2011 NFL Pro Bowl Preview- AFC vs. NFC
Sunday, January 30, 2011 at 7:00 pm ET on FOX in Honolulu, Hawaii
Spread: NFC -2.5
Over/Under: 64
The top players in the NFL square off against one another this upcoming Sunday night in the annual Pro Bowl from Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast nationally on FOX.
The truth is that not all the best players in the league will be playing in this game as the Pro Bowl selections from the two teams in this year’s Super Bowl; the Green Bay Packers and the Pittsburgh Steelers will not be in attendance due to the fact they are set to try and help their team win a World Championship the following Sunday in Dallas.
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Regardless of this, both conference rosters are still filled with enough big names to make this game an entertaining as well as interesting warm-up for next week’s Super Bowl clash.
The AFC will feature Philip Rivers from San Diego as its starting quarterback after New England QB Tom Brady opted out of the game to have minor surgery on his foot. Rivers will be backed-up by the Colts’ Peyton Manning and Matt Cassel of the Chiefs. Denver’s Brandon Lloyd and Reggie Wayne of Indianapolis will get the start at wide receiver and Arian Foster of Houston will be the starting running back after leading the league with 1,616 yards rushing this season. Jacksonville’s Marcedes Lewis will get the start at tight end.
The AFC defensive lineup features a couple of big men up front in linemen Robert Mathis from the Colts and Vince Wilfork from the Patriots. The Ravens’ Terrell Suggs and Ray Lewis will join Miami’s Cameron Wake as the starting linebackers and Nnamdi Asomugha, formally with Oakland will join Darrelle Revis from the Jets as the starting cornerbacks. Kansas City rookie Eric Berry and the Patriots’ Brandon Meriweather will be the starting safeties.
Along with Brady there are a few notable AFC Pro Bowlers who will miss this game due to injury. WR Andre Johnson and TE Antonio Gates, who were slated as starters, are out on offense and Colts’ DL Dwight Freeney and Baltimore’s safety Ed Reed are out on defense.
The NFC will open-up with Eagles’ quarterback Michael Vick as its starter. Waiting in the wings for their shot will be Atlanta’s signal-caller Matt Ryan and Drew Brees from the Saints. Another Falcon, Roddy White joins Detroit wide receiver Calvin Williams as Vick’s two primary targets, while Jason Whitten from Dallas gets the start at tight end. Michael Turner rounds out a trio of players from Atlanta as the starting running back.
The NFC defense will go with Julius Peppers from Chicago as one starting defensive end and Atlanta’s John Abraham as the other. DT’s Jay Ratliff from Dallas and Justin Smith from the 49ers will anchor the middle. New Orleans ‘Jonathan Vilma is joined by the Cowboys’ DeMarcus Ware and the Redskins’ Brian Orakpo to form the linebacking corps. The secondary is headed-up by cornerback’s DeAngelo Hall, also from the Redskins and the Falcons’ Brent Grimes, along with Adrian Wilson from Arizona and the Giants Antrel Rolle at the safety positions.
A few of the starters missing the game for the NFC due to injury include the Giants’ Shaun O’Hara and the Eagles’ Jason Peters from the offensive line and Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher and Philadelphia cornerback Asante Samuel from the defense.
The NFC has opened as a 2 ½-point favorite and the ‘over/under’ line is set at 64. Last year the AFC pulled out a 41-34 victory after the NFC won the year before 30-21. All told, the AFC has won six of the last 10 meetings straight-up. In a game like this it makes sense to take any points you can get, so stick with AFC to pull out the win on a late Billy Cundiff field goal.
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