The Super Bowl is actually not the last NFL game of the year. One week after the Super Bowl is the Pro Bowl.
The Super Bowl features the players from the two best teams, or to be more specific, the best team in each conference. The Pro Bowl features the best players from all 32 teams, although certainly not in equal proportion. It is the equivalent of what other leagues call the All Star Game.
Although other leagues have their All Star Game at the midpoint of the season, the NFL does it at the end of the year due to the severe risk of injury associated with football. Defenses may not blitz, play bump and run, or have nickel or dime packages. The downside is that the game is anticlimactic for many people, and watched by few.
It is also a time of sadness, since after the Pro Bowl, there is not meaningful NFL Football until September. Yes, there is the draft in April, and Preseason, but that is not the same. After the Pro Bowl, for 7 months, Sundays are a waste.
The rules of the game are set up to encourage high scoring and minimize injury. Many players selected refuse to play, preferring an extra week of rest. Therefore, to encourage participation, the NFL holds the Pro Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii. The league has flirted with rotating cities annually as is done with the Superbowl, but the players prefer Hawaii.
I attended the Pro Bowl in 2006 and 2007, but not this year due to my attending the Superbowl in Phoenix. Resources are finite, and mine are now very finite.
Like the Harlem Globetrotters in basketball, the Pro Bowl is mainly about entertainment. The teams are led by the coaching staffs of the teams that lost heir conference title games. The Chargers lost to the Patriots in the AFC, and the NFC saw the Packers fall to the Giants. So the Patriots and Giants play in the Superbowl, while the coaches of the Chargers and Packers led the Pro Bowl squads. The game usually features plenty of trick plays and blunders.
Yet ego plays a role, so the teams did not want to kick the ball to Joshua Cribbs of the Browns or Devon Hester of the Bears.
The AFC took the opening kickoff, and Peyton Manning of the Colts went to work. After a snap went over his head, resulting in 2nd and 30, a pass to Tony Gonzalez of the Chiefs followed by a pass to Braylon Edwards of the Cleveland Browns set the AFC up at the one yard line. Lorenzo Neal of the Chargers plowed in for the 7-0 lead.
The NFC began with Tony Romo of the Cowboys having a stalled drive. Yet a fake punt allowed the drive to continue, and Romo found Larry Fitzgerald of the Cardinals to tie the game at 7-7. Both teams needed about 4 minutes to score.
The AFC came back again fairly quickly, and Manning found Houshmanzadeh again, this time for a touchdown and a 14-7 lead. Again, the drive took about 4 minutes. After a fumble on the kickoff, Manning led the AFC in position again. This time the drive stalled, and Rob Bironas of the Tennessee Titans kicked a field goal. The AFC led 17-7 with 46 seconds left in the quarter.
The next NFC possession had Tony Rom’s pass bouncing off of the fingertips of Chris Cooley of the Redskins, and ending up intercepted by Antonio Cromartie of the San Diego Chargers. Cromartie returned it 56 yards. Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers replaced Manning, whose work was done for the day. From the one yard line, Big Ben threw a touchdown pass to Houshmanzadeh for a 24-7 AFC lead 3 minutes into the second quarter.
On the next NFC possession, Romo faced 4th and 13. He spun out of what appeared to be a certain sack, and found Dallas Cowboys teammate Terrell Owens for a 34 yard gain. On 3rd and goal from the 6, Romo found Owens for the touchdown. The gap was cut to 24-14 with 8 minutes left in the half.
Bironas then tacked on another field goal to put the AFC up 27-14. There is little pressure on kickers in this game since attempting to block field goals or extra points is prohibited.
Matt Hasselbeck of the Seattle Seahawks, who had replaced Tony Romo, led the NFC back. After a 40 yard run by Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, Hasselbeck found Chris Cooley of the Washington Redskins for a touchdown with 30 seconds left in the half. The AFC led 27-21.
For fans of the Silver and Black, it was a washout. The Raiders only had one Pro Bowl player, punter Shane Lechler. Neither team punted in the first half. The AFC scored all 5 times they had the ball.
For those at the game, the halftime show is a spectacular show of Hawaiian flavor. I was at home. I took a nap.
In the second half, Hasselbeck led a 6 minute drive that culminated in a 17 yard Adrian Peterson run. The NFC now led 28-27.
Derek Anderson of the Cleveland Browns came in at quarterback for the AFC, and rapidly led the team into scoring position. However, the drive bogged down around the 10 yard line, and Bironas kicked his third field goal to put the AFC back on top 30-28 midway through the third quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, a takeoff on the Music City Miracle, Devon Hester stopped and lateraled it across the field to Jason Witten of the Dallas Cowboys, who took it to the AFC 34 yard line.
Jeff Garcia of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came in at quarterback for the NFC. He was the only representative of the entire NFC South. He replaced Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers, who decided to stay home and rest. Garcia was promptly intercepted by Antonio Cromartie, his second of the day.
Finally, with 3:37 left in the third quarter, a punt occurred. As expected, Shane Lechler boomed it over Devon Hester’s head for a touchback. Go Raiders!
With 12 1/2 minutes remaining, Garcia threw a touchdown pass to Terrell Owens to put the NFC back on top, 35-30. Anderson brought the AFC back quickly. On 4th and 10 from the NFC 27, the AFC decided to go for it rather than have Bironas attempt his fourth field goal. In the Superbowl this is arrogance. In the Pro Bowl it is just the players having fun.
With 2:46 remaining, Adrian Peterson ran it in from 6 yards out for his second touchdown of the day. The NFC led 42-30. With 20 seconds left in the game, Darren Sharper of the Minnesota Vikings intercepted Anderson in the end zone to end the action of the final game of the year.
Adrian Peterson had two touchdowns and 129 yards rushing. He was the game MVP.
Men can now start sobbing uncontrollably. There is nothing to do on Sundays.
At least there is the NFL Network.
Thus, another season ends. May God bless the National Football League.
NFC 42, AFC 30.
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