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CNN Live At Daybreak

Talking Sports with Chris Cotter

Aired December 30, 2002 - 06:52   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to turn our attentions now to sports. A wild weekend in the NFL, and we mean wild. The playoffs finally set now.
Chris Cotter of "790 The Zone" here to tell us who's in, who's out.

You know, I have to think that the -- it's difficult to focus for some of these teams, while they were playing on there watching the other game.

CHRIS COTTER, "790 THE ZONE": Oh, yes, scoreboard watching.

CALLAWAY: Yes. So tell me about Saturday.

COTTER: And everyone was scoreboard watching.

Well, Saturday kind of got the ball rolling a little bit. The Eagles had the Giants beat and then the Giants miraculously got the field goal in overtime to get the win and they're celebrating because they know they're in. OK, they won on Saturday, they're in. So that kind of set the stage a little bit for the Sunday, where we had as many as 10, 11 teams still battling to get in for a couple of more spots.

And that all started things rolling. Within about a 15 minute period of real time on Sunday afternoon you had the fates of about five to six teams all decided. It started off in New Orleans...

CALLAWAY: Here's the Saints.

COTTER: ... with the Saints losing to the Carolina Panthers, upset by the Panthers second year in a row now that Jim Haslett and the Saints have faltered down the stretch and not made the playoffs after a great start. A tremendous disappointment for them. What did that mean for the Falcons? Well, the...

CALLAWAY: They're in.

COTTER: Yes, the Falcons-Browns games then, the Falcons-Browns game then became irrelevant for the Falcons, because they were in. The Browns were not in, though. They had to win. Here comes William Green, the great rookie from Boston College, ripping off a long run here in Cleveland. Cleveland beats the Falcons, so Cleveland is not necessarily in, but they have a good chance. The Falcons were definitely in. Here it is, the last minute of the game. The Falcons couldn't get in, so Cleveland wins. Then, New England storms back to beat Miami. This is all within a couple of minutes here on Sunday. So Miami's chances are dashed and that's a huge disappointment for them because all year they look like they might be the team in that AFC East division. New England storms back. They were down 11 points in the fourth quarter and they come back to get the win. Adam Vinatieri, again, in overtime just getting it inside and it's good. New England not in yet, but we know Miami is out. New England had to wait for the Jets game against Green Bay that night.

CALLAWAY: Oh, they couldn't even celebrate their win.

COTTER: Nope. Well, that, they at least kept themselves alive. But this game meant everything and the Jets and Green Bay, and the Jets really took it to them. So the people in New York having a lot to celebrate.

CALLAWAY: Yes, they are.

COTTER: Saturday the Giants, Sunday the Jets. The Jets win the AFC East. The Packers, meanwhile, they're in. We knew they were in, it was just where they were going to be seated. But Dolphins, Broncos, New England and the Saints left to wonder what the heck went wrong and well, they've got a few months to wonder, don't they?

CALLAWAY: Yes, but it's a great...

COTTER: A lot of time.

CALLAWAY: ... a great day for New York. We've got to give them that.

You know what? My favorite part about all this is the fact that they're playing a game, the Atlanta Falcons playing a game, you know, they find out right, in, what, a minute before the game's over...

COTTER: That's right.

CALLAWAY: ... that they're in. It's almost like they gave up. They were this close and then they lose the game.

COTTER: A minute left in Cleveland they announced on the p.a. that the Panthers had beaten the Saints. So everybody there knew, including the Atlanta Falcons, hey, we're in anyways. We don't have to win this game. Not that they didn't try to win it down the stretch, but they did know and it may have been distracting to them.

CALLAWAY: Well, it had to be distracting. They were happy.

COTTER: They're in.

CALLAWAY: Yes, right.

COTTER: That's what matters. Playoffs next.

CALLAWAY: That's it. Thanks, Chris.

COTTER: Thank you.

CALLAWAY: We'll have you back later with more on that.

COTTER: OK.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired December 30, 2002 - 06:52   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: We're going to turn our attentions now to sports. A wild weekend in the NFL, and we mean wild. The playoffs finally set now.
Chris Cotter of "790 The Zone" here to tell us who's in, who's out.

You know, I have to think that the -- it's difficult to focus for some of these teams, while they were playing on there watching the other game.

CHRIS COTTER, "790 THE ZONE": Oh, yes, scoreboard watching.

CALLAWAY: Yes. So tell me about Saturday.

COTTER: And everyone was scoreboard watching.

Well, Saturday kind of got the ball rolling a little bit. The Eagles had the Giants beat and then the Giants miraculously got the field goal in overtime to get the win and they're celebrating because they know they're in. OK, they won on Saturday, they're in. So that kind of set the stage a little bit for the Sunday, where we had as many as 10, 11 teams still battling to get in for a couple of more spots.

And that all started things rolling. Within about a 15 minute period of real time on Sunday afternoon you had the fates of about five to six teams all decided. It started off in New Orleans...

CALLAWAY: Here's the Saints.

COTTER: ... with the Saints losing to the Carolina Panthers, upset by the Panthers second year in a row now that Jim Haslett and the Saints have faltered down the stretch and not made the playoffs after a great start. A tremendous disappointment for them. What did that mean for the Falcons? Well, the...

CALLAWAY: They're in.

COTTER: Yes, the Falcons-Browns games then, the Falcons-Browns game then became irrelevant for the Falcons, because they were in. The Browns were not in, though. They had to win. Here comes William Green, the great rookie from Boston College, ripping off a long run here in Cleveland. Cleveland beats the Falcons, so Cleveland is not necessarily in, but they have a good chance. The Falcons were definitely in. Here it is, the last minute of the game. The Falcons couldn't get in, so Cleveland wins. Then, New England storms back to beat Miami. This is all within a couple of minutes here on Sunday. So Miami's chances are dashed and that's a huge disappointment for them because all year they look like they might be the team in that AFC East division. New England storms back. They were down 11 points in the fourth quarter and they come back to get the win. Adam Vinatieri, again, in overtime just getting it inside and it's good. New England not in yet, but we know Miami is out. New England had to wait for the Jets game against Green Bay that night.

CALLAWAY: Oh, they couldn't even celebrate their win.

COTTER: Nope. Well, that, they at least kept themselves alive. But this game meant everything and the Jets and Green Bay, and the Jets really took it to them. So the people in New York having a lot to celebrate.

CALLAWAY: Yes, they are.

COTTER: Saturday the Giants, Sunday the Jets. The Jets win the AFC East. The Packers, meanwhile, they're in. We knew they were in, it was just where they were going to be seated. But Dolphins, Broncos, New England and the Saints left to wonder what the heck went wrong and well, they've got a few months to wonder, don't they?

CALLAWAY: Yes, but it's a great...

COTTER: A lot of time.

CALLAWAY: ... a great day for New York. We've got to give them that.

You know what? My favorite part about all this is the fact that they're playing a game, the Atlanta Falcons playing a game, you know, they find out right, in, what, a minute before the game's over...

COTTER: That's right.

CALLAWAY: ... that they're in. It's almost like they gave up. They were this close and then they lose the game.

COTTER: A minute left in Cleveland they announced on the p.a. that the Panthers had beaten the Saints. So everybody there knew, including the Atlanta Falcons, hey, we're in anyways. We don't have to win this game. Not that they didn't try to win it down the stretch, but they did know and it may have been distracting to them.

CALLAWAY: Well, it had to be distracting. They were happy.

COTTER: They're in.

CALLAWAY: Yes, right.

COTTER: That's what matters. Playoffs next.

CALLAWAY: That's it. Thanks, Chris.

COTTER: Thank you.

CALLAWAY: We'll have you back later with more on that.

COTTER: OK.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com