Cincinnati Bengals: 4 Bengals Snubbed by Pro Bowl Voting

The 2011 NFL Pro Bowl rosters were announced last week, turning heads as always.

This guy made it? This guy didn't?

Each and every year, it seems, some of the NFL's most deserving players are left out of the Pro Bowl, replaced instead by bigger-name stars who may or may not be having standout seasons.

This year the young Cincinnati Bengals seemed to take the brunt of the "snubbing." 

Here's a look at four Bengals who should have been selected for the Pro Bowl, but were not.

Geno Atkins, DT

Cincinnati's Geno Atkins burst onto the scene this season, racking up 45 tackles and leading all NFL nose guards with eight sacks—but still he is nowhere to be found on the AFC's Pro Bowl roster.

Instead, three bigger names in Haloti Ngata, Vince Wilfork and Richard Seymour were selected.

While all three are certainly star-caliber linemen, Atkins' absence from the list is questionable to say the least considering his superior numbers.

Mike Nugent, K

While it's hard to argue with the selection of Oakland's Sebastian Janikowski as the AFC's Pro Bowl placekicker, Cincinnati's Mike Nugent was certainly deserving of a nod as well.

Nugent's 88.2 field goal percentage is among the league's best and his 122 total points make him one of the league's highest scoring kickers as well.

Janikowski is a stud, but Nugent may have been overlooked.

Cedric Peerman, Special Teams

Cedric who?

Fourth-string running backs don't tend to find themselves in the midst of Pro Bowl talk, but Peerman's play on special teams could have, and should have, landed him a spot on this year's AFC roster.

Peerman leads the NFL in special teams tackles with 20, and considering he is a tailback by trade, that seems to deserve some recognition.

Andy Dalton, QB

Sure, Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton is the first alternate at QB for the AFC, but it's hard to figure how San Diego's Phillip Rivers got the nod ahead of the rookie gunslinger.

Rivers threw more interceptions than anyone else in the entire league this season, and while his big name carries some weight, he simply didn't do enough to deserve Pro Bowl recognition this year.

Dalton got snubbed, plain and simple, but he'll have plenty of cracks at the Pro Bowl in the years to come.