Pro Bowl Corrections

Pro Bowl rosters came out today, and of course everyone has their gripes. Here are my 5 disagreements, in order of increasing severity.

5. Wes Welker
Wes Welker is a Pro Bowl caliber player having a Pro Bowl Caliber year and I'm glad he received his first Pro Bowl selection, but I don't think he's been better than Randy Moss. I know he has 102 receptions and 1071 yards through 14 games, but Randy Moss should have his spot. Welker's stats thrive because defenses have to dedicate so much attention to Moss. If defenses were to swarm Welker instead, Moss's numbers would be overwhelming. Moss's value is higher to the Patriots, and so he should be in the Pro Bowl.

Replace Welker: 102 receptions, 1071 yards, 1 TD
with Moss: 66 receptions, 908 yards, 10 TDs4. Le'Ron McClain
He's the AFC fullback, but he's only a pro bowl selection because of what he has done as a running back. That's not right. Replace him with his teammate Lorenzo Neal, the best fullback.

Replace McClain
with Lorenzo Neal

3. Ronnie Brown
Ronnie Brown has had a great season and his comeback is one of the biggest reasons for the Dolphin's turnaround this season, but he has not been the AFC's 3rd best running back. That honor should go to Steve Slaton or Ladainian Tomlinson. Both those players have more rushing yards, receptions, and receiving yards, and only 1 less touchdown than Ronnie Brown. Defenses also must dedicate themselves to stopping LT, and this opens up things for Rivers.

Replace Ronnie Brown: 195 att, 827 yrds, 4.2 avg, 10 TD, 24 rec, 218 yrds, 1 Fumble, 1 Lost
with Slaton: 230 att, 1124 yrds, 4.9 avg, 9 TD (1 rec), 40 rec, 305 yrds, 2 Fumble, 1 Lost
or LT: 257 att, 924 yrds, 3.6 avg, 9 TD (1 rec), 50 rec, 406 yrds, 1 Fumble, 0 Lost
2. Brett Favre
Brett Favre is a Hall of Fame quarterback, but this is not one of his better seasons. The Jets are 9-5, and I understand they were 4-12 last year, but I would be cautious to give Favre too much credit for this reversal. Keep in mind this team was 10-6 two years ago, 4-12 three years ago, and 10-6 4 years ago, 6-10 5 years ago, 9-7 6 years ago (when they won the division). Last year was more of an abberration in which Jonathan Vilma missed half the season and the Jets had no quarterback.

We can conclude that Favre was better than the combination of Pennington/Clemens last year, but a lot of quarterbacks would have been better than that. Fact is, this team relies on its running game and Favre has thrown 17 interceptions already this season.

Philip Rivers, on the other hand, has posted outstanding numbers to lift San Diego's offense despite the loss of Lorenzo Neal and San Diego's running game. He's the top-rated passer in the league and has made a star out of Vincent Jackson.

Replace Favre: 86.5 QBRating, 3052 yards, 67.6 completion percentage, 6.8 Y/A, 21 TD, 17 INT
with Rivers: 101.4 QBRating, 3513 yards, 64.6 completion percentage, 8.2 Y/A, 28 TD, 11 INT

1. Eli Manning
The Giants solid defense and running game are bringing Eli Manning along for the ride, and yet Eli receives all the credit for the Giants record. Look what happened against Dallas without Plaxico and Brandon Jacobs. To say the Giants' offense has been ineffective the last two games would be a compliment, and hopefully those who thought Eli was deserving of the MVP award this season have shut up. Eli Manning was sacked 8 times against Dallas, and many of those sacks could be blamed on him holding the ball.

Eli Manning is not what makes the Giants' offense run, and certainly not why the team wins. Instead, replace Manning with Tony Romo.

Romo did throw a late pick against Pittsburgh that lost the game, but he's really been having an outstanding season. Without Romo, the Cowboys got pummeled by the Rams. With Romo, the Cowboys are again a feared and dangerous team. Romo's ability to keep his cool and thus to keep his offense together, despite Ed Werder and T.O., shows that off the field Romo is a great leader.

PLEASE Replace: Eli: 86.4 QBRating, 2938 yards, 60.3 completion percentage, 6.8 Y/A, 20 TD, 10 INT
with Romo: 98.3 QBRating, 3013 yards (missed 3 games), 63.1 completion percentage, 8.2 Y/A, 24 TD, 11 INT
OTHER
Gostkowski received a well-deserved Pro Bowl nod. Something has to be said when somebody steps in for a Hall of Fame, beloved kicked like Adam Vinatieri and makes it a smooth transition.

It's good to see Nnamdi Asomugha be a Pro Bowl starter this year (last year only a reserve). He is well known to be the best cornerback in the league, and unfortunately has to play in Oakland. Last season, quarterbacks were so scared to throw it at him that he was only thrown at 31 times (!), allowing 10 completions. So far this year he has only allowed 8 completions. He's not going to have huge interception totals, because people are too scared to throw the ball at him! If he gets snubbed from the NFL All-Pro team again this year, it would be a great injustice. It's sad that great players such as Asomugha can be unheralded because they play for bad teams, while mediocre players (ahem Eli Manning) can become stars because they play for great ones.
It's unforunate that the NFC can't have a 5th WR spot to allow Calvin Johnson to become a pro bowler. It's amazing what he is doing despite drawing constant double coverage and playing for Detroit's offense, which averages the 4th fewest yards/game in the league.