Greene Has Earned Respect in NFL

It didn’t take a slow-motion replay to see the difference in reaction time between New York Giant offensive lineman Doug Riesenberg and Los Angeles Ram outside linebacker Kevin Greene.

Riesenberg had barely lifted from his stance when Greene blew by the Giants’ right tackle. Giants quarterback Phil Simms didn’t even have time to set up before he was pancaked by Greene for an eight-yard loss.

It was one of two sacks Greene made at Riesenberg’s expense in the Rams’ 31-10 victory over the Giants Nov. 12 in Anaheim.

If that game is an accurate barometer for Sunday’s NFC semifinal at Giants Stadium, the Giants are going to have to throw the ball against the Rams. And that means keeping Greene out of Simms’ face becomes a priority for the Giants’ offensive line.

“He (Greene) has an effect in every game he plays in,” Giant Coach Bill Parcells said. “He’s a very catalytic player. He’s certainly one of the very best players in the league without question.”

What Greene, 27, does best is rush the passer. That skill alone made him a Pro Bowl selection this season.

He finished fourth in the league in sacks with 16 1/2 (for minus-124 yards) and produced the Rams’ only two sacks in the 21-7 wild-card victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

When your defense is ranked 28th against the pass it’s important to get a good pass rush, and with the Rams, Greene often is the only one applying the pressure. Especially since starting defensive ends Bill Hawkins and Doug Reed have been on injured reserve for the last four games.

No one else on the Rams has more than five sacks. The Rams are 9-2 when Greene produces a sack and 6-0 when he gets two or more. When Greene is shut out, the Rams are 3-3.

“We’re not a good pass-rush team, and he’s by far our best pass rusher, so he sets the pace for us there,” Ram Coach John Robinson said. “He can get pressure up the field and that’s important because other than that we don’t present anyone else.

“And he’s one of those leader types. He’s not at the same level, but he probably does for us what (Lawrence) Taylor does for the Giants.”

It has taken Greene, an Army reserve captain, a long time to get league-wide recognition.

He had to earn a starting job at Auburn as a walk-on and wasn’t taken by the Rams until the fifth round in the 1985 draft. Last season Greene finished second in the league behind the Eagles’ Reggie White with 16 1/2 sacks, but it wasn’t good enough to get him a berth in the Pro Bowl.

“People were saying last year was a fluke,” Greene said. “They were saying that Kevin Greene was going to fall back into obscurity; what happened with him was just a freak thing. I hate people saying that about me. I feel I’m a dominant linebacker in the NFL.”

Greene had to work a little harder to get his 16 1/2 sacks this season.

Gary Jeter, who provided an inside pass rush last season with 11 1/2 sacks, was gone, having signed with New England as a Plan B free agent. Last season, Greene may have snuck up on people. This season, tackles have drawn help from running backs and tight ends to contain him. Even so, Greene has been more consistent.

“I don’t think any team can totally stop me,” Greene said. “I don’t think I’ve been successfully blocked, consistently, all year.”

The Giants have done a better job of protecting Simms this season, reducing their sacks allowed from a league-high 60 last season to 46 this year. But one thing that still gives the big, young members of the Giants’ line problems is a quick, outside pass rusher.

The defensive linemen who have had the most success against the Giants--Lee Williams of the San Diego Chargers, the Washington Redskins’ Dexter Manley, Pierce Holt of the San Francisco 49ers and White--fit that mold.

So does Greene, who had two sacks and caused a fumble in the Rams’ 45-31 victory over the Giants last season.

Riesenberg said quickness probably is Greene’s biggest assets. “Speed kills in everything. He gets off the ball very quickly. He has such a quick up-the-field move. The best thing you can do is try to set yourself as quickly as possible.”

At 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds, Greene is too small to be a defensive linemen and perhaps too big to be a full-time linebacker. But linebackers Larry Kelm, Fred Strickland and Mike Wilcher concentrate on pass coverage, allowing Greene to go after the quarterback.

“In warmups, we’re going to try to lasso him and see if we can tie him up, get him into the locker room and hold him hostage until 4 o’clock,” Parcells said of Greene.