Bennett won the defensive MVP and Wilson won the offensive MVP award. In his second Pro Bowl appearance in as many seasons, Beckham lined up at safety for a few plays in the fourth quarter, something Falcons coach Dan Quinn said he could do leading up to their game this past September. Seahawks defensive lineman Michael Bennett, the game’s defensive MVP, even lined up at quarterback and took a direct snap. “It’s a testament to our hard work and to see two Seahawks out there as MVPs is really cool”. ESPN’s Jon Gruden, who will be calling the game along with Mike Tirico, is bullish on Winston’s National Football League future.
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In assessing the 49-27 final score, the one word that best encapsulates the outcome would be turnovers.
Jerry Rice and Michael Irvin are the alumni captains of the two Pro Bowl teams.
A record 47 players declined to participate in this year’s Pro Bowl, either due to injury or for personal reasons, or couldn’t play because their teams are in the Super Bowl. The Panthers had 10 players selected, including quarterback Cam Newton. Quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Eli Manning were the first two players selected.
“I am Michael “The Playmaker” Irvin, three-time Super Bowl champion with the Dallas Cowboys and I am an NFL Hall of Famer but I tell you this… there are no greater Hall of Famers than the troops”, said Michael Irvin. Now we have to watch them play because it’s the only football that will be on today and we’ve kind of got an addiction problem. The 6-foot-4, 274-pound defensive said it was his first experience under center in his career. It’s no surprise that Gruden said with a laugh, about Winston, ” I wish I had him”.
The 2016 NFL Pro Bowl featured stars facing off against each other in Honolulu, Hawaii. He caught a short pass from Tampa Bay quarterback Jameis Winston in front of Atlanta cornerback Desmond Trufant. In addition to Walker and Hopkins, Jacksonville’s Allen Robinson and Philadelphia’s Darren Sproles had scoring receptions. Second-year receiver JARVIS LANDRY executed a marvelous concentration-laden reception, which included dragging his feet in bounds for a 31 yard scoring pass from quarterback TYROD TAYLOR. The difference was Team Rice threw six interceptions to only one for Team Irvin.
Latavius Murray of Team Irvin led all running backs with 42 yards on the ground, and Doug Martin was the only back to reach the end zone.
Smith finished with three tackles, a pass defensed and a gift interception, but was beat (along with Richard Sherman) on a 51-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr to T.Y. Hilton (although the play was overruled on replay-which is good for the stats sheet).
Players on a winning team in a wild-card game receive $25,000 apiece if their team was a division victor and $23,000 apiece if it qualified for the playoffs as a wild card.
Critics of the new format will be quick to point out that 33 original Pro Bowl selections will not be playing in tonight’s game. The players aren’t playing at full speed, and without anything on the line, it’s more of a care-free game. It’s not that WEEKLY STANDARD readers aren’t pro football fans-far from it, based on the magazine’s demographics (mainly men who live in the United States.) The problem is, in a nutshell, that the Pro Bowl doesn’t resemble professional football in the slightest.
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For Team Rice, running back Adrian Peterson played sparingly and collected just four yards on five carries on the evening. Three times during the drive, Manning converted on third down en route to hitting five of six passes for 71 yards.
