As usual, lots of players getting in on rep more than play (especially linemen). None of them are totally egregious like last year or the year before (I forget which) where Ogden went to the Pro Bowl after half-assedly playing 2 or 3 games.
The Browns got Joe Thomas in at least half on rep - he had a solid to good year, but it wasn’t as dominating as last year. Then again, I haven’t seen anyone who has been dominant in the AFC. Incidentally, a few years back when Jason Peters was an unknown tight end prospect, on one of the boards I posted to there was a small time college O-line coach who made the case extensively for 6 months that we should draft Peters late (then a TE) and convert him to LT. Looks like he nailed that one. Maybe he should get a real NFL O-line scouting job.
Shaun Rogers got robbed being a reserve. I’ve been rewatching NFL shortcuts focusing strictly on his play and he’s been utterly dominating. He’s better than Haynesworth or Jenkins, but he’s on a crappy team with an otherwise crappy defense so I guess it’s lucky he made the pro bowl at all. But he should be in the running for defensive player of the year, he has been amazing.
I hate when fullbacks get in due to their running ability when they essentially become an RB listed on the roster as a FB as McClain did. But he’s definitely the biggest name of anyone officially listed a fullback, so he got in.
Josh Cribbs maybe should’ve got in as a special teamer. His returns haven’t been great this year (he’s been hampered with a high ankle sprain and lost 2 of his best blockers on special teams to free agency) but he has still been a fearless gunner making lots of special teams plays.
[NC State hat]
Damn right, Philip got screwed. He’s easily got the best QB rating of any AFC QB (leads the league, in fact), and has more TDs, fewer INTs and more YPA than either Cutler or Favre. He’s getting penalized for San Diego’s crappy running game and defense this year, IMO.
Bonus rant: Don Banks writes up his reactions to the week’s games every Sunday. This week, he wrote that he didn’t know how Philip racked up the stats he did, as he [Banks] never sees Rivers make a play. This right after Rivers threw two touchdown passes in a minute-and-a-half to lead his team to a comeback victory.
[/NC State hat]
Edit: Manning definitely deserves the Pro Bowl this year, but Rivers actually has him beat in all the relevant stats, too.
The two backup quarterbacks for the AFC are ridiculous.
If Thomas has been playing this year anything like he did last night (when Trent Cole made him a turnstile), it’s definitely a reputation thing. I agree with you on the Rogers thing though - part of me is annoyed Wilfork didn’t make it, but I really can’t argue with any of the tackles that did. There are so many stud D-linemen in the AFC right now.
The Giants representatives are pretty reasonable. Manning as backup and Snee as a starter were both obvious calls. It’s nice to see O’Hara tabbed as backup Center.
I’m very surprised to see that both Kicker and Punter are from the Giants. Feagles as Punter isn’t a bad call (probably not the best candidate, but certainly close enough). John Carney is a terrible choice. He’s done very well converting all the short field goal opportunities he gets from being on the best offense in the league, but he’s a bad kickoff man, which no one pays attention to for some reason.
Roddy White, arguably the best WR in football, gets jobbed out of a starting gig.
I think the thing with Cassel is that he’s just good enough that some team is going to spend many millions on him this offseason just to lock in a .500 record for the next several years.
I’m as big a New England fan as anyone, but come on, Cassel benefits a HUGE amount from (1) a very competent offensive line even in their worst times, (2) the best possession receiver in the league in Welker, and (3) Moss/Faulk and other to throw to as needed. He is going to get massively overpaid this spring and it isn’t going to go well.
No, that was definitely his worse game of the year by far. He’s not bad, he probably deserves to make the probowl possibly as an alternate, but last year he was (IMO) clearly the best tackle in the AFC but he hasn’t played to the same level.
Of course, it’s harder to block when your passing game implodes, your running back drills into the back of his blockers for 2 YPC, and you’ve had to make up for the injured guy next to you all season.
Are you fucking high? Westbrook’s whopping 1160 total yards deserve to be in the Pro Bowl? Perhaps if there’s a special Pro Bowl competition for getting stuffed on short yardage.
DeAngelo Williams and Matt Forte deserve it clearly, and Forte would be my choice as he’s essentially carried the entire Bears offense all season. He led NFL running backs in receptions and was third in receiving yards, in addition to being 4th in rushing in the NFC and 3rd in the NFL in Total Yards.
That said I can’t be too pissed that Portis and Turner made it since they were both reasonably deserving. Hopefully Adrian Peterson will go down with an injury preventing them from clinching the division and Forte will get in as a replacement.
Portis is a HORRIBLE selection! He has not scored a touchdown since week 7, and other than week 12, has not topped 77 yards rushing in the past 6 games.
What’s your point? Westbrook has missed 2 games, Forte has taken almost every snap as the RB, one of the few in the league not in a RBBC situation. They’ve been equally efficient and Forte stays on the field much more and contributes more.
So what? Portis has 1550 Total Yards right now with 2 more games to go. He’s been banged up over the last few weeks, and you are conveniently omitting the fact that Portis had 6 games over 130 total yards and 3 games over 150. Westbrook only broke 100 yards total 4 times all season and had 4 games under 40 yards rushing!
I’d have bumped Portis in favor of Forte, I’m not loving Portis there at all, but Westbrook doesn’t belong in the discussion and Portis can make a case based on raw numbers and big games.
I came in to say the same thing… Leading the league in Passer Rating and being top five in passing yards apparantly doesn’t equal a pro bowl. What a bunch of crap.
I wanted three specific guys to make the playoffs- who I felt were overly deserving despite our horrific record. Rivers, Jammer and Scifres… Jammer and Scifres especially have been deserving for years and have never made it.
Jammer? This year? It don’t think so. Last season Jammer and Cromartie were one of the best tandems in the league, they’ve both been pretty mediocre this season. The AFC DB roster is pretty much dead on, I’d say.
Or Aaron Rodgers. How did he not make the Pro Bowl? I thought he was the chosen one, the Golden Boy sent to get the Pack over that 13-3 hump from last year. Didn’t they spend the last 5 years or so running a Hall of Famer out of town so that he could lead the Pack to victory?
Yeah, how’s that working out for you, Packer fans? You want Brett back so bad you want to scream it from the mountaintops, but you can’t because that would require you to swallow your pride and admit that you were wrong.
Packers
2007: 13-3
2008: Choking like dogs
Jets
2007: 4-12
2008: 9-5
It would almost be a shame if it hadn’t been self-inflicted.
Anyway, it is for that reason that I don’t see Favre as an unjustified choice. His value to the Jets this year has been immeasurable. The same cannot be said about Rivers.
