with the brutish Jameel Cook, to protect late leads. If he's getting the ball regularly in the final quarter, it means that the Bucs are ahead and counting on Alstott to bleed the clock.

2. Defensive end Simeon Rice doesn't draw double-team pass protection schemes from Oakland coach Bill Callahan: The emotional Rice gets pretty emotional in big games and, for a guy labeled a dog much of his career, they don't get any bigger than Sunday's contest. Rice had 15½ sacks during the regular season. He forced six fumbles, all in "strip" situations in which he sacked the quarterback. And his big wing span enabled him to record 11 passes defensed, as many as were posted by Miami star cornerback Patrick Surtain. Put simply, his matchup with Oakland left tackle Barry Sims might be the most significant one in the game. Sims is a technique-type blocker, a guy who has to move his feet and have optimum hand placement to stave off the speed rushers. He's had trouble this season with the upfield rushers -- take a look at the videotape of his outing against Jason Taylor of Miami -- and Callahan might have to slide a guard to help him or "chip" Rice with a tight end or running back. Rice is capable of making game-altering plays and, if he sees single-man blocking on him, his eyes are going to get big and his first step is going to be even more explosive than usual.

	Barber

3. The munchkin-sized cornerback corps can contend with the physically imposing Oakland wide receivers: The Tampa Bay cornerback trio of Barber, Brian Kelly and Dwight Smith averages just 5-feet-10¼ and 192.3 pounds. At the opposite end of the size spectrum are the three Oakland wide receivers. Jerry Rice, Tim Brown and Jerry Porter check in at 6-feet-¼ and 203.3 pounds. There is no doubt the Raiders want to take full advantage of that size differential. And if the Tampa corners allow the Oakland receivers too much inside position, it could be a long day at the office. In some of the "nickel" situations, the Bucs will want to funnel some routes inside, because Barber typically moves into the slot corner spot, where he can roam a little more and play the ball. For the most part, though, the Bucs want to force an outside release by the Raiders receivers, pinning them to the sideline where their height isn't as much a factor. The corners will need good technique, must move their feet and get their hands on the Raiders and redirect some of their routes. They must also play very physically in "red zone" situations, where the Oakland height advantage can be tough to overcome.

4. Brad Johnson takes advantage of the ailing Oakland cornerbacks and goes vertical at least a few times early in the game: Johnson has proven in the previous two playoff games that, when he gets into a rhythm, he is one of the league's most accurate and surgical passers. Rhythm is great, of course, but risk has to be an element of the Tampa Bay game plan as well on Sunday evening. The Gruden-designed attack revolves largely around the theory of horizontal stretch and it will use the tight ends to pick and screen for the wide receivers who are running crossing routes. But once in a while it doesn't hurt to go over the top and, with Oakland cornerbacks Charles Woodson and Tory James both coming off leg surgeries and operating at less than 100 percent, they should be tested deep. Woodson has been a shadow of himself since returning to the lineup. Since he can't turn and go with a receiver, he has resorted to holding and grabbing, and he really is playing like a desperate man. None of the Tampa receivers has true burner-type deep speed, but that shouldn't be an excuse for ignoring the long ball. Throw deep a few times in the first quarter and, at least plant a seed, and the intermediate routes Johnson throws so well will be even more available.

5. Aaron Stecker returns the opening kickoff for a touchdown: OK, we're only kidding, since we know the Bucs have never retuned a kickoff for a touchdown. Regular season or postseason, zero touchdown returns, quite a feat for a franchise in its 26th season of existence. But in all seriousness, the Bucs have to play strong on special teams, an area where Tampa Bay has been fairly uneven throughout the season. Neither Stecker nor punt return specialist Karl Williams are much of a threat. And Williams is best noted for ball security, making the catch (or the fair catch) and not coughing it up. But field position is going to be a key in Super Bowl XXXVII, and Tampa Bay needs an above-average performance in the overall kicking game. Punter Tom Tupa has dropped 30 kicks inside the opponents' 20-yard line, and that hang-time and placement acumen could be big. Oakland's most dangerous return men, Phillip Buchanon and Terry Kirby, are both on injured reserve, and the Bucs' coverage units should be thankful for those absences.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com.