An Offensive Pro Bowl Expected

It’s time for some offense.

Minnesota Viking Coach Dennis Green and Oakland Raider Coach Jon Gruden, who watched a pair of dominating defenses eliminate their teams from the Super Bowl chase three weeks ago, look forward to some fireworks today in the Pro Bowl.

“There’s nothing wrong with having great offenses,” said Green, who will guide the NFC. “This game is made for the players to show their skill. It’s not as much scheme as it is the skill of the players. I think it will be a wide-open game.”

Last year, the NFC beat the AFC, 51-31, in the highest-scoring Pro Bowl.

“It runs in cycles,” said Gruden, who will coach the AFC. “There’s often been a lot of offense. But I see guys like Ray Lewis, Junior Seau, Rod Woodson, Sam Adams, and I’m not so sure. There’s a lot of talent defensively too.”

Lewis, the NFL defensive player of the year, was the most valuable player in the Baltimore Ravens’ 34-7 Super Bowl victory over the New York Giants last Sunday.

The Vikings’ Daunte Culpepper is the starting quarterback for the NFC, the Raiders’ Rich Gannon the AFC.

Donovan McNabb of the Philadelphia Eagles and Jeff Garcia of the San Francisco 49ers will back up Culpepper. Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts and Elvis Grbac of the Kansas City Chiefs are the reserve AFC quarterbacks.

Among the AFC starters is 35-year-old Miami defensive end Trace Armstrong, a first-time Pro Bowl player, who said winning is important, no matter what people might think.

The NFC has a 16-14 lead in the series since the Pro Bowl went to its present format in 1971. This will be the 22nd time Hawaii has hosted the game, and every one has been a sellout at Aloha Stadium, which has a capacity of slightly more than 50,000.