Pro Bowl 2017: TV Schedule and Live Stream for AFC vs. NFC

Welcome to another Sunday of NFL action, football fans. While this weekend isn't bringing us a meaningful football game—there's only one of those left this season—we will get to see some of the league's top players face off in a fine exhibition of talent.

Sunday night, of course, is the 2017 NFL Pro Bowl.

This year's Pro Bowl features some familiar faces, like quarterback Drew Brees, safety Reggie Nelson and tight end Delanie Walker. But we'll also get a look at some exciting first-year players like quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Jordan Howard. It's really a nice mix of veterans and young players, especially for fans who have only watched their local teams for most of the season.

Today, we're going to take a look at the game itself, along with some of the top storylines heading into the Pro Bowl.

2017 NFL Pro Bowl

When: Sunday, Jan. 29

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Where: Camping World Stadium, Orlando

National TV: ESPN

Live Stream: WatchESPN

Latest Buzz

NFC Wins Skills Competition

If you missed the return of the NFL's Pro Bowl Skills Showdown earlier this week—yes, it used to be a thing—you really missed out. The week leading up to the Pro Bowl is supposed to be about having fun, and the skills challenge definitely had plenty of that. 

There were some familiar competitions like a catching challenge that Miami Dolphins wideout Jarvis Landry won over New York Giants star Odell Beckham Jr. There was also a passing accuracy challenge that resembled something out of the training mode in Madden.

Philip Rivers won that competition.

Fans were also treated to a drone drop, where footballs were dropped from as high as 125 yards above the ground by, naturally, drones. Beckham redeemed himself by winning this drill. We also got to see a rather entertaining "power" relay race that featured a 700-pound sled being pushed by an offensive line, then a running back crashing through a wall.

The silliest event of the day was the dodgeball competition. Reliving memories of grade school gym class wasn't the most exciting moment of the skills challenge, but at least the players seemed to be having a blast.

(So did Jon Gruden, but when isn't he having fun around a football?)

The NFC won both the relay and the dodgeball match to take the skills challenge overall. More importantly, the fans won, because this really did turn out to be a fun bit of entertainment.

Alternates Abound in the Pro Bowl This Year

One of the reasons the skills challenge seemed so entertaining is the fact that the Pro Bowl itself often isn't. The lack of full contact—and no one is going to blame the players for this—and overall exhibition feel of the game leaves a lot to be desired.

Aside from a pay bump for the winning team, players really have little reason to play hard in the Pro Bowl.

For many, there really isn't even a reason to participate at all. This year, the NFL ended up inviting a total of 125 players to play in the game in order to fill out the rosters (88 total slots).

Players from the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons are obviously out of the game because they'll be playing in the one that matters next week. Other players are legitimately injured or are recovering from injuries. For some of these guys, though, playing in the game just isn't worth it because of the risk of injury in a meaningless exhibition.

Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert, who was forced to undergo surgery after suffering an ankle injury in last year's Pro Bowl can attest.

"It was one of the best experiences I've ever had," Eifert said, per Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com. "But it's just not worth it."

Given the physical nature of the game, the Pro Bowl is probably never going to be as interesting or as competitive as, say, the NBA All-Star Game. Perhaps the league should seriously consider expanding the skills challenge to a weekend-long event with some sort of flag game at the center of it.

At least no one would be disappointed by a game that isn't masquerading as a real game.

Expect Plenty of Cowboys to Shine on Sunday

We are getting the Pro Bowl game this year, and one of the things you might want to watch for is an exhibition of Dallas Cowboys stars like Prescott and fellow rookie Ezekiel Elliott.

Since the Cowboys were the highest-seeded NFC team to lose in the divisional round of the playoffs, Jason Garrett and the rest of the Cowboys staff are in charge of coaching the NFC.

We could see an extraordinary amount of Prescott at quarterback since he already knows the Cowboys offense inside and out. We'll get doses of Drew Brees and Kirk Cousins, sure, but Prescott is likely to run the offense for much of the game. The same is likely true of Elliott, who will start over Howard and Darren Sproles at running back.

In all, seven Cowboys players were named to the 2017 Pro Bowl.

All of them are expected to participate in Sunday's game. That means that seven of the NFC's 44 players will be Cowboys.