Pro Bowl Review: Herbert, Crosby star as AFC wins again

There is no event that is more scrutinized in the NFL than the Pro Bowl. It’s a hard ask for professional players to put their all into a game that ultimately means nothing. In the MLB, the conference that wins the game gets home field advantage in the World Series. In the NBA, teams are hand-picked by captains but the main focus is on skills challenges like the dunk contest. It is a lot of fun to watch players do crazy tricks before dunking the ball or to knock down three-point shot after three-point shot.

The NFL has a hard time with the Pro Bowl because there is no real reason to play it. Players opt out so often that being named to a Pro Bowl doesn’t mean what it meant a couple of years ago. Football is such a physically demanding sport and one of the most violent that exist, so to put the league’s best players on the field to get pummeled by one another is a tough sell. The game ends up basically becoming a backyard two-hand touch game.

As such, the NFL often uses the Pro Bowl to test out rule changes that they’re considering. For the second-straight year, the fourth and 15 alternative was tested. Instead of choosing an onside kick after a change of possession, the team that is handing the ball over has the option to go for a fourth and 15. If they convert, they keep the ball, but if they fail, the opposing team gets the ball at the kicking team’s 25-yard line. This was used eight times in the game, but no one was able to convert.

The potential rule changes surely make the game entertaining, but nonetheless, there was a game played on Sunday afternoon.

2022 NFL Pro Bowl result & review

Final score: AFC 41-35 NFC
Correct pick: AFC -1

The game started with a pick-six thrown by the Arizona Cardinals’ Kyler Murray and intercepted by the Indianapolis Colts’ Darius Leonard, who avoided traffic to take the pass back 45 yards to the house. There was a total of seven interceptions in the game, four by the NFC and three by the AFC.

In the early stages of the second quarter, Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans went up to moss Denzel Perryman of the Las Vegas Raiders. Evans’ has quietly developed into one of the league’s best wide-outs, even going back to the time before Tom Brady was his quarterback. Playing in his fourth Pro Bowl, the 28-year-old had perhaps the best offensive play of the game.

Along with Evans, Kyle Juszcyk (San Fransisco 49ers), Dalvin Cook (Minnesota Vikings), Kyle Pitts (Atlanta Falcons), Mark Andrews (Baltimore Ravens), Hunter Renfrow (Las Vegas Raiders), Stefon Diggs (Buffalo Bills) all found the endzone in the game.

Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers took home the offensive MVP of the game and Maxx Crosby of the hometown Raiders was named the defensive MVP. On the scoreboard, the AFC took down the NFC for the fifth consecutive time.

Overall, the game was exactly what fans have come to expect of the Pro Bowl: players of the highest caliber having a good time while playing the game we all love. It isn’t as entertaining to watch as a regular NFL game but it certainly has its perks.