Pro Bowl 2015: Rosters and Storylines to Watch in Team Carter vs. Team Irvin
On paper, the 2015 Pro Bowl is a showdown for the ages.
One Hall of Famer, Cris Carter, decided to stack his team with as much offensive talent as possible. Andrew Luck and Drew Brees lead his team, and the quarterbacks will throw to players such as A.J. Green, T.Y. Hilton, Jordy Nelson and Jamaal Charles, with a little Patrick Peterson mixed in for good measure.
The only team that can stop him is the roster constructed by another Hall of Famer, Michael Irvin. Luke Kuechly leads his defense, and opposing quarterbacks may be on the run most of the day thanks to Cameron Wake, Von Miller, Robert Quinn, Clay Matthews and Elvis Dumervil.
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The event in Glendale, Arizona, should be an offensive-minded affair that does well enough to accommodate fans who cannot go a weekend without football.
Results and Rosters
| 1 | Andrew Luck, QB, Indianapolis Colts | 2 | Tony Romo, QB, Dallas Cowboys |
| 3 | A.J. Green, WR, Cincinnati Bengals | 4 | Odell Beckham Jr., WR, New York Giants |
| 5 | Jamaal Charles, RB, Kansas City Chiefs | 6 | Tyron Smith, OT, Dallas Cowboys |
| 7 | Patrick Peterson, CB, Arizona Cardinals | 8 | Luke Kuechly, LB, Carolina Panthers |
| 9 | Mario Williams, DE, Buffalo Bills | 10 | Cameron Wake, DE, Miami Dolphins |
| 11 | T.Y. Hilton, WR, Indianapolis Colts | 12 | Jimmy Graham, TE, New Orleans Saints |
| 13 | Joe Staley, OT, San Francisco 49ers | 14 | Von Miller, OLB, Denver Broncos |
| 15 | Justin Houston, OLB, Kansas City Chiefs | 16 | Jason Witten, TE, Dallas Cowboys |
| 17 | Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints | 18 | Joe Thomas, OT, Cleveland Browns |
| 19 | C.J. Mosley, ILB, Baltimore Ravens | 20 | Robert Quinn, DE, St. Louis Rams |
| 21 | Aqib Talib, CB, Denver Broncos | 22 | Vontae Davis, CB, Indianapolis Colts |
| 23 | Calais Campbell, DE, Arizona Cardinals | 24 | T.J. Ward, S, Denver Broncos |
| 25 | Donte Whitner, S, Cleveland Browns | 26 | Clay Matthews, LB, Green Bay Packers |
| 27 | Duane Brown, OT, Houston Texans | 28 | Brent Grimes, CB, Miami Dolphins |
| 29 | Jordy Nelson, WR, Green Bay Packers | 30 | Trent Williams, OT, Washington Redskins |
| 31 | Connor Barwin, OLB, Philadelphia Eagles | 32 | Eric Weddle, S, San Diego Chargers |
| 33 | Antonio Cromartie, CB, Arizona Cardinals | 34 | Elvis Dumervil, OLB, Baltimore Ravens |
| 35 | Sam Shields, CB, Green Bay Packers | 36 | Matthew Stafford, QB, Detroit Lions |
| 37 | Justin Forsett, RB, Baltimore Ravens | 38 | Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta Falcons |
| 39 | Lawrence Timmons, ILB, Pittsburgh Steelers | 40 | Mark Ingram, RB, New Orleans Saints |
| 41 | Glover Quin, S, Detroit Lions | 42 | C.J. Anderson, RB, Denver Broncos |
| 43 | Antoine Bethea, S, San Francisco 49ers | 44 | Jason Garrett, HC, Dallas Cowboys |
| Greg Olsen, TE, Carolina Panthers (16) | DeMarcus Ware, DE, Denver Broncos (23) | ||
| Martellus Bennett, TE, Chicago Bears (16) | Randall Cobb, WR, Green Bay Packers (29) | ||
| Ryan Clady, OT, Denver Broncos (30) | Golden Tate, WR, Detroit Lions (29) | ||
| Tamba Hali, OLB, Kansas City Chiefs (34) | Emmanuel Sanders, WR, Denver Broncos (29) | ||
| Andy Dalton, QB, Cincinnati Bengals (38) | Chris Harris, CB, Denver Broncos (35) | ||
| Alfred Morris, RB, Washington Redskins (42) | D'Qwell Jackson, ILB, Indianapolis Colts (39) | ||
| John Harbaugh, HC, Baltimore Ravens (44) | Mike Adams, S, Indianapolis Colts (43) | ||
| DT | Marcell Dareus, Kyle Williams and Dontari Poe | Aaron Donald, Sheldon Richardson and Geno Atkins | |
| G | Mike Pouncey, Josh Sitton and Evan Mathis | Zack Martin, Marshal Yanda and Kyle Long | |
| C | Maurkice Pouncey and Jason Kelce | Travis Frederick and Nick Mangold | |
| FB | John Kuhn | Marcel Reece | |
| P | Pat McAfee | Kevin Huber | |
| K | Cody Parkey | Adam Vinatieri | |
| ST | Justin Bethel | Darrell Stuckey |
Storylines to Watch
Friendly Fire
The Pro Bowl is at its best when teammates in their prime line up across from one another.
The most obvious case will be when Indianapolis Colts wideout T.Y. Hilton goes head-to-head with fellow teammate and cornerback Vontae Davis.
Of course, the two have gone out of their way to hype the showdown on Twitter:
"It was fun talking smack with him for a little bit," Hilton said, per NFL.com's Kevin Patra. "We finally get to play on different teams and just go at it."
On the flip side, Davis was asked if he could shut down Hilton; the answer, via Patra, was an obvious "of course."
The argument makes sense for either side, really. Hilton has a strong rapport with Luck and caught 82 passes for 1,345 yards and seven touchdowns. Davis practices against Luck all season and ranked as the league's No. 2 corner this season at Pro Football Focus.
Other interesting showdowns between teammates will go down as well. Green Bay Packers guard Josh Sitton will need to help slow down Matthews. Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Geno Atkins will surely spend a large chunk of his afternoon chasing down quarterback Andy Dalton.
To be fair, these sorts of matchups happen in practice. This time, though, there is a lot at stake, and the eyes of the globe will watch.
No pressure.
Rules and Effort
Name two criticisms that come to mind each year about the Pro Bowl.
Easy, right? Rules and effort.
In the past, the rules would come under fire for player safety concerns, so the NFL continues to alter the game for the better in this regard.
Among the list of new rules, which can be found at NFL.com, is the revelation that kickoffs are a thing of the past. Each team will now start at the 25-yard line, and the ball will change hands at the beginning of each quarter.
Don't fret, though, as kickers are not on the receiving end of some vacation—a new rule intends to make their lives more difficult, as the width of the goal posts will decrease from 18 feet to 14 feet.
Effort, of course, is something the league needs to eek out of the players in order to keep the game itself alive. Payout variances among winners and losers helps, as do some of the new rules and the way teammates are motivated to now play against one another.
Remember, though, that it was not too long ago that Aaron Rodgers said that some of the NFC players "embarrassed themselves,” per ESPN.com's Kevin Seifert.
Things continue to change, however, so it will be quite interesting to see how the contest unfolds. If better effort is obvious thanks to the second year of the new format and evolving rules, the real winner will not be the league, but its fans.
Stats courtesy of NFL.com. Advanced metrics via Pro Football Focus. Roster and game info courtesy of NFL.com as of Jan. 22 at 10:30 p.m. ET.
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