(Image via SportsGrid.com)

Sunday’s 2012 Pro Bowl started out pretty much as expected, with defensive players giving minimal effort at little things like rushing the passer, covering and tackling, setting the stage for the offensive shootout that ensued. The AFC ultimately out-gunned the NFC 59-41, with Dolphins WR Brandon Marshall reeling in a Pro Bowl record 4 TDs and earning the MVP trophy.

And while this laissez-faire defensive attitude elicited boos from the crowd and groans from television viewers everywhere, the game did end up providing a few noteworthy moments. To be honest, we didn’t actually watch the whole thing, but we got a pretty good feel for things via the stats and game highlights … and with 100 total points scored, you get the general idea: defense (and running backs) took the day off in Honolulu today. For their part, the NFC had three players – Tony Gonzalez, Larry Fitzgerald and Steve Smith - with more than 100 yards receiving, with Fitzgerald pulling in three scores of his own.

Marshall finished with 176 yards on six catches, but none of them were as memorable as this unbelievable (and wildly lucky) third quarter grab of a tipped Andy Dalton pass while laying on his back in the endzone:

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

BONUS GIF: The other worthwhile highlight came Drew Brees attempted the rarely-seen drop kick extra point late in the 4th quarter, only to miss it badly [VIDEO here]

(via mocksession.com)

Cam Rodgers (Photo: Dan Hicks via Twitter)

In case it slipped your mind (it almost did ours), the NFL’s finest players – minus the Giants and Patriots, of course – have gathered in Honolulu for a week of golf, beach time, goofing off and some half-assed preparation for the 2102 edition of the Pro Bowl.

Everyone knows the Pro Bowl is a joke as far as professional sports all-stars games go, since nobody – including the players – cares about the outcome, and therefore nobody really tries. And ever since they got rid of the NFL Skills Challenge in 2007, there’s even less of a reason for fans to tune into the week-long all-star festivities. I mean, has anyone ever gotten a decent explanation for why they stopped doing skills competitions? Instead of a half-speed football exhibition, wouldn’t it be far more compelling to watch these all-stars compete for the title of NFL’s fastest man, strongest leg, best hands, biggest arm, etc? Does anyone genuinely think there’s any more risk of injury here than with the game itself? Hell, I even tuned into the NHL’s All-Star skills competition yesterday just to check it out, and I don’t watch hockey at all.

But I digress. If you’re so inclined, the game itself starts at 7pm ET tonight, and you can watch all the non-action live online.

In the mean time, here are a few Pro Bowl links that caught our eye this week:

• Our banner pic (above) is Aaron Rodgers rocking his Cam Newton look earlier this week in Hawaii, from NBC’s Dan Hicks’ Twitter. Oh, and these are the shoes Cam is rocking this week
• The Jared Allen Experience gives you some insight into a Pro Bowl practice through the eyes of one of our favorite NFLers. Allen was not only mic’d up, but wearing a helmet cam for the day, and has plenty of fun with his fellow NFC elite while making sure not to work too hard. Best moments: Allen imitating the “Wide Nine” stance of Eagles DE Jason Babin, and jokingly asking Clay Matthews “How’d that Super Bowl run work out for you?” Matthews reply: “Shut up.”
• Nike released their brand new Vapor Jet gloves just in time for the Pro Bowl, and also in time to leak the Panthers new logo
• In an effort to increase the social profile for the game (and in stark contrast to their regular season policy), the NFL will allow players to use Twitter during the Pro Bowl game … but only from computers located in designated areas on each team’s sideline. 
• Speaking of the NFL Skills Challenge, here are Ben Roethlisberger (2005) and Ken O’Brien (1991) competing in the QB Challenge from back in the day. This wasn’t actually a Pro Bowl week event, but was cancelled at the same time as the Pro Bowl Skills Challenge in a sweeping ban of all skills-based competitions by the league back in November of 2007. Yeah … after watching those, I guess it wasn’t that exciting after all. Even with the dramatic music.
• And last but not least, here is the biggest hit in the history of the Pro Bowl: Washington’s Sean Taylor destroying punter Brian Moorman on a fake punt:

VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP

We’re not likely to see any hitting like that tonight.

(Photo: NYDailyNews.com)

If you’d like to add your vote for this year’s Pro Bowl (one of sports’ least exciting all-star games), fans can do so through this Monday, 12/19 via the official ballot at NFL.com. And if you’re a Giants fan (or a particularly astute fantasy geek) you might notice two glaring omissions from the candidates at defensive end and wide receiver … namely, DE Jason Pierre Paul and WR Victor Cruz, who have each had breakout seasons at their respective positions for New York.

Pierre-Paul is currently 5th in the NFL with 12.5 sacks, while Cruz is 3rd in the league in receiving yards with 1,150, but neither are eligible for your votes to go to Hawaii. According to the Ralph Vacchiano of the NY Daily News, JPP and Cruz are victims of an antiquated voting system, and both were left off the ballot by the Giants organization, who were forced to make some difficult decisions based on the sheer volume of talent they have at certain positions:

Teams are only allowed a certain number of players at each position – two defensive ends and two receivers, for example. In some cases, there are other categories, such as a “flex” spot for either a running back or a receiver. 

Since the Giants had to submit their players before October 25th, they put Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora as their two DEs, and Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham as their two WRs. For the flex position, they chose Brandon Jacobs after giving the RB slot to Ahmad Bradshaw.

Apparently, there is some flexibility for teams to swap out candidates during the season. But according to a Giants’ team spokesman, they elected to keep their starters on the ballot, since none were lost to injury for any significant periods, and despite the emergence of the younger stars on the field.

New York did try to sneak Pierre-Paul on the ballot at middle linebacker, but the league quickly squashed that, since, ya know, he doesn’t play that position. One seemingly obvious answer would be to swap out Cruz for Jacobs at the flex spot, but with the way Jacobs has come on late in the season (and given his fragile mental state), it makes taking his slot away that much tougher.

(Photo: UPI.com)

Now, the fan vote only accounts for one-third of the total Pro Bowl voting, with players and coaches making up the other two-thirds. So there is an outside chance either player could still make the NFC squad if they get enough love from their peers. Also, since it’s relatively meaningless, plenty of players choose to drop out of the game, leaving room for qualified replacements … so there’s a good chance both Cruz and Pierre-Paul will ultimately end up in Honolulu.

But this situation points out an obvious flaw in the Pro Bowl balloting system, especially in the days of running back by committee, four receiver sets and constantly platooning defensive units. Whether they’re technically a “starter” or not, as long as they contribute in a significant way, there’s no real reason to prevent teams from including any player on the ballot who might be deserving of an all-star nod.

You know its a great game when the Center scores a TD (Photo: Getty Images via DenverPost.com)

The AFC-NFC Pro Bowl is already the lamest all-star game in all of sports, and this year’s edition didn’t do much to change that perception. I tuned into the game a few minutes late yesterday, only to find the score at an astounding 42-0 NFC in the second quarter. Accordingly, I didn’t stick around to watch much more of the action.

Even though the game ended at 55-41 in favor of the NFC, it wasn’t nearly that interesting. The vaunted AFC quarterbacks threw five interceptions and CB DeAngelo Hall was named MVP for his efforts … but all you need to do is watch one play to understand that remarkable level of apathy on the field from both teams:

Nice. Nothing more impressive than watching some of the world’s best athletes run around at half speed. But it is cool for Browns C Alex Mack, who scored on the play, and was kind enough to grace us with a nice butt crack shot at the end.

As you all know, today is the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl, and for the first time, the NFL’s all-star game will be played one week prior to the Super Bowl, rather than the following week (when everyone has already stopped caring about football).

So, will Roger Goodell’s new strategy pay off with increased viewership?  Does anyone – aside from Carl – really care?