Five Chiefs and Three Falcons
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Five Chiefs and Three Falcons?
by Joe Brackets exclusively featured on AskHoffa.com
I should’ve probably done this blog yesterday, but I didn’t realize the Pro Bowl selections were being announced until I was already set on that greatest active players thing. So, we’re going a day late with this one. But that’s OK, since I’ve had plenty of time to digest the choices and make some observations.
For starters, how did the Kansas City Chiefs, who will likely end up with the No. 1 pick, end up with five Pro Bowlers, while the Atlanta Falcons, the No. 1 seed in the NFC, have only three? The “experts” can make any excuse/explanation they want as to why the worst team in the league has two more Pro Bowlers than the best team in the league. None of them are going to matter. It’s a complete joke, and the NFL should be utterly embarrassed about it. One Chief, maybe two, fine. But five? And you can’t blame this on Chiefs fans stuffing the ballot box. The fan vote only accounts for one-third of the final total, and no Chiefs won the fan vote. The players and coaches are the ones who screwed up that one. And they’re the ones who should be ashamed of themselves. Five deserving AFC players aren’t going to Hawaii, while five members of the 2-13 Kansas City Chiefs are “all-stars.”
Don’t get me wrong about the Falcons, though. I’m not saying Atlanta should’ve had more than three. You maybe could’ve taken Roddy White, but otherwise, I don’t think you could really call any of the Falcons a snub. It’s just incredibly glaring that Kansas City had that inexplicably high number. And, of course, thanks to Mr. Brilliant Commissioner’s wonderful plan to have the Pro Bowl before the Super Bowl, there might be NO Falcons in Hawaii. And it’s not unrealistic to think Atlanta will end up in New Orleans.
Leading the way with the most selections were San Francisco (9), Houston (8), New England (7) and Baltimore (6). I have no argument with any of those numbers. All four are (likely) division champions and, along with Denver and Atlanta, perhaps the most leigitmate Super Bowl contenders. Besides, of the Pro Bowlers on those four rosters, who would you take off? Six of the 49ers are members of that dominant defense. The Patriots include Brady and two of his friends (Gronkowski, Welker), as well as one of their linemen (Logan Mankins). Baltimore, surprisingly, ended up with only six. It likely would’ve been higher if their defense hadn’t been so beset by injuries this season. From the Texans, you have the three-headed monster (Matt Schaub, Arian Foster and Andre Johnson) plus three offensive linemen, cornerback Johnathan Joseph and, of course, J.J. Watt. Who you taking off? Unlike the best team in the NFC, the best team in the AFC all year has proper representation.
I’ve also heard a lot of grief about the selection of Robert Griffin III, the first rookie quarterback named to the initial Pro Bowl roster (not one who ended up going as the third alternate after everyone dropped out) since Dan Marino in 1983. I love the selection. Griffin would get my vote for Rookie of the Year. He’s dynamic, his play has been sensational, and he’s the primary reason the Redskins are poised to win their first division title since 1999. Critics like to point to the fact that Griffin was selected over the likes of Drew Brees and Tony Romo. So what? I’m not denying that Brees put up his customary big numbers, and Romo had a solid year, as well, but you can’t tell me either of their years has been so much better than Robert Griffin III’s that you can say they were “slighted” by not being selected.
An argument could’ve been made for all three of the rookie quarterbacks that took their teams to the playoffs, but Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson weren’t selected. Luck’s time will come, but he wasn’t going to crack that Manning-Brady-Schaub triumverate. Not this year. Same thing in the NFC. If you’re one of those people who’s upset Robert Griffin III made it over Brees and Romo, there’s no way you can make a case for Russell Wilson to be on the team.
Then there are the gys who are named to the Pro Bowl and you simply wonder “How?” And I’m not just talking about the five Chiefs. I’m talking about Packers center Jeff Saturday, who might’ve been picked more on reputation than anything else. (And with offensive linemen, it’s so hard to tell the difference sometimes that reputation almost has to come into play. That’s why so many offensive linemen go to the Pro Bowl year after year after year.) The same argument is being made about Ravens safety Ed Reed, too, but Reed is a legend so even in a “down” year he’s the cream of the crop among AFC safeties.
As for guys who were snubbed, you’ve got to start with Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman. We saw on Sunday night what kind of a season this guy’s had. But he also had a very public four-game drug suspension that was overturned today. Did that come into play? Chargers safety Eric Weddle should be there, too. I don’t even know who this guy on the Chiefs is, but he’s one of the five undeserving Kansas City players who made it over somebody on a better team. Wide receivers Dez Bryant of Dallas, Marques Colston of New Orleans and Roddy White of Atlanta arguably had Pro Bowl seasons, as well. They could be considered “snubs,” but I’m not sure which NFC wide receiver I’d take off to put one of them on. It was a very deep position this year.
The ridiculously small size of the Pro Bowl rosters is a problem, too. Every NFL team is allowed to dress 53 players for a regular season game. Yet the Pro Bowl rosters consist of only 45 players per conference. Why? The roster should be at least the same size as it would be for a regular game. A grand total of 17 defensive players per conference are named to the Pro Bowl. Safety is split into two positions, yet there are only three total on each roster, meaning there’s no backup at either strong safety or free safety. Each team has a designated kick returner and one designated special teamer, plus a long snapper that’s picked by the head coach. That means you’ve got to find at least seven guys to volunteer for special teams duty.
In real games, the third quarterback is inactive, yet three quarterbacks are named to the Pro Bowl (I don’t have a problem with this, I’m just pointing it out). And in the Pro Bowl, they have all these rules designating the specific types of offense that you’re allowed to play (for example, you have to have a tight end in the game on every play), but you’re limited to just two tight ends and one fullback on the roster.
Pick an extra guy at each of the skill positions (other than quarterback) and let them play whatever formation they want. Three wide receivers? Sure. A 3-4 defense instead of a 4-3? Why not? Nickel or dime defense? Absolutely. If they play these formations in the regular season, there’s no reason why they should be limited in what they can do in the Pro Bowl.
I’d add eight guys to the roster (1 running back, 1 wide receiver, 1 tight end, 1 offensive lineman, 1 defensive end, 1 linebacker, 1 cornerback, 1 safety) to make the squad limit the same as a regular season game, and get rid of those restrictive personnel rules. Then you’ve got eight more Pro Bowl spots to hand out and a lot fewer guys who were “snubbed” because they ended up as alternates. The Pro Bowl will never be great. But these changes would be a start.
