2023 Pro Bowl Games

2023 Pro Bowl Games
DateFebruary 2 and 5, 2023
StadiumIntermountain Healthcare Performance Center, Henderson, Nevada,
Bear's Best Golf Course, Summerlin South, Nevada,
Allegiant Stadium, Paradise, Nevada
Attendance58,331
Ceremonies
National anthemJessie James Decker
Halftime showRae Sremmurd
TV in the United States
NetworkESPN
ABC
ESPN+
Disney XD
AnnouncersPat McAfee (play–by–play), Kirk Herbstreit (color), Laura Rutledge, and Robert Griffin III (sideline reporters)

The 2023 Pro Bowl Games (branded as the 2023 Pro Bowl Games presented by Verizon for sponsorship reasons)[1] was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2022 NFL season. For the first time, the event consisted of skills competitions and non-contact flag football games, rather than an actual tackle football game. It was held at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, the Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center in Henderson, Nevada, and Bear's Best Golf Course in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 2 and 5, 2023. Voting began on November 15, 2022,[2] and the rosters were announced on December 21, 2022.[3][4]

Background

[edit]

The NFL announced on August 9, 2022, that Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, would host the Pro Bowl for the second consecutive season.[5]

On September 26, 2022, the league announced they would be replacing the traditional Pro Bowl game with skills competitions throughout the week, culminating with a non-contact flag football game at the end of the week. The NFL has partnered with Peyton Manning and his Omaha Productions to revamp the events.[6][7] A. Smith & Co. produced the skills competition.[1] On December 5, 2022, it was announced that the coaches for the Pro Bowl would be Peyton and his brother Eli Manning.[8]

Format

[edit]

The event consisted of various skill competition events and three 7-on-7 flag football games, with the first block of events being held on February 2, 2023, at the Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center, which is the Las Vegas Raiders' practice facility and Bear's Best Golf Course in Las Vegas, Nevada. On February 5, the remainder of the event program took place at Allegiant Stadium with the exception of Kick Tac Toe which was held at the Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center.[1] The first portion took place behind closed doors, while the last contests took place around the flag football games.

Points were scored across the events, with up to 24 points available in the skills competitions. The first two flag football games awarded six points each to the winning conference's total score (with the conferences splitting three points each in the event of a tie, with no overtime being played). Both teams' total scores were carried into the final game, which decided the overall winner.[1]

Rosters

[edit]

AFC

[edit]
Offense
Position Starter(s) Reserve(s) Alternate(s)
Quarterback 15 Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City[c] 17 Josh Allen, Buffalo[b]
9 Joe Burrow, Cincinnati[d]
2 Tyler Huntley, Baltimore[a]
16 Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville[a]
4 Derek Carr, Las Vegas[a]
Running back 24 Nick Chubb, Cleveland 28 Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas
22 Derrick Henry, Tennessee
Fullback 42 Patrick Ricard, Baltimore
Wide receiver 10 Tyreek Hill, Miami
14 Stefon Diggs, Buffalo
1 Ja'Marr Chase, Cincinnati
17 Davante Adams, Las Vegas
Tight end 87 Travis Kelce, Kansas City[c] 89 Mark Andrews, Baltimore 88 Dawson Knox, Buffalo[a]
Offensive tackle 78 Laremy Tunsil, Houston
72 Terron Armstead, Miami
57 Orlando Brown Jr., Kansas City[c] 73 Dion Dawkins, Buffalo[a]
Offensive guard 56 Quenton Nelson, Indianapolis[b]
75 Joel Bitonio, Cleveland
62 Joe Thuney, Kansas City[c] 76 Rodger Saffold, Buffalo[a]
77 Wyatt Teller, Cleveland[a]
Center 52 Creed Humphrey, Kansas City[c] 60 Mitch Morse, Buffalo 60 Ben Jones, Tennessee[a]
Defense
Position Starter(s) Reserve(s) Alternate(s)
Defensive end 95 Myles Garrett, Cleveland
98 Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas
91 Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati
Defensive tackle 95 Chris Jones, Kansas City[c]
95 Quinnen Williams, NY Jets
98 Jeffery Simmons, Tennessee 97 Cameron Heyward, Pittsburgh[a]
Outside linebacker 9 Matthew Judon, New England
52 Khalil Mack, LA Chargers[b]
90 T. J. Watt, Pittsburgh[b] 58 Matt Milano, Buffalo[a]
2 Bradley Chubb, Miami[a]
Inside / middle linebacker 18 Roquan Smith, Baltimore 57 C. J. Mosley, NY Jets
Cornerback 1 Sauce Gardner, NY Jets
2 Patrick Surtain II, Denver
44 Marlon Humphrey, Baltimore
25 Xavien Howard, Miami
Free safety 39 Minkah Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh
Strong safety 3 Derwin James, LA Chargers 21 Jordan Poyer, Buffalo
Special teams
Position Starter Alternate(s)
Long snapper 46 Morgan Cox, Tennessee
Punter 5 Tommy Townsend, Kansas City[c] 6 A. J. Cole III, Las Vegas[a]
Placekicker 9 Justin Tucker, Baltimore
Return specialist 13 Devin Duvernay, Baltimore[b] 39 Jamal Agnew, Jacksonville[a]
Special teams 34 Justin Hardee, NY Jets
bold player who participated in the game
(C) signifies the player has been selected as a captain
a Replacement player selection due to injury or vacancy
b Injured player; selected but did not participate
c Selected but did not play because his team advanced to Super Bowl LVII (See Pro Bowl "Player selection" section)
d Selected but chose not to participate

NFC

[edit]
Offense
Position Starter(s) Reserve(s) Alternate(s)
Quarterback 1 Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia[c] 7 Geno Smith, Seattle
8 Kirk Cousins, Minnesota
16 Jared Goff, Detroit[a]
Running back 26 Saquon Barkley, NY Giants 20 Tony Pollard, Dallas[b]
26 Miles Sanders, Philadelphia[c]
4 Dalvin Cook, Minnesota[a]
23 Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco[a]
Fullback 44 Kyle Juszczyk, San Francisco
Wide receiver 18 Justin Jefferson, Minnesota
11 A. J. Brown, Philadelphia[c]
88 CeeDee Lamb, Dallas
17 Terry McLaurin, Washington
14 Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit[a]
Tight end 85 George Kittle, San Francisco 87 T. J. Hockenson, Minnesota
Offensive tackle 71 Trent Williams, San Francisco
65 Lane Johnson, Philadelphia[c]
78 Tristan Wirfs, Tampa Bay 58 Penei Sewell, Detroit[a]
Offensive guard 70 Zack Martin, Dallas
69 Landon Dickerson, Philadelphia[c]
63 Chris Lindstrom, Atlanta 74 Elgton Jenkins, Green Bay[a]
Center 62 Jason Kelce, Philadelphia[c] 77 Frank Ragnow, Detroit 63 Tyler Biadasz, Dallas[a]
Defense
Position Starter(s) Reserve(s) Alternate(s)
Defensive end 97 Nick Bosa, San Francisco[b]
53 Brian Burns, Carolina
90 DeMarcus Lawrence, Dallas 94 Cameron Jordan, New Orleans [a]
Defensive tackle 99 Aaron Donald, LA Rams[b]
93 Jonathan Allen, Washington
97 Dexter Lawrence, NY Giants 94 Daron Payne, Washington[a]
Outside linebacker 11 Micah Parsons, Dallas
55 Za'Darius Smith, Minnesota
7 Haason Reddick, Philadelphia[c] 99 Danielle Hunter, Minnesota[a]
Inside / middle linebacker 54 Fred Warner, San Francisco 56 Demario Davis, New Orleans
Cornerback 2 Darius Slay, Philadelphia[c]
7 Trevon Diggs, Dallas
27 Tariq Woolen, Seattle
23 Jaire Alexander, Green Bay
5 Jalen Ramsey, LA Rams[a]
Free safety 6 Quandre Diggs, Seattle
Strong safety 3 Budda Baker, Arizona 29 Talanoa Hufanga, San Francisco
Special teams
Position Starter Alternate(s)
Long snapper 42 Andrew DePaola, Minnesota
Punter 5 Tress Way, Washington
Placekicker 5 Jason Myers, Seattle
Return specialist 9 KaVontae Turpin, Dallas
Special teams 39 Jeremy Reaves, Washington
Bold, player who participated in the game
(C) signifies the player has been selected as a captain
a Replacement player selection due to injury or vacancy
b Injured player; selected but did not participate
c Selected but did not play because his team advanced to Super Bowl LVII (See Pro Bowl "Player selection" section)
d Selected but chose not to participate

Number of selections per team

[edit]
American Football Conference
Team Selections
Baltimore Ravens 7
Buffalo Bills 8
Cincinnati Bengals 3
Cleveland Browns 4
Denver Broncos 1
Houston Texans 1
Indianapolis Colts 1
Jacksonville Jaguars 2
Kansas City Chiefs 7
Las Vegas Raiders 5
Los Angeles Chargers 2
Miami Dolphins 4
New England Patriots 1
New York Jets 4
Pittsburgh Steelers 3
Tennessee Titans 4
National Football Conference
Team Selections
Arizona Cardinals 1
Atlanta Falcons 1
Carolina Panthers 1
Chicago Bears 0
Dallas Cowboys 8
Detroit Lions 4
Green Bay Packers 2
Los Angeles Rams 2
Minnesota Vikings 7
New Orleans Saints 2
New York Giants 2
Philadelphia Eagles 8
San Francisco 49ers 7
Seattle Seahawks 4
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1
Washington Commanders 5

Results

[edit]

Thursday

[edit]

Precision Passing

[edit]

Derek Carr won the event for the AFC with a score of 31.[9]

Pos Player Team Score
1 Derek Carr LVS 31
2 Tyler Huntley BAL 21
3 Geno Smith SEA 20
4 Trevor Lawrence JAX 19
5 Jared Goff DET 15
6 Kirk Cousins MIN 14
Conference Score
AFC 3
NFC 0

Lightning Round

[edit]

The AFC won the event after dunking NFC head coach Eli Manning in confetti in the final round.[9]

Conference Score
AFC 6
NFC 0

A long drive competition among players was held at Bear's Best Golf Course in Summerlin South, Nevada, during the week, and broadcast on tape-delay during the Pro Bowl Games.

Jordan Poyer won the event for the AFC by having the longest drive with a drive of 320 yards (292.608 meters).[9]

Conference Score
AFC 9
NFC 0

Dodgeball

[edit]

The NFC won the event after the NFC offense team defeated the AFC defense team in the final round.[9]

Conference Score
AFC 9
NFC 3

Sunday

[edit]

Flag Football Game 1

[edit]

The NFC won the first flag football game by a score of 33 – 27.

Team 1st Half 2nd Half Final
AFC 20 7 27
NFC 20 13 33
Conference Score
AFC 9
NFC 9

Kick Tac Toe

[edit]

The event was shown as pre-recorded segment and was held at Intermountain Healthcare center from Thursday's events.

The AFC won the event after being the first team to get three in a row.

Conference Score
AFC 12
NFC 9

Gridiron Gauntlet

[edit]

The NFC won the event after Eli Manning crossed the finish line first.

Conference Score
AFC 12
NFC 12

Flag Football Game 2

[edit]

The AFC won the second flag football game by a score of 18–13.

Team 1st Half 2nd Half Final
AFC 12 6 18
NFC 6 7 13
Conference Score
AFC 18
NFC 12

Move The Chains

[edit]

The AFC won the event after taking the first and third rounds.

Conference Score
AFC 21
NFC 12

Best Catch

[edit]

Amon-Ra St. Brown outscored Stefon Diggs by a score of 177.0–145.4 (St. Brown outscored Diggs 85.0–74.7 in round 1 and 92.0–70.7 in round 2), winning the event for the NFC.

Diggs and St. Brown were selected as finalists in a fan vote over Justin Jefferson and Patrick Surtain II retrospectively. Each were shown doing special catches in pre-recorded segments during Thursday's events before the fan vote began.[10]

Conference Score
AFC 21
NFC 15

Flag Football Game 3

[edit]

The NFC was down 21–15 entering the game based on the opening scores, but Kirk Cousins led the NFC to a comeback win. The final score was 35–33.

Conference Opening Score 1st Half 2nd Half Final
AFC 21 6 6 33
NFC 15 13 7 35

Aftermath

[edit]

The players who participated on the winning NFC each won $84,000 while the players who participated on the losing AFC team won $42,000 each.[11]

This was the first time Eli Manning beat his brother in the NFL (though as a coach and not a player), as Peyton went 3–0 against him during their NFL careers.

Following the event it was revealed that Myles Garrett suffered a dislocated toe during the Gridiron Gauntlet event.[12][13] He later stated in April that he would decline participating in future Pro Bowl Games events, saying the Gridiron Gauntlet "doesn't make sense to me", and proposed replacing it and other events with those that would allow fans to take part alongside players.[14] Garrett would later recover from his injury and would play in the opening games of the 2023 NFL season. He would later change his mind and participate in the “Move the Chains” event during the 2024 Pro Bowl Games.[15]

Broadcasting

[edit]

ESPN and ABC served as the broadcaster for all Pro Bowl events while the Thursday block of the skills competition were held on the Saturday afternoon after the event on ABC. As in previous years, the events held on Sunday were simulcast live by ESPN+, ABC, and Disney XD.[16][1] Kirk Herbstreit and Pat McAfee called the games. Robert Griffin III, Marcus Spears, and Laura Rutledge called the skills competition, joined additionally on the first night by Ryan Clark and Dan Orlovsky.[16][1]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f "2023 Pro Bowl Games skills competitions announced". NFL.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  2. ^ "2023 Pro Bowl Games Vote Presented BY Castrol Now Open". nfl.com. November 15, 2022. Archived from the original on November 15, 2022. Retrieved November 15, 2022.
  3. ^ "2023 Pro Bowl Games: Complete AFC roster revealed". nfl.com. December 21, 2022. Archived from the original on December 22, 2022. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  4. ^ "2023 Pro Bowl Games: Complete NFC roster revealed". nfl.com. December 21, 2022. Archived from the original on May 18, 2023. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
  5. ^ "NFL Pro Bowl To Return To Las Vegas In 2023". 3NewsLV.com. August 10, 2022. Archived from the original on September 29, 2022. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  6. ^ Shook, Nick (September 26, 2022). "'The Pro Bowl Games' reimagine NFL's all-star game by virtue of flag football". NFL.com. Archived from the original on September 26, 2022. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  7. ^ "NFL announces 'The Pro Bowl Games' to replace tackle game with flag football, skills competitions". NFL.com. September 26, 2022. Archived from the original on September 24, 2023. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  8. ^ "Eli Manning to coach NFC vs. brother Peyton's AFC in first-ever Pro Bowl Games". NFL.com. December 5, 2022. Archived from the original on December 6, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  9. ^ a b c d Sam, Doric (February 3, 2023). "NFL Twitter Delighted by 2023 Pro Bowl Skills Challenge as Derek Carr, AFC Hold Lead". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on February 3, 2023. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
  10. ^ JaredMueller (February 2, 2023). "Watch all the 'Best Catch' nominees, vote in the 2023 Pro Bowl Games". SBNation.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  11. ^ "2023 NFL Pro Bowl Games score, takeaways: Kirk Cousins rallies NFC to thrilling comeback win over AFC". CBSSports.com. February 5, 2023. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  12. ^ DeArdo, Bryan (February 5, 2023). "Browns' Myles Garrett suffers toe injury during NFL Pro Bowl Games, per report". CBSSports.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  13. ^ Smith, Michael David (February 5, 2023). "Myles Garrett suffers dislocated toe at Pro Bowl Games". ProFootballTalk. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  14. ^ "DE Garrett 'retired' from Pro Bowl after toe injury". ESPN.com. April 18, 2023. Archived from the original on May 16, 2023. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
  15. ^ @camijustice (February 1, 2024). "#Browns DE Myles Garrett will participate in the Move the Chains competition at the Pro Bowl Games" (Tweet) – via Twitter. [better source needed]
  16. ^ a b Lucia, Joe (January 25, 2023). "ESPN announces broadcast details of NFL Pro Bowl Games". Awful Announcing. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
[edit]