HEADLINE NEWS - Features

Friday - 1/17/2001

By Chris McAlister
For NFL Insider

Chris' Diaries: Jan. 17 | Jan. 18

(EDITOR'S NOTE: On the strength of arguably the best defense in NFL history, the Baltimore Ravens qualified for the franchise's first Super Bowl. Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister will share his experiences in the days leading up to Super Bowl XXXV in an exclusive diary for
SuperBowl.com.)

This is our first day back. We had Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off so we got a lot of rest. We'll only have three days of practice this week. Coach Billick has done a great job: no pads this week and short practices to keep our legs fresh.

The media came into the locker room after practice. The Super Bowl definitely is the center stage. Everyone is watching, and if you're a player, you're going to come to play and everyone will see it.

The Super Bowl is a once-a-year event. It's the most-watched event in the country, and the world for that matter.Everyone will remember what you do inthe Super Bowl.

And I don't have any more tickets. My family sucked them up immediately. To everybody else, it's sorry. Hope they can come down to Tampa for the festivities, but no more game tickets.

We've started looking at the Giants. I don't know their receivers, but they're definitely going to be a challenge.

The Giants looked very explosive against Minnesota. Kerry Collins looked very good out there, completing, I think, over sixty percent of his passes for over three hundred yards in the first half against a defense that plays similar to ours, which may present a few problems.

But at the same time, I think we're up for it in all aspects of the game. What they did last week against Minnesota was quite impressive, but we have to believe that we're a better defensive unit and that we can keep up with their high intensity on offense.

I still think with the Giants having two weeks to prepare, they're going to alter some things and adjust their offense to the game we play defensively.

I think the Giants are going to have a hard time scoring on us. I only say that because I think every team we've played has had a hard time scoring on us. With the challenges we present defensively and what they have on offense, they'll pretty much cancel each other out.