AFC Pro Bowl List / Snubs / Analysis
AFC - Offense
QB
Starter: Peyton Manning - Indianapolis
Backups: Brett Favre - New York (Jets), Jay Cutler - Denver
Snub 1: Phillip Rivers - San Diego
What a perfect example of how the fans screw it up. Phillip Rivers has the highest passer rating in the NFL (104), leads the AFC in yards per completion (8.3) and has stepped up the Chargers to contend for the division. Favre, while having a solid season, hasn’t even been close. Rivers is ridiculously deserving of this.
RB
Starter: Thomas Jones - New York (Jets)
Backups: Chris Johnson - Tennessee, Ronnie Brown - Miami
Snub 2: Steve Slaton - Houston
Happy to see Thomas Jones there since he is the real reason for New York’s success (when they have it) but Steve Slaton down in Houston being left out sucks. I get that Ronnie brown has thrown the ball and helped the Dolphins out a lot this year but Slaton is having a terrific season on a team that just is not that good. He has down more as a RB than Ronnie Brown.
FB
Starter: Le’Ron McClain - Baltimore
4 capital letters and an apostrophe later and you got yourself a Pro Bowler out of Baltimore.
WR
Starters: Andre Johnson - Houston, Brandon Marshall - Denver
Backups: Reggie Wayne - Indianapolis, Wes Welker - New England
Really astounded here since I think it’s exactly right. Andre Johnson has been long overlooked and under appreciated in the media so I was worried he’d get passed on. I think Welker might be the most fun to watch of the bunch though.
TE
Starter: Tony Gonzalez - Kansas City
Backup: Antonio Gates - San Diego
Snub 3: Owen Daniels - Houston
“Oh man, look at him just go up and grab that thing like a rebound. Hey, John, you know Gates was a basketball player. He’s got huge hands and boxes out well.” Repeating that horse shit 50 times a game is why Gates is going and Daniels and Rivers are not.
T
Starters: Joe Thomas - Cleveland, Jason Peters - BuffaloBackup: Michael Roos - Tennesse
Joe Thomas looks like the next Larry Allan except much less deserving. Allen made the Pro Bowl pretty much every season because of his legendary reputation. I heard while in retirement Allan is the first alternative. No one on the Cleveland offensive line is deserving of going to the Pro Bowl. That is like saying a spaghetti strainer would make a good sink plug. I would go further into detail but I have to admit I have not watched enough AFC games to pick a snub here. My first guess is that Matt Light was way better.
G
Starters: Alan Faneca - New York (Jets), Kris Dielman - San DiegoBackup: Brian Waters - Kansas City
Pretty popular names here. Dielman going but not Rivers? I guess Favre really is just that popular.
C
Starter: Kevin Mawae - TennesseeBackup: Nick Mangold - New York Jets
Solid picks. Mawae has been huge in leading the running attack for the Titans.
AFC - Defense
DE
Starters: Mario Williams - Houston, Dwight Freeney - Indianapolis
Backup: Robert Mathis - Indianapolis
I had no idea that Indy has been so good at d-end this year but Freeney and Mathis have been very good at getting to the quarterback. Williams is certainly making Houston look a lot smarter now isn’t he?
DT
Starters: Albert Haynesworth - Tennessee, Kris Jenkins - New York (Jets)
Backup: Shaun Rogers - Cleveland
Either Haynesworth and Jenkins could easily be Defensive Player of the Year and Rogers was a bright spot on that Cleveland defense.
OLB
Starters: James Harrison - Pittsburgh, Joey Porter - Miami
Backup: Terrell Suggs - Baltimore
I feel there is a good argument for Lamaar Woodley of Pittsburgh to make it but can’t really consider it a snub.
ILB
Starter: Ray Lewis - BaltimoreBackup: James Farrior - Pittsburgh
Snub 4: D’Qwell Jackson - Cleveland
Ray Lewis is a big name for linebackers, perhaps even the biggest but this is crazy. Jackson is 40+ tackles up on Lewis, has 2 sacks and 3 picks. Him and Shaun Rogers provided 90% of what little defense the Browns had.
CB
Starters: Nnamdi Asomugha - Oakland, Cortland Finnegan - Tennessee
Backup: Darrelle Revis - New York (Jets)
Not bad here, not bad at all. If Aso played offense he’d be one of those fantasy football commercials like Whose-Your-Mamma.
FS
Starter: Ed Reed - Baltimore
Snub 5: Michael Griffin - Tennessee
Not even a lot of sports writers are writing about this one. Griffin has had a really good season and is tied with Ed Reed at 7 INTs. The big difference? Griffin has almost 40 more tackles. That’s doing a lot of work at free safety.
SS
Starter: Troy Polamalu - Pittsburgh
Backup: Chris Hope - Tennessee
No argument, very good years from both players.
Punter: Shane Lechler - Oakland
Kicker: Stephen Gostkowski - New England
Returner: Leon Washington - New York (Jets)
Special Teams Specialist: Brendon Ayanbadejo - Baltimore
No real argument. Lechler is the default punter but he is quite good. Can New England scout kickers or what? Washington is easily the best return man in the AFC right now.
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2 Responses to “AFC Pro Bowl List / Snubs / Analysis”
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December 22nd, 2008 at 7:48 pm
I totally agree. The snubs this year seem to be worse then normal.
Sure on the link exchange!
December 22nd, 2008 at 11:40 pm
Awesome, thanks for stopping by.
I really think they should probably add a seperate team like…
“ALL FANDOM TEAM” or some stupid worthless bullshit.
“WE SOLD THE MOST JERSEYS TEAM”