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CNN Live At Daybreak
'Talking Sports' with Chris Cotter
Aired September 16, 2002 - 06:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Did you catch the late NFL game last night? Well if you didn't, we have some highlights. Yes, it's time to talk some sports now.
Joining us is Chris Cotter of AM 790 The Zone right here in Atlanta.
And, Chris, Steelers and Rams, weren't they your picks to go to the Super Bowl this year?
CHRIS COTTER, AM 790 THE ZONE: You know I was afraid you were going to say that. Actually, I knew I was going to have to eat crow so I'm just going to come right out and say it, yes, I picked the Rams and the Steelers. And the Rams are 0-2 and the Steelers are 0-2, but the Rams look a lot better at 0-2 than the Steelers do.
COSTELLO: Really?
COTTER: Steelers look awful at 0-2.
COSTELLO: What's happening?
COTTER: I mean they don't look like they're really a team that's going to be able to turn this thing around.
COSTELLO: So they lost big time to the Raiders last night.
COTTER: They lost big time to the Raiders. Raiders are a pretty good football team, by the way. They should have been my pick from the AFC but it was the Steelers.
Now I knew I shouldn't have done that, I picked the Steelers. I picked Kordell Stewart who's an every other guy. Every other season, every other play, every other series he's good. The other ones, he's not so good.
Here's a kickoff return right here by Terry Kirby and the Oakland Raiders.
COSTELLO: Yes.
COTTER: And the Oakland Raiders beat the Steelers last night 30- 17.
COSTELLO: Hey, could I just throw out a theory, and I don't know if I'm right because you know I'm not a sports person, but Pittsburgh had a -- has a great defense. COTTER: They do.
COSTELLO: Could it be that the offense on the other teams are figuring it out and they're just passing right over that defense?
COTTER: Well that's a great point, because we've seen it now starting last year when Cincinnati passed 60 some odd times against them and people said hmm that's how you beat them. Oakland threw the ball like crazy yesterday, 400 yards from Gannon the quarterback. So I mean they've really -- that's exactly how they're going to beat Pittsburgh throwing up top. And Pittsburgh's offense is anemic, terrible. They're not going to beat anybody the way they're playing right now. So Pittsburgh's in a lot of trouble.
COSTELLO: And who's their backup, Kordell Stewart and it's Charlie Batch.
COTTER: It's Charlie Batch. He used to play at Detroit. And it's also Tommy Maddox. He used to play in a lot of different places and not very well I might add.
COSTELLO: Oh no. What else do we have to talk about? What's your favorite game from this weekend?
COTTER: I love the Buffalo-Minnesota game, an unbelievable game. Goes right down to the wire. Again, Buffalo lost, remember, in overtime last weekend, and then suffering again this weekend but getting the job done. This game it's only 13-13 here in the third quarter as you see Minnesota scoring a touchdown here. Great catch by Randy Moss. But look at the final score at the bottom, 45-39, and this is how we got to overtime.
COSTELLO: Jeez.
COTTER: Look at this kick right here.
COSTELLO: Oh.
COTTER: Doink, right across the crossbar but goes in. John Hollis, the kicker for Buffalo, sends it into overtime and that's when Drew Bledsoe, who passed for over 400 yards in this game,...
COSTELLO: Didn't he set a record?
COTTER: ... hits Peerless Price and this is a touchdown right here. Four hundred and sixty some odd yards for Drew Bledsoe who the Patriots thought -- well you know what, the Patriots didn't think he was washed up, they just found another quarterback in Tom Brady so they let Bledsoe go.
COSTELLO: Yes,...
COTTER: And Bledsoe...
COSTELLO: ... you can't say Drew Bledsoe was ever washed up. He's still a great quarterback. COTTER: No, he's having a great second chance here at Buffalo and making the most of it.
COSTELLO: Definitely. Shall we talk just a bit about the Redskins-Philadelphia game on "Monday Night Football."
COTTER: Well it's another chance for Steve Spurrier kind of to prove himself and approve what he's doing at the NFL level...
COSTELLO: And they're playing a real team.
COTTER: ... is legit. A very real team, Philadelphia. OK, I'm going to make another Super Bowl -- well I'm going to wait until after tonight's game to make my second Super Bowl prediction. But Philadelphia is a team that could represent the NFC in the Super Bowl and tonight's a great match up for Washington to see if they can play and beat a team that a lot of people think is one of the better teams in the conference.
COSTELLO: Yes, we'll see if they have their kicker problems worked out.
COTTER: Yes.
COSTELLO: Because why wouldn't you work that out? That's been a problem with the Washington Redskins for years.
COTTER: And it's so -- you know it's so hard for me to figure out why teams can't get kickers that are solid and can get the job done at the NFL level. So many college kids coming out and great kickers at the college level still have a hard time making it at the NFL level. They get cut here and there. And kids that are making, you know, 40 some odd yard field goals, 50 yard field goals at the college level regularly having a hard time when they get to the NFL level. I don't understand.
COSTELLO: It's just insane. Maybe it's just pressure -- the intense pressure.
COTTER: I guess. There's a lot of pressure in college, too.
COSTELLO: OK. Chris Cotter, thank you very much. And you'll join us again on Friday.
COTTER: Friday, that's right. I'll see you then.
COSTELLO: All right.
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