Scouting Report
2 -
Green Bay Packers
The former champs have a lot on the line— the
defensive line, that is, where the front-four
failures of '97 are casting shadows on
'98
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Dotson is now the stopper of the line, but he'll need more
help from his teammates this year to keep Tampa at bay.
(John Biever) |
Defensive
lineman
Santana Dotson was on his way to Green Bay in late April for
teammate Reggie White's retirement press conference when,
during a layover in Detroit, his pager went off.
TURN AROUND AND GO HOME, the message read. While Dotson was in the air between his
home in Houston and the Detroit airport, the Lord—who
Reggie said had inspired him to sign with the Packers in
the first place—had once again intervened on Green
Bay's behalf, and White had
decided to unretire. Dotson continued on to Green Bay anyway.
Upon his arrival he declared with a smirk, "I've come
all this way, so somebody better be retiring." He then
jokingly raised his hand as if to
volunteer.
It was a much needed moment of levity for a defensive line
that has had little to laugh about lately. The Packers
finished '97 ranked 20th against the run, their worst
showing since 1990. With the aging White hampered by a
bulging disk in his back and
nosetackle Gilbert Brown apparently more interested in Big
Macs than big sacks, Green Bay was stampeded by the Broncos
for 179 yards on the ground in Super Bowl
XXXII.
"Defenses win
championships in the NFL," says Dotson, who signed with
the Packers in 1996 after four relatively uneventful
seasons in Tampa. "Our defense is only as good as our
defensive line. So it comes down to us. We have to stop
licking our wounds from the Super
Bowl and get back to being the dominating line we were two
years
ago."
Green Bay's hopes of becoming the first NFC team to reach
three straight Super Bowls—or even of fending off the
rising Buccaneers in the
NFC Central—depend on the revitalization of the defensive
line. The loss of cornerback Doug Evans and free safety
Eugene Robinson to free agency, which strong safety LeRoy
Butler says reduced the team's secondary to a bunch of
"young guys running around in circles," makes
pressuring the passer all the more essential. But the most
important
by-product of stuffing the
run is getting the ball back for the offense, into the hands
of guys like running back Dorsey Levens, wideout Antonio
Freeman and quarterback Brett Favre, the three-time NFL MVP
who has thrown for an eye-popping 112 touchdowns in the
last three years. In
the Super Bowl, Denver won the time-of-possession battle by
almost five
minutes.
"The main thing we talk about on defense is getting
off the field so
number 4
can go to
work," says Dotson, whose first name comes from that of a
19th-century Indian chief, not the rock band. "When
the ball is in Brett's hands, we always have a chance to
win, so the best place for us is to be sipping Gatorade on
the sideline
watching
him."
Vonnie Holliday, the Packers'
No. 1 pick, got a close-up look at the team's star quarterback
during his first scrimmage on the first day of training
camp. The rookie defensive lineman bull-rushed his blocker
and fell on Favre, who, luckily, escaped
unscathed.
| Schedule |
| Sept. | 6 | DETROIT |
| 13 | TAMPA BAY |
| 20 | at Cincinnati |
| 27 | at Carolina |
| Oct. | 5 | MINNESOTA (Mon.) |
| 11 | OPEN DATE |
| 15 | at Detroit (Thurs.) |
| 25 | BALTIMORE |
| Nov. | 1 | SAN FRANCISCO |
| 9 | at Pittsburgh (Mon.) |
| 15 | at N.Y. Giants |
| 22 | at Minnesota |
| 29 | PHILADELPHIA |
| Dec. | 7 | at Tampa Bay (Mon.) |
| 13 | CHICAGO |
| 20 | TENNESSEE |
| 27 | at Chicago |
|
|
| |
Green Bay expects Holliday to similarly threaten opponents.
After spending four years on the interior at North
Carolina, he'll line up as the starter at right end. On
passing downs Holliday will move inside so Brown can suck
oxygen, and either
third-year lineman Keith
McKenzie or
impressive third-round pick Jonathan Brown will take the end.
White diligently rehabbed his back during the off-season,
but for now the righteous Reverend's mouth seems to be his
most dangerous weapon. To give the
36-year-old White some occasional rest on the left side, the Pack
picked up defensive end Vaughn Booker in a trade with
Kansas City. Says line coach Larry Brooks, who is in his
fifth year in Green Bay, "For the first time since
I've been here, we have enough
quality guys up front to allow people to take breathers during
games."
The only one who
doesn't get a rest is Dotson. Unlike Brown and White, who
each missed a significant number of snaps in 1997 because
of injuries, the
6'5",
285-pound Dotson has never missed a game and hasn't sat out a
practice in two years. Last season, using his knack for
absorbing a blocker's initial hit and then swimming his way
back into plays, Dotson led Packers linemen in tackles and
was tied for second
on the team in sacks. "Reggie and Gilbert may get all
the attention," says Holliday, "but Santana is
the unheralded leader of the
line."
In fact, Dotson's mock retirement in April probably scared
the Packers more than White's. As compensation for flying
all the way to Green Bay, however, Dotson was promised a
dinner from White. "Six hours in a plane for
nothing?" Dotson says. "Believe
me,
I will get that
meal."
There are plenty of good restaurants in Miami. Whether the
Pack will be feasting there come Jan. 31 will depend in
large part on how hungry Dotson and the defensive line
prove to be this
fall. —David Fleming
By the Numbers | Inside Slant | Lineup
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