The 2018 Pro Bowl kicked off in Camping World Stadium in Florida. A venue where lots of competitive sporting events have been held. One of the main topics to come from the game was the American Football Conference (AFC) making a huge comeback.
The Pro Bowl, a place where the best football players from both conferences come together to play in one epic game. The way the Pro Bowl works is the fans, coaches and the players, vote for who they want to be in the game. Then, whoever is elected gets flown out to Florida for the week where the players can have fun and hang out with other players they have not seen for awhile and even go to Disney.
At the start of Pro Bowl weekend on January 27th, they had activities in which some of the players would face off against each other. Some of the activities includes a AFC vs NFC dodgeball game, which the AFC won. They even give out awards for players with the “best hands” which NFC wide receiver Michael Thomas from the New Orleans Saints won, and Precision Passing which Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr won for the AFC.
The most exciting part was undoubtedly the game. The Pro Bowl game is different than regular NFL games. They have a more relaxed atmosphere and lenient so the players can have fun. Also, the winning team gets a $64,000 each and the losing team gets $32,000 each. To start things off, Drew Brees, quarterback of the New Orleans Saints was the starter for the NFC and he threw a touchdown to Vikings wide receiver, Adam Thielen, to go up 7-0. For the AFC Steelers quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger, led his team down the field but with a key pass block by Minnesota Vikings cornerback, Xavier Rhodes, a touchdown was prevented. Then AFC took the three points by kicking a field goal.
At the start of the second quarter, the NFC was forced to punt and Kansas City Chiefs, wide receiver Tyreek Hill dropped the ball and the NFC recovered it. Seattle Seahawks quarterback, Russell Wilson, went in after could not do anything but put his team in field goal range for Carolina Panthers kicker, Graham Gano, to nail a 43 yard field goal. With that field goal, the NFC went up 10-3. The AFC now had the ball and Minnesota Vikings’ safety, Harrison Smith intercepted Ben Roethlisberger and returned it 79 yards for a touchdown. Kansas City Chiefs’ quarterback, Alex Smith, is in for the AFC and he started off by throwing 49 yards to Miami Dolphins’ wide receiver, Jarvis Landry, to put them in the red zone. Things got worse for the AFC because Smith threw an interception to Arizona Cardinal cornerback, Patrick Peterson. The NFC has the ball but are forced to kick a field goal before halftime. The score at the end of the half was 20-3.
The AFC started the 3rd quarter with the ball and on the drive, Alex Smith then threw a 4 yard touchdown pass to Tennessee Titans’ tight end, Delanie Walker. By doing so, the score was now 20-10. Things did not go well for the NFC because on their first drive Russell Wilson threw an interception to Los Angeles Chargers’ cornerback, Casey Hayward. Oakland Raiders quarterback, Derek Carr, who was in the game for the AFC threw a huge pass to Indianapolis Colt’s wide receiver, T.Y. Hilton, that set them at the 5 yard line. Buffalo Bill’s running back, LeSean McCoy, scored a rushing TD making the score 20-17. Los Angeles Rams quarterback, Jared Goff, helped his team move up to field goal range and Graham Gano from the Panthers made his fourth field goal making the score 23-17.
At the start of the fourth quarter, both teams went back and forth for most of the time and with 1:31 left of the game, Derek Carr threw a touchdown to Delanie Walker to make the score 24-23. The NFC did not score again, so the final score was 24-23.
The MVPs of the game were Broncos’ linebacker, Von Miller and Titans’ Tight End, Delanie Walker. Walker was chosen as the offensive MVP because he had two touchdowns and Miller was a machine on defense with his pass rush. He had one sack, one pass batted down, and one fumble recovery.
This was a great game played by both teams and it showed that they were having a great deal of fun with the friendly competition. Win or lose, being in the Pro Bowl is a great honor and shows that these players can be competitive, but still have a good time on the field.