Playoffs Home Playoffs History NFL Scoreboard NFL Home Photo Gallery Bracket
ESPN.com
Gannon, Barber lead teams to Super Bowl
By Tom Jackson
Special to ESPN.com

Here's my quick review of everything we saw during Championship Weekend of the 2002 NFL season:

Offensive player of the week:
Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon. Showed why he was voted the league's MVP this season, completing 29 of 41 passes for 286 yards and 3 touchdowns, plus ran for a score in Oakland's 41-24 win.

Defensive player of the week:
Buccaneers cornerback Ronde Barber. Tampa Bay's entire defense could grab this honor, but we'll give it to Tiki's twin brother, who totaled 3 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 4 passes defensed and returned a Donovan McNabb interception 92 yards as the Bucs advanced to their first Super Bowl.

Number of the week:
Seventeen. The Raiders became just the sixth team since the merger to win a postseason game with less than 20 rushing attempts in a contest.

Surprise of the week:
The Bucs had never won a playoff game on the road, but Jon Gruden proved to be the tonic the team needed this season.

Coaching move of the week:
Not good. For whatever reason, Eagles' head coach Andy Reid decided not to turn to his running game and it cost his team dearly.

Store it away:
I may be a former Denver Bronco, but I always root for the AFC and like the Raiders over the Bucs in Super Bowl XXXVII.

Tom Jackson is an NFL analyst for ESPN.






.