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CNN Sunday Morning
NFL Season Starts Today
Aired September 09, 2001 - 09:33 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.
COLLEEN MCEDWARDS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we want to get right to the story of the NFL season firing up today, the grid iron heating up as the NFL begins it's regular season schedule.
President Bush is actually going to do the official coin toss for the 10th -- the 10 NFL games, rather, on the schedule for this Sunday.
CNN's Josie Karp is standing by in Philadelphia for one of the biggest games -- Josie.
JOSIE KARP, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, this is probably the center of the world in terms of the NFL kickoff weekend right now. You have the Philadelphia Eagles hosting the St. Louis Rams and the reason there is so much attention focused on this game is that these are two teams that many people believe can content for a Super Bowl title.
In fact, odds-makers say this will be the Rams year again. They won two years ago and the big question facing St. Louis is not about its offense; they've got probably the most powerful offense in NFL history. It's about a defense that last year was the worst in the NFL. So, basically, what the Rams did was blow that entire defense up. They will probably start nine different players today.
As far as the Eagles are concerned, they're really a chic pick this year. Kind of the team that people point to that say maybe they're going to be a bit of a surprise. They had a big turnaround last year. They finished the season 11 and 5. They have one of the most dynamic players in the league in quarterback Donovan McNabb, who can do as much with his feet as he can with his arm.
One of the big questions facing the Eagles, though, can't be answered today. It'll come later in the season. They play in the NFC East. Their big rival is the New York Giants and the Eagles have lost to the Giants nine straight times. You won't find out whether Philadelphia is going to be a real contender until they beat the New York Giants.
MCEDWARDS: Well, and we've got to talk about the Ravens as well. What's Baltimore looking like?
KARP: Absolutely. The Ravens in the AFC, they are the defending Super Bowl champions and their defense returns virtually intact. So, of course they're going to be considered a contender again this year. They had what many people consider to be the best defense in NFL history last year, and that was the main reason that they got as far as they did, to the ultimate Super Bowl triumph.
They did it, though, without a very strong offense, and in the off season head coach Brian Billick did address those offensive concerns. He got rid of his starting quarterback from the Super Bowl, Trent Dilfer. He signed Elvis Grbac. That looks to be a positive, but there are some negative things that the Ravens are dealing with on the offensive side of the ball.
Running back Jamal Lewis, their starter, went down with an injury. He'll be out for the year. They signed a free agent tackle, Leon Searcy. He also went down with an injury, so there are still some question marks about this Baltimore Ravens offense.
MCEDWARDS: Well, Josie, what's the latest on the dispute with the referees? Are they still looking at replacement refs at this point? What's the latest on that?
KARP: Absolutely. Replacement referees will work every single game scheduled this weekend and the Monday night game between the New York Giants and the Denver Broncos. And right now you're not hearing a huge outcry from players, from coaches, that they have to get these locked out referees back on the field.
They've voiced their concerns. They've voiced their support for the referees that normally work these games, but I think what you're going to see is the first time these replacements do something that's questionable, make a call that could cost a team a game, that's when there's going to be a huge outcry. That's when the referees who are sitting at home watching these games will get a lot of support. And it's really probably the NFL's worst nightmare, at this point.
MCEDWARDS: All right. Josie Karp, thanks very much for this.
KARP: Thank you.
MCEDWARDS: All right. Have a good one.
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