Sapp proves unstoppable in word, deed Rick Stroud, The St.Petersburg Times, published 5 January 1998 Brett Favre's nose was swollen, and when he talked, he sounded as if he had a clothespin on it. It was a gift from Warren Sapp and a stinging reminder of how much time the Bucs defensive tackle spent in the face of the Packers quarterback. In a performance perhaps as dominating as any by a defensive lineman in NFL playoff history, Sapp recorded three sacks, forced two fumbles, recovered one and was a one-man wrecking crew in the Bucs' 21-7 loss to the Packers on Sunday. "There's very few players in this league who can dominate a game, and Warren has the ability to do that," John Lynch said. "Not only has his play stepped up, but so has his leadership role. Right before he had one of his sacks, he said, `John, you just get him to pump once and I'll get him.' And sure enough, we got him to hold the ball a little and Warren was right on top of him. He's just stepped up his game at every level. He's a fun guy to play ball with because he has a great time out there and plays 100 percent. You couple that with his ability and you've got a dominant force." Sapp, who led the Bucs with 10.5 sacks during the regular season, set the tone for a defense that limited Favre to 190 yards passing (his third-lowest total of the season), sacked him four times and intercepted him twice. He not only smacked Favre in the nose, he talked his ear off. Favre and Sapp began jawing after the Packers' first offensive play, and the chatter continued until the clock expired. On several occasions, they went face mask to face mask. "On one particular play, I do remember Sapp got tired and they was going out and Brett was like, `That's right, go over there and take a blow.' Well, not exactly in those words," Packers running back Dorsey Levens said. "Warren got pretty upset. There was a guy coming in for Warren, and he told him to go back out and he went back in the game." Sapp got things going in the second quarter when he forced Levens to fumble and then recovered it at the Green Bay 30. The Bucs drove to the Packer 12, where they were forced to settle for a field-goal attempt by Michael Husted that was aborted when Dave Moore snapped the ball over holder Steve Walsh's head. On the next series, Sapp sacked Favre on third and 5 and forced a fumble that was recovered by the Packers' Aaron Taylor. Sapp's other sacks came in the third quarter. But two plays after Sapp dumped Favre for an 8-yard loss, the three-time MVP fired a 22-yard strike on third and 18 to Derrick Mayes for a first down. The play set up the Packers' final touchdown. Despite his heroics, Sapp thought he could have done more. "It was third and 18 when they got a first down," Sapp said. "I didn't get a good rush on that one. That's the way I look at it. Outside of the play I did have, you've got to look at it from a team concept. We got beat." After Sapp's final sack, the Packers committed three players to blocking him. "Warren was good," Tony Dungy said. "This is what we expect out of Warren and he's going to be that way. The bigger the game is, generally the better he's going to play. He did some very, very good things out there against a good offensive line." To say nothing of Favre, who is one of the NFL's most mobile quarterbacks but couldn't avoid Sapp on Sunday. "I got hit in the nose," Favre said. "The more I talk to you guys, the more it's swelling. I think it was when Sapp tackled me. I told him toward the end of the game I think he broke my nose. He said, `Aw, I wouldn't do that to you.' Of course he wouldn't. He's a nice guy." As Favre was taking a knee three times to down the ball at the end of the game, Sapp gave Favre his final oral parting shot. "I told him don't go to San Francisco and p--- us off," Sapp said.