Ten biggest winners and losers from 2017 Pro Bowl

The 2017 Pro Bowl provided a fair amount of entertainment to those who watched, but there was also some mediocre play on display.

A defensive-minded affair, the AFC All-Stars defeated the NFC All-Stars by a score of 20-13.

There were some huge plays on both sides of the ball, and the game wasn’t decided until the waning moments, which is something we don’t necessarily associate with the Pro Bowl. While it doesn’t compare to the big game coming up next weekend in Houston when the Atlanta Falcons and New England Patriots fight for the title, it wasn’t a dud.

With that in mind, the following were the biggest winners and losers from the action in Orlando.

Winner: A for effort

For the first time in a long time, players weren’t interested in just going through the motions — something that was evident early on when a couple of Seattle Seahawks defenders set the tone (more on that in a bit).

Both teams’ defenses were strong all game long. Players were flying around, passes were being attacked by both the receivers and defensive backs. We actually had some serious hitting, there wasn’t any room to run and the final score of 20-13 reflected this to a T.

There were a few lapses in defensive coverage on touchdown passes, but those were the exceptions to the rule.

Passion was part of the 2017 Pro Bowl, which isn’t something we’ve seen all that often in years past. Regardless of the mistakes that were made, at least the players and coaches were actually interested in what went down.

Of course, perhaps this had a little something to do with it.

Loser: Trick plays gone wrong

It all started early in the first quarter when Andy Reid dug deep into his bag of tricks to try and catch the NFC defense off guard. The old fox called a double reverse Flea Flicker that was defeated not necessarily by the defense but by a failure to execute.

Then after a failed drive by the NFC offense later in the first quarter, Los Angeles Rams punter Johnny Hekker appeared to be ready to receive the snap. Then Landon Collins stepped in front of it and tried to sneak around the right side for a first down, but Ryan Shazier of the Pittsburgh Steelers was not fooled.

The trick-play parade continued in the second half when Reid called for some more razzle-dazzle. It went about as well as his first-quarter call.

In short, it wasn’t a good night for executing trickery, which also speaks to effort and attention to detail by the defenders playing in this game.

Winner: Seahawks defenders showed some teeth

The AFC team was on the move on its first drive of the game. After gaining 27 yards, the drive was stopped in its tracks when Seattle Seahawks teammates Bobby Wagner and Michael Bennett forced DeMarco Murray into a fumble, with Bennett falling on the ball.

The official ruling on the field was that Murray’s knee was down, but NFC head coach Jason Garrett challenged the call and won.

The interesting aspect about this play is that pretty much everyone else in the trenches was taking it easy in the early going, while Bennett and Wagner were not. Coming from the culture Pete Carroll has established in Seattle, they just don’t take their foot off the gas pedal very easily.

Then in the second quarter, Richard Sherman picked off Andy Dalton and made a nice run after the catch to put his team on track for its first score of the game.

Bennett got back on the stat sheet with another splash play when he sacked Dalton. He also produced some smiles when he got a hug from a ref instead of a flag after his celebratory pump.

Linebacker K.J.Wright was an impact player for the NFC defense, as was Cliff Avril rushing off the edge, rounding out a stellar effort by Seahawks defenders in this game.

Loser: Von Miller forgets he can’t blitz

This one’s a bit tongue-in-cheek.

Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller is a tremendous all-around player, but there’s no doubt getting to the quarterback is what he does best.

Coming off the edge, he’s nearly unstoppable.

However, he forgot a critical rule during the second quarter of the Pro Bowl. No blitzing, Von!!!

Drew Brees definitely felt the pressure by Miller and threw an errant pass on 3rd-and-10. Fortunately for him, the penalty incurred by the pass rusher gave the NFC offense a first down, furthering the drive. Unfortunately for Brees, he threw an interception to Stephon Gilmore in the end zone a few of players later.

To be fair to Miller, he was all over the darn field in this game, just like normal. He just got a bit too excited, and given the lethargy normally associated with this annual exhibition game, we’ll cut him some slack for that.

Winner: Defensive linemen throw a sack party

Last year, there was one sack…all game long.

This year? Things were quite a bit different. Both defenses featured some strong performances by sack artists who wrecked the offensive lines they were up against. Repeatedly.

In particular, the NFC defense got worked up into quite a lather, racking up seven total sacks. Minnesota Vikings defensive end Everson Griffin tallied a game-high three sacks, and he was pretty excited about them all.

Bennett, who we mentioned earlier, had two of his own. Gerald McCoy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers got in on the action with one, as did Avril.

Andy Dalton was taken down three times, and Philip Rivers hit the turf four times. It wasn’t pretty.

While the AFC defense didn’t log as many sacks, the defensive line provided plenty of pressure and did manage to log two sacks, both on Kirk Cousins at the end of the game. Geno Atkins was in on both of them, with Von Miller getting in on one as they hit Cousins at the same time.

Unlike in years past when quarterbacks were pretty much unscathed, we’re sure they’ll be feeling the effects of the blows they took Sunday night for a few more nights, at least.

Loser: Reggie Nelson and Casey Heyward get their signals crossed

Much like we saw when Smith hit Walker for the first score of the game, the second touchdown of the night in Orlando was way too easy.

But unlike the first, which was a rather quick-hitting affair, Doug Baldwin’s 47-yard bomb from Drew Brees took long enough to expose some horrific blown coverage by Reggie Nelson of the Oakland Raiders and Casey Heyward of the San Diego Chargers.

Of course, that these players weren’t on the same page on this play isn’t all that shocking. After all, they only had a few practices together, and Baldwin has a penchant for making these types of plays.

That said, we can’t just let them off the hook.

Winner: Travis Kelce comes through in the clutch

Near the end of the first half, Kansas City Chiefs tight end burned his man and scored the second touchdown of the night for the AFC team. It was a play very similar to the one in which Delanie Walker had scored earlier in the contest, and Kelce danced across the goal line with a flourish. 

Kelce then proceeded to elaborate on his celebration, much to the delight of the packed house in Orlando, and Oakland Raiders punter Marquette King.

https://twitter.com/MarquetteKing/status/825899783512530945

Roughly one quarter later, Kelce was back at it, making another impact play for the AFC team and his coach, Andy Reid. After failing twice earlier in the game to capitalize on a fake, Reid dialed up another on a fake field goal.

Finally, success.

Chiefs punter Dustin Colquitt received the snap, then pitched it to Kelce who streaked across the left side of the line, stretched all the way out to the sideline and got the ball over the first-down marker just enough to convert the fourth-down attempt.

At the end of the game, Kelce had hauled in three passes for 36 yards, the big touchdown at the end of the second quarter and the critical fourth-down conversion. He didn’t make the most plays, but the ones he made were huge for the AFC squad, which finished ahead on the scoreboard by one touchdown.

Loser: Bad night for running backs on the ground

It’s not necessarily surprising that the Pro Bowl was an aerial-assault frenzy, given the talent at quarterback, tight end and receiver on both sides of the field.

However, the fact that the running backs in this game only managed to run for 76 yards and failed to get into the end zone was awfully surprising. After all, in last year’s 76-point affair between Team Rice and Team Irvin, running backs managed to have much more of a positive impact and even managed a touchdown.

As we mentioned before, both defenses showed up big in this game, giving running backs no room to roam.

It was especially surprising we didn’t see more of rookie Ezekiel Elliott, who was stymied to the tune of just 20 yards on eight carries. His AFC counterpart starter, DeMarco Murray, was even more ineffective going for eight yards on five carries while losing a fumble.

Winner: Kickers performing feats of greatness during practice

While the game itself was rather dull for Matt Prater and Justin Tucker, they more than made up for it during the week at practice performing unbelievable feats of strength and skill.

Tucker, the Baltimore Ravens kicker, got things started when he drilled a 75-yard field goal during the week. It didn’t take long for Prater to one-up his AFC counterpart, however. He posted a video of his own in which he unbelievably nailed a 76-yarder (watch here).

As if those long-distance boomers weren’t impressive enough, Tucker did something perhaps even more amazing when he swished a 50-yard kick into a basketball hoop that was situated on the right upright (watch here).

Not to be outdone, the punters in Orlando got into the action with some fun of their own when they pulled off a synchronized punt in which all three balls collided in mid-air at the same time.

Simply amazing stuff, and it shows how talented they really are.

Loser: Jimmy Graham’s butterfingers seal the loss for the NFC squad

While AFC tight ends Travis Kelce and Delanie Walker both made huge plays for their team, things didn’t go so well for the guys on the NFC squad.

Both Greg Olsen and Jimmy Graham struggled to produce, dropping a handful of passes. The final drop by Graham, on a laser in the middle of the field down near the goal line, proved to be the nail in the coffin for Jason Garrett’s NFC team.

The ball goes right through Graham’s hands here. If he had caught it, the NFC team would have had a chance to tie the game or win it with a touchdown and a two-point conversion. Instead, the AFC squad took the interception all the way down to the seven-yard line and just ran the clock out.

Kudos to both teams for giving it their best on this play, however, and throughout the game.