1. Green Bay Packers
For years football sages like Marv Levy and Dom Capers have been telling us that the performance of special teams is as important to the outcome of a game as the play of the offense and the defense. It's a shaky argument when you consider that kicking and return teams are on the field for about 17% of all NFL plays.
Rewind to late last season. Desmond Howard set an NFL record for punt-return yards, with 875, and his two kick returns for touchdowns sparked a pair of playoff wins as the Packers won their first Super Bowl since 1968. Green Bay was the fourth-best team in the league in covering kickoffs, forcing opponents to start drives from just inside their 25 on average. And for the fourth time in the last six seasons Chris Jacke connected on at least 75% of his field goal attempts.
"It was the type of year," Packers special teams player Lamont Hollinquest says, "where the offense and defense didn't go sit down when the kicking teams were on the field. We'd come off, and Reggie White and Brett Favre and everybody would be there waiting for us, congratulating us."
Green Bay's special teams will take on a decidedly different look in '97. Howard, a free agent, defected to Oakland for big money and the opportunity to play more wide receiver. Jacke, another free agent, demanded too much money and ended up in Pittsburgh. In their places second-year wideout Bill Schroeder will return punts and kickoffs, and third-round draft pick Brett Conway or rookie free agent Ryan Longwell of Cal will do the kicking. After Conway missed four straight field goal attempts early in preseason, coach Mike Holmgren and general manager Ron Wolf spent the next several weeks massaging the kid's ego and assuring Packers fans that Conway would be just fine. But Conway injured the quadriceps in his kicking leg and hasn't appeared in a game since July 31. As a result, the Packers also kept Longwell, who made all six of his preseason field goal attempts, on their 53-man roster.
Assuming the defense retains its depth and bite and Favre stays healthy, the Packers seem to be vulnerable only on special teams. "How we rebound from our losses on special teams is absolutely crucial to any success we have," Holmgren says.
The best news for Holmgren is that Hollinquest, Bernardo Harris, Keith McKenzie and Jeff Thomason, the interior blockers on the return units, are back. But Conway's performance is far more important than Green Bay's return game.
The Packers were impressed not only with Conway's ability to kick in bad weather at Penn State, but also with the way he performed under pressure. Three times he lined up for a game-winning kick with less than a minute left. He made all three, beating Texas Tech with a 39-yard field goal in 1995, and Wisconsin with a 25-yarder and Michigan State with a 30-yarder in '96. "Most people think kickers are squirrelly guys who keep to themselves," Conway says. "I hung around with the offensive linemen for four years at Penn State."
Favre has even taken a liking to Conway, ever since he ridiculed the kicker early in camp for dropping a pass while the two were playing catch before practice. "If you throw me a spiral," Conway replied, "I might be able to catch it."
Funny guy. His jokes will go over even better if he makes three quarters of his field goals. After all, there is a Super Bowl championship to defend.—Peter King
SCHEDULE SKINNY
With only two games at Lambeau Field after Nov. 9, Green Bay won't have much of a tundra-field advantage late in the season. Nevertheless, one of those games—on Nov. 23, when the Cowboys come calling—could go a long way toward determining home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. So could a Dec. 14 game at Carolina.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
NFL rank: 12
Opponents' 1996 winning percentage: .508
Games against playoff teams: 8
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