Hand on face, the pain in the Oakland Raiders wide receiver's luminous eyes was evident as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers drove to yet another touchdown.

	The Bucs sacked Rich Gannon five times and forced him into five turnovers.

Two plays later, Rice almost got his hands on his first pass of the game. Rich Gannon feathered the ball in to Rice, who was covered loosely by Ronde Barber. But just as Rice reached for the ball, Bucs defensive back Dwight Smith -- who had a running start of about 7 yards -- grabbed it. From the vantage point of his hands and knees, Rice saw Smith reach the end zone 44 yards later. Rice picked himself up and slowly walked back to the far sideline.

Rice caught an anti-climactic 48-yard touchdown with 6:06 left, but it left him joyless after the Raiders lost, 48-21. He was asked in a postgame news conference how it felt to become the oldest man to score a Super Bowl touchdown.

Rice's eyes narrowed and the muscles in his face tightened.

"I'm not even going to comment on that," he snapped.

It's funny how experience can congeal into old age -- on a dime.

The Oakland Raiders reached Super Bowl XXXVII on the backs of their aging stars. Gannon, Tim Brown, Bill Romanowski, Rod Woodson and Rice -- four late-30-somethings and a 40-something -- looked a step slow and, quite frankly, a little nervous on the ultimate stage, Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday.

The offensive players were particularly and emphatically ineffective.

Rice and Brown (36), both future Hall of Fame wide receivers, were nonexistent in the first half, when the game was open to suggestion. They caught exactly one pass in the first 30 minutes -- a 9-yarder by Brown.

When Sting performed "Message in a Bottle," was he sending out an SOS on behalf of the Raiders?

Gannon (37), the league's MVP, had one of the greatest seasons ever by a quarterback. The Bucs' savage defense toyed with him. Gannon completed 24 of 44 passes for 272 yards, but he threw 5 interceptions -- three of them returned for long touchdowns. Gannon, who threw for 2 touchdowns after the Bucs led 34-3, was also sacked five times.

Gannon did not throw as many as 3 interceptions in a single previous game this season.

"We were just absolutely terrible -- it was a nightmarish performance." Gannon said. "Turnovers absolutely killed us, obviously. It was a very, very long night for the Raiders.

"They forced us -- they made us -- throw underneath. We played into their hands."

Rice, the first 40-year-old to play in Super Bowl (40 years, 3 months, 13 days), did not add to his collection of three Super Bowl rings. He finished with 5 catches for 77 yards. There was talk that if Oakland won, Rice would retire.

Of course, the Raiders didn't win.

"It's going to be hard to deal with," Rice said. "Hopefully, if you get the opportunity again, you just kick the door in again.

"I'll be back next season. No doubt."

The Raiders are said to be some $50 million over the salary cap. Out of fiscal necessity, a number of high-priced stars will not return. A reporter started to ask Rice about the cap, but in a rare loss of composure, Rice interrupted him.

	“	It's going to be hard to deal with. Hopefully, if you get the opportunity again, you just kick the door in again. ”
		— Jerry Rice, Raiders wide receiver

"Ah, I … I don't want to talk about the salary cap," Rice said, glaring. "The salary cap doesn't have anything to do with what went down today. Let's talk about the Super Bowl."

Fine. Forty-two minutes into the game, Rice managed his first catch, a harmless little 6-yard gain. His second? A diving 3-yarder with less than eight minutes to play. After a game in which he was battered and beaten by cornerbacks Barber and Brian Kelly, Rice finally got behind the secondary for a lovely 48-yard touchdown.

Gannon's melt-down was even more surprising, considering his recent performances.

His first-half numbers -- accrued when the game was still seeking an equilibrium -- were astonishing: 7 completions, 17 attempts, 56 yards, 3 sacks, 2 interceptions and zero touchdowns. His passer rating, based on a perfect 158.3, was a less-than-robust 10.5.

Sure-handed enough to catch 1,018 passes for 14,167 yards in 15 seasons with the Raiders, Brown had a crucial drop late in the second quarter. It was third-and-6 at the Oakland 48 and Gannon found Brown for an apparent first down, but the ball slipped out of his hands. It was the second drop of the series and it returned the ball to the Bucs, who drove 77 yards in 10 plays for a touchdown that effectively finished the Raiders.

Brown caught a 9-yard pass for a first down that helped keep the Raiders' opening field goal drive alive. That, as it turned out, was it.

After the game, Brown said he, too, would return for another season with the Silver and Black.

"I've still got something to play for," Brown said. "That's why I'm coming back."

The defensive elders -- safety Woodson and linebacker Romanowski -- more than held their own -- but, then again, they weren't ranked No. 1 in the league over the regular season like the offense.

Romanowski, 36, had been in position to make history. A victory by the Raiders would have delivered him a record-tying fifth Super Bowl ring. He did his part, recording 7 solo tackles and three assists -- second only to teammate Eric Barton.

Woodson, 37, had seven solo tackles and an assist, to go along with a pass defensed. His one regret, he said, was allowing the Bucs to dictate policy on offense. He wished the Raiders had stayed in their base defense more often.

What about the future?

"I have one more game to represent the Raiders," Woodson said, referring to the Pro Bowl next Sunday in Hawaii. "Al Davis and the Raiders have a lot of decisions to make.

"We all know about the salary-cap situation. If I'm not here, I'll be coaching Pee Wee football somewhere."

Greg Garber is a senior writer for ESPN.com.