Pro Bowl - 2 Steelers Selected

[Merman1983]

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/tag/_/name/09-afc-pro-bowlers

Silverback and Snacks.

Yes, Pro Bowl voting is mostly name recognition (Hampton) and the Steelers are having a down year. If you look at the numbers, Holmes has a legitimate gripe. Woodley was invisible early in the season, but has been arguably the teams best player in the last 5 or 6 games. Don't know who else really deserved it this year, maybe Heath and Ben.

I guess when you lose 5 in a row to a bunch of bottom-feeders this tends to happen.

[Manimal]

Brady over Ben is a fucking joke.

[bamf16]

As a coach, I always hear the complaints from parents that their kid should be playing more.  My standard response is that for me to put your kid in the game, someone else's kid has to come out.  Who's coming out for your kid?  Then the stammering begins.  So last night when all the bitching started, my line was, "Who's coming out?"  Manning's in, because he's having another great year and he's the best QB I've ever seen.  Here are the other guys' stats.  I agree you could make a small case for Ben over Brady, but no way they're keeping Brady out of the Pro Bowl.

Brady:  4,212 yards passing, 28 TDs, 12 picks, 65.7 completion %, 97.4 passer rating.

Rivers:  4,155 yards passing, 27 TDs, 9 picks, 65.6 completion %, 104.5 passer rating

Ben:  4,108 yards passing, 23 TDs, 12 picks, 66.6 completion %, 98.9 passer rating.

Their stats are pretty close.  Ben missed a game too, so his yards passing would be higher than Brady's, and Rivers' but Brady has the name recognition.  For whatever reason, Ben has the reputation of being a game manager, and he can't seem to shake that.  Additionally, both of the other guys won division titles this year.  Failing to get a game winning drive against the Browns, and failing three times with the ball coming down the stretch in KC probably disqualified Ben altogether.  (Sad too, that a 500 yard performance and game winning drive against a top 3 defense doesn't do more for you.)  With one of those QB's likely in the Super Bowl, Ben has to be #4 and would get the call.

[msdmnr2002]

Agree on this one that Ben would be odd man out.  He has the misfortune of playing in an era when two guys have permanent invitations, so the rest of the AFC is basically competing for one spot.  Haven't seen Shaub's stats, but he's had a pretty good year too.  Team record has a lot to do with it.  If we were 12-3 or even 11-4 I'd say Ben would be in as defending SB champ.  8-7 doesn't get you many Pro Bowl invites.

Bengals were shut out completely I believe, with a division title.

[aj_law]

As Bam mentioned, #7 will be there when a couple of those guys decline the invite to go.

[Finnegans Wake]

As Bam mentioned, #7 will be there when a couple of those guys decline the invite to go.

Also, #7 will be around (fingers crossed) when Peyton and Brady are done in the league.  He'll get his accolades then.  It really looks like Ben and Livers will be occupying the top dog spots then, IMO. 

Besides, Pro Bowl voting is total gayness.  The only bit of value for fans is that Pro Bowl players affect compensatory draft pick status somewhat, not that it matters to us with who was named.

[Preacherman0]

Ray Lewis has made the pro bowl for 10 years straight, IIRC.  I think he even made in 2004 after Bettis left tire marks all over him.  That's all you need to know about pro bowl voting.

[bamf16]

The biggest snub is Woodley...again!  Last year he got beat out by Suggs.  This year it's Cushing.

2009:

Woodley:  59 tackles, 11.5 sacks
Cushing:  128 tackles, 4 sacks

The different schemes explain the differences in one's sacks and one's tackles.  But thinking of OLB, pressure on the QB is pretty damn important, regardless of scheme.

2008:

Woodley:  60 tackles, 11.5 sacks
Suggs:  68 tackles, 8 sacks

This one still boggles my mind.

[aj_law]

The biggest snub is Woodley...again!

Frankly, I'm kinda glad there.  One less bargaining chip when contract negotiations roll around.