By DANIEL DULLUM
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, January 25, 2015

GLENDALE, Arizona – In amongst the discussions of under-inflated balls, who’s telling the truth about it and who isn’t, and the upcoming Super Bowl, the NFL’s all-star game – the Pro Bowl – went on before a nearly packed house at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Team Michael Irvin came from behind to defeat Team Cris Carter 32-28 in the 70th Pro Bowl before an announced sellout crowd of 63,225. It’s the second year of a team captain format as opposed to the traditional NFC-AFC setup.

Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford was selected as the game’s offensive most valuable player. Stafford completed 15 of 25 passes for Team Irvin for 316 yards and two touchdowns.

“It’s a blast,” Stafford said. “To able to play with the best in the world is a whole lot of fun, and everybody is such good people, too. I am out here having a good time.”

J.J. Watt, the Houston defensive end who turned in a MVP-type of year for the Texans, came up with an interception for the first turnover of the game. Watt, with a fumble recovery, a pick and four deflected passes, claimed defensive MVP honors.

“It was fun,” Watt said of his drive-stopping pick. “I mean, down there near the goal line, you want to try and make a play, so to do something like that in the Pro Bowl is pretty cool.

“Arizona has treated us well,” Watt added. “The people have been great. The fans have been awesome. Being able to see some of the military bases and some of the kids for PLAY 60, it’s been a great week all around.”

Emmanuel Sanders of Denver and Jimmy Graham of New Orleans each caught two touchdown passes for the Irvin squad, while Carolina tight end Greg Olsen caught two TD passes for Team Carter.

Andrew Luck of Indianapolis and Drew Brees of New Orleans each threw a pair of scoring passes for Team Irvin, while Stafford and Matt Ryan of Atlanta each threw for two TDs for Team Irvin.

The Saints’ Mark Ingram lead all ball carriers with 72 rushing yards on 11 carries. A sign of the times, there were no rushing touchdowns in the game.

A couple of things stand out. The experimental narrow goal posts and the team captain format now in its second season. The whole Team Irvin vs. Team Carter thing takes a little getting used to, but the game needed a boost of some sort, and this seems to work. The narrow goal posts, intended solely to mess with kickers, hopefully will show how accurate they are.

The narrow goal posts are a directive from the commissioner’s office, where Roger Goodell wants to tinker with the extra point attempt and make it more difficult. What he doesn’t understand, as a non-kicker, is that all attempts have a degree of difficulty, whether it’s from 20 yards out or 50.

And, along with other numerous changes, there were no kickoffs, either to start the game or following a score. There’s a strangeness to that, no kickoff, no return, no longer a place in this game for guys like Atlanta’s Devin Hester, who had one fair catch on a punt. Sure, it’s safer. We’ll have flag football for this exercise in a few years.

PAT kicks for this game are from 35 yards out. Adam Vinatieri of Indianapolis, kicking for Team Irvin, nailed a 32-yard field goal through the narrower uprights, giving his team an early lead. Cody Parkey of Philadelphia made an extra point through the 14-foot crossbar for Team Carter, but after a Team Irvin touchdown, Vinatieri missed a PAT that hooked wide left that he ordinarily would have made with the conventional 18-foot crossbar. But the 19-year veteran drilled his next attempt in the second quarter.

“You saw me miss one already today that would have been good on a normal post. It’s definitely more difficult,” Vinatieri said. “You’ve got to hit it really true, right on line. You can’t be off at all. It makes your margin of error much shallower and much more difficult. I would like to have them leave it alone, but that’s for my own selfish reasons.”

Parkey added, “You kick it like you normally do, there’s nothing really you can do. It’s just unfortunate that they’re trying to make it harder us for a lot of guys’ success in the league. Then moving extra points back, it’s definitely different and this is the first time all week we’ve gotten to kick on them. So it’s definitely different, but at the same time you just go out there and kick your ball, and a little more accuracy is definitely needed.”

Vinatieri made 2 of 4 PAT kicks, which is two more misses than he had all season. If the commissioner wanted to add an element of adventure to the extra point, it worked.

Honestly, it is interesting to see which kicker makes the proper adjustments, and having a 35-yard PAT attempt wouldn’t be so bad. It would at least put a little excitement into a usually nondescript play.

Player reactions
Andrew Luck, Colts quarterback and Stanford alum, said of the atmosphere in Arizona, “A great crowd, a beautiful field, a great stadium. It’s great to see all the fan support.”

On the two-minute warning at the end of the first quarter, Luck said, “I think it provides another level of excitement to this game that is unique.”

Asked about the difference between playing the Pro Bowl in Arizona instead of Hawaii, DeMario Williams, Buffalo defensive end, said, “It’s been a lot of dry air. That’s what it’s been like.”

“We’ve been having a lot of fun and really enjoyed it,” Williams continued. “What I enjoy most is coming out and meeting the new guys and seeing the old guys who have been to Pro Bowls. That’s what I really enjoy – the camaraderie with the players.”

Brees said, “It has been fun. It has been awesome. You have a lot of fun during the week. Practices are pretty easy going, but then you get to game time and we are gamers.”

For consistency’s sake, even with all the tinkering and the experiments with rules and equipment, one thing remained at the highest level of excellence – Glendale native Jordin Sparks’ rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner.

The Pro Bowl returns to Honolulu for the next three seasons.