Author: Christina Tina Rivers

The NFL may have just killed-off the Pro Bowl forever

In the past few years, fans of the National Football League – who vote for players to be sent to the annual All-Star game, now games – have become disillusioned by how the league has taken away what used to be an honor: being named a Pro Bowler. With recent changes for the upcoming Pro Bowl Games, the NFL may have just killed-off any hopes of resurrection of fan interest, and investment, in what has become more of an exhibition of silliness rather real competition.

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The changes that led up to current disaster

Longtime NFL fans remember when players named to the Pro Bowl used to be the top stars among all players in the league. It was a badge of honor to have Pro Bowlers on the historical record of teams. Those days, sadly, are gone.

When the league decided to make the event a skills competition (try not to smirk) as players casually got together like they were at a backyard picnic, adding a flag football game as an event screamed of unseriousness. As Joe Kuzma wrote in 2023:

“Fans still panned the game, which saw all of the Super Bowl participants bow out now… Less than worthy alternates filled in for those star players, as the game continued to devolve into anything but a competition.”

Why the league continues to ask fans to vote when the players they vote for often choose not to show up is even more discouraging. It undermines the whole point: sending players to an event with any real meaning. And, it’s not lost on fans that the process has become something of a sham.

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A final death toll?

The bell may have just rung the loudest it ever has as teams began announcing that replacements were being sent in place of others who had opted out, and the opt-outs  weren’t just players who were headed to the Super Bowl who were preparing for the big game.

The latest drop-out, Lamar Jackson, just lost a playoff game and remains in the running for NFL MVP for the 2024 NFL season. In his stead, the league chose Russell Wilson. That’s fun for Wilson fans (some who will also be Pittsburgh Steelers backers), but it has fans – in general – asking how he was selected over other potential quarterbacks. The AFC will now be represented by Wilson, Joe Burrow, and Drake Maye.

Maye started in 12 games for the New England Patriots went 3-9 with him at quarterback; his rank among all NFL QBs (2024 regular season) 17th per ESPN stats. Burrow ranked 3rd, which is respectable, but Wilson ranked 22nd.

Did fan voting totals factor into how the replacements are chosen? Did Wilson have more votes than Justin Herbert (rated 11th) for example? How exactly does the system even work anymore?

The original AFC Pro Bowl roster at quarterback was Josh Allen, Jackson, and Burrow, for perspective.

Every media outlet has been informed that the original roster should be considered in flux. That means it has become apparent that the NFL’s choices surrounding the All Star event aren’t transparent. The moves are alienating fans, by fans’ own admissions across social media, that they’re apt to just boycott the games to send a message to the league.

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The scheduled events are almost laughable

With Eli and Peyton Manning as the “coaches” representing the NFC and AFC, respectively, the first half of the week the “skill” competitions will take place. “The Big Spike” sounds like an attempt to imitate the NBA’s slam dunk competition, but is spiking a football a skill worth watching? What in the world is “Helmet Harmony”?! Will professional football players play a match game while holding a cold beer or singing Kumbaya? How are helmets harmonious? And let’s not forget “Satisfying Catches.” I think fans wish they could see more than just something satisfying at such a heralded event.

The second half of the festivities – that used to be a serious game of true All Stars battling for the chance to earn a win that mattered for their conference – will feature a game, at least. It will be a 7-on-7 flag football match, of course, where players dress in random attire (including sunglasses and sweats) and goof around. A win is like being the victor at the family Thanksgiving game after dinner at grandma and grandpa’s.

The EA Sports Madden NFL 25 Challenge, Punt Perfect, Great Football Race, and Tug-of-War round out the Pro Bowl Games this year.

Let’s just call the Pro Bowl Games what it truly has become: a chance for NFL players to hang out in a chill environment with other players and have a good time.

The NFL has not improved their image of competitive football with the switch between what the Pro Bowl was to what the Pro Bowl Games are. They’ve come up with a gimmick, and fans aren’t pleased.

The NFL may have just killed-off the Pro Bowl forever appeared first on Steel City Underground.

Takeaways: Chiefs, Eagles secure Super Bowl spots

Another weekend of football in the National Football League, another weekend Pittsburgh Steelers fans had to choose who else to cheer for. The AFC and NFC championship games offered plenty for Steelers fans to wager over as they bemoaned the state of their own team’s current status. We offer our takeaways as the Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs walked away as their division’s champions, respectively, en route to Super Bowl LIX.

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Chiefs fend off the Bills

For the Chiefs, things couldn’t have gone better unless the NFL was scripted – which many fans have actively proposed with crazy calls going in favor of Kansas City during the 2024 NFL season. Foil hat craziness, or not, officiating in the league has been under heavy scrutiny throughout the past few seasons, so we’ll put pettiness aside. Are you ready for another Taylor Swift montage of coverage? Yeah, we’ll spare you that as well.

Andy Reid has found a winning formula for Kansas City despite coaching a team that won 17 straight games decided by one score or less when they held on to fend off Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills on Sunday. Although they led 21-10 late in the first haf, the Bills rallied to go up 22-21 by the end of the third quarter. As they have throughout the season, Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes rallied late in the game to score 11 points and take the AFC. Harrison Butker kicked a 35-yard field goal that gave the Chiefs the 32-29 lead that they were able to hold onto until the game clock hit zero.

One of our biggest takeaways from this game was that just one week removed from a big game against the Houston Texans, Travis Kelce recorded just two receptions for 19 yards. Receivers Justin Watson, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Hollywood Brown, and Xavier Worthy worked the Bills defense over, instead. Brown and Smith-Schuster had just five catches combined, but those plays resulted in 95 yards of positive offense.

As for the Bills, they failed to get James Cook off to a hot start and that put their defense back onto the field too often in the opening half. Cook did find the end zone twice and had 85 yards in the game. The Bills defense wasn’t at full strength without safety Taylor Rapp (out due to a hip and back injury) and suffered when cornerback Christian Benford had to leave the game due to a first quarter concussion.

Our second biggest takeaway was that Buffalo was just sloppy with the ball. Allen threw two near-interception passes and fumbled the ball three times (and recovered them). Ray Davis also fumbled a carry he was able to recover. They were costly errors that affected game flow and were only shown-up by the special teams unit allowing a 41-yard punt return that set up a Chiefs touchdown.

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Eagles rout the Commanders

We all know what Jaylen Hurts is capable of at quarterback, but add “unselfish” to the list of traits. Getting back to the ground game was key to the win over Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders as Saquon Barkley put on a clinic. Barkley ripped off a 60-yard run on Philadelphia’s first offensive series and tacked on three touchdown. Hurts, who didn’t appear to have issues with a left knee injury on his way to three rushing touchdowns and one through the air.

As a rookie, Daniels had an impressive regular season and postseason. On Sunday, his heroics couldn’t save the Commanders from defeat, though, due to four turnovers that dug too deep of a hole. He threw for 255 yards and a touchdown and ran one ball into the end zone, posting 48 yards rushing in the game.

Marshon Lattimore was a liability in coverage for Washington’s defense; he was beaten several times and had an on-field meltdown. Adding insult to injury, teammate Dyami Brown fumbled after a catch at the Commanders 48-yard line that allowed the Eagles to set up a touchdown for a lead Washington had to chase for the remainder of the game.

As for defense, it was Philly who was more dominant – a step up that made their victory a compete team win. Washington, who’d forced five turnovers against the Detroit Lions to advance, earned zero takeaways and forced just two punts. Unable to stop the run, the Commanders lost their opportunity to be victorious.

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Who will Steelers fans choose to win the Super Bowl?

This matchup between the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs and that “other team in Pennsylvania” – Philadelphia Eagles – may have Steelers fans split in who they cheer-on in the big game.

As fans of a team that has experienced a dynasty, the loyal black and gold may hold an affinity towards the Eagles knocking the Chiefs – representing the AFC conference – down a peg.

Then again, there’s little love between Steelers fans and the Eagles – even if, at one time, the two teams combined in NFL history to be the “Steagles.” Pittsburgh prefers being the big brother when it comes to the in-state rivalry.

Stay tuned to our coverage leading up to Super Bowl LIX (such an unfortunately awkward number) to get updates on that game and other Steelers-related content.

Takeaways: Chiefs, Eagles secure Super Bowl spots appeared first on Steel City Underground.

Takeaways: Divisional Round surprises set up AFC, NFC title games

Although Pittsburgh Steelers fans didn’t get to enjoy watching their team in the Divisional Round of the 2024 NFL playoffs over the weekend, they did get the opportunity to watch the Baltimore Ravens fail to advance; the same team that knocked the black and gold out of contention. Meanwhile, the Washington Commanders may have been the most surprising victors in the league to move to the Championship Round. We offer our takeaways from the Divisional Round and how surprises set up the AFC and NFC title games.

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Takeaways from the AFC

The play everyone was talking about following the Ravens’ two-point loss to the Buffalo Bills was the Mark Andrews drop that prevented Baltimore from tying the score in the final minutes of their game. The other chatter surrounded questions as to whether Lamar Jackson‘s two turnovers to the Bills may have moved the presumptive nomination for him being named NFL MVP for 2024 to Bills quarterback Josh Allen, instead.

“Tonight — the turnovers. We can’t have that s—, you know? And that’s why we lost the game,” he told reporters. “As you could see, (we were) moving the ball wonderfully. Hold on to the f—ing ball. Sorry for my language,” Jackson said in the postgame interview.

Baltimore took the lead early, but after settling for short field goals and giving the ball away three times -despite wearing down the Bills defense and enduring a change in weather conditions – they were in a difficult situation to post a win, even though they nearly got there. Thanks to the play of Bills linebackers Matt Milano and Terrel Bernard, Buffalo checked the run game and made game-changing plays.

Allen, who was tasked with carrying the Bills offense with his legs and throwing arm, will now get another opportunity to go head-to-head with Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs.

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The Chiefs utilized second-half magic to pull away from the Houston Texans in their game over the weekend. And while teams creating dynasties generally upset the balance of fanbases across the league, Kansas City was the benefactor of at least one questionable call that drew ire from fans – not just those supporting the Texans.

Houston became the team known for being the first in NFL postseason history to outgain their opponent by 100 yards, give away zero turnovers, yet still lose the game. Prior to C.J. Stroud and the Texans truly challenging a Chiefs team that played a mediocre game, teams in the playoffs that had out-gained their opponents by the same margin had a win-loss record of 49-0.

The Bills and Chiefs will meet for the second time in the AFC Championship game (fourth postseason meeting) where the Buffalo has a notch in their belt for beating Kansas City during the regular season and holding a 3-1 record in their favor during their last head-to-head games.

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Takeaways from the NFC

Not many NFL insiders would have gambled on the Washington Commanders being able to shut down Jared Goff and the Detroit Lions offense for a big win, but that’s exactly what happened. Despite allowing 201 rushing yards and three touchdowns, the Commanders defense grabbed five turnovers in their matchup.

Jayden Daniels didn’t let the atmosphere in Detroit destroy his composure as he picked-away at the Lions’ injury-riddled defense. The rookie’s 271 combined passing and rushing yards were the most in the first half of an NFL playoff game since Tom Brady‘s 282 (in Super Bowl LII).

Despite their regular-season record, which wasn’t bad but had featured games that hadn’t gone quite to script, the Commanders took command of their fate and look ahead to the NFC Championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

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The Los Angeles Rams were somewhat of a surprise entry into the playoffs after an 11-8 regular season that had its ups and downs. They deserve credit for finding their rhythm in the second half of the game with the Eagles over the weekend, nearly pulling off the comeback in non-favorable weather conditions.

The Eagles leaned on Saquon Barkley after he gashed the Rams on a 62-yard touchdown run, but his 205 rushing yards came, mainly, on two big carries. The Rams held him to just 2.5 yards per carry on 24 other rushing attempts.

Despite sacking Jaylen Hurts seven times, the weather played a factor in how the Rams executed overall. Hurts had a 44-yard touchdown run to open the game but suffered a knee injury. His stat line wasn’t amazing, even though his grit was admirable as he remained in the game. Hurts completed 15 of 29 passes for 128 yards.

The Hurts vs Daniels QB battle should be a fun one to watch in the NFC Championship game should Hurts’ injury not hamper him leading up to the meeting.

Takeaways: Divisional Round surprises set up AFC, NFC title games appeared first on Steel City Underground.