2012 Pro Bowl: AFC Defeats NFC 59-41

by Jason Garrison on Jan 29, 2012 11:14 PM EST

The Cincinnati Enquirer's Joe Reedy summed up the Pro Bowl in a single tweet. He said, "There was just more action and intensity in that WWE pyrotechnics display than there was in the Pro Bowl."

He couldn't have been more right. We just got to watch an entire game of NFL players jogging around a field and hugging each other instead of tackling. And the NFL wonders why the Pro Bowl doesn't get high ratings.

There were, however, four Bengals playing in the Pro Bowl this year which made the most unbearable football game of the year somewhat watchable. A.J. Green, Andy Dalton, Jermaine Gresham and Geno Atkins suited up for the AFC team that won the game by scoring a record amount of points. All four Bengals made a contribution to the conference's 59-41 win.

A.J. Green was the only Bengals player to be voted into the Pro Bowl as a starter. He made his mark early in the game by scoring the AFC's first touchdown. He caught a 31-yard pass from the Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger in the first quarter to bring the AFC back within a touchdown of the NFC, who jumped out to a 14-0 lead. Green finished the game with two catches for 44 yards.

Jermaine Gresham, who made it to the Pro Bowl thanks to the Patriots' tight ends playing in the Super Bowl and Owen Daniels' injury, only caught one pass, which was thrown by Dalton, on the last play of the third quarter for 14 yards.

Dalton had a good game in Hawaii. He completed seven of his nine passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns. Both touchdown passes were thrown to Miami Dolphins wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who was named the Pro Bowl MVP, and Dalton's 152.5 passer rating was the highest of all six quarterbacks in the game.

Unfortunately, the play of the offensive and defensive line is completely different in the Pro Bowl as they play about half speed throughout the game, so Geno Atkins doesn't have outstanding stats, but he did make one tackle tonight.

Overall the Bengals, especially Dalton and Green, made an impact and helped the AFC win their second Pro Bowl in the last three years. It wasn't the most exciting game (it wasn't even close to anything resembling an exciting game) but football is football and I'll take it.

What were your thoughts on the 2012 Pro Bowl?

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Comments

First half absolutely sucked!!

Second half was much more bareable and actually kind of fun

by biggie22 on Jan 29, 2012 11:22 PM EST reply actions

Geno was the biggest playmaker on D if you ask me..

Pressures out the ass in the second half. And he set the tone with his first almost sack.

by Cry on Jan 29, 2012 11:43 PM EST reply actions

Agreed

He was double teamed a lot, and still made palys, and forced one of the few 3 and outs when he batted a Rodgers ball into the air, then Rodgers lost yards once he caught it.

It must be inordinately taxing to be such a boob. ~ The Brain

by jim0ijk on Jan 30, 2012 8:03 AM EST up reply actions

lol i wouldn't look into that too much, no one on the line on both sides were really playing hard for the most part

AMAS

by AMAS85 on Jan 30, 2012 10:27 AM EST up reply actions

Geoff Hobson @GeoffHobsonCin Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
Ray Lewis on #Bengals Dalton: “Love him. He’s a fighter.”

Change gone come mane! Trust me! Cause i Bleed tigerblood!--Jerome Simpson

by Grizzlyfox on Jan 29, 2012 11:46 PM EST reply actions

HaHa!

Geoff Hobson @GeoffHobsonCin
#Bengals Atkins says AFC cranked intensity after onside kicks: “Slap in the face.”

by Oregonbengalsfan on Jan 29, 2012 11:58 PM EST reply actions

And here is the shot of Tiffany

in the pregame show

by Oregonbengalsfan on Jan 30, 2012 12:03 AM EST reply actions 1 recs

who the hell was that singer?

was that the freecreditreport.com guy?

by indesignkat on Jan 30, 2012 12:56 AM EST up reply actions 4 recs

he could've seen this comin' at him like an atom bomb

"It’s time people started realizing just how good a player Carlos Dunlap already is, and that starts with the Bengals. They gave him a season-high 58 snaps and what was the result? Carnage on the right side of the Seattle line." -Pro Football Focus

by Doc Scratch on Jan 30, 2012 1:43 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs

notta clue

in my world, i only know him as “mute button.”

"the bengals are not a west of the 104 longitude team."

by palewook on Jan 30, 2012 9:00 AM EST up reply actions

There's a singer in that picture?

I only see Tiffany

by Oregonbengalsfan on Jan 30, 2012 12:00 PM EST up reply actions

broken image is broken

by Doc Scratch on Jan 30, 2012 1:42 AM EST up reply actions

better?

"the bengals are not a west of the 104 longitude team."

by palewook on Jan 30, 2012 8:59 AM EST up reply actions

Much

Thank you sir

AJ Green = Optimus Prime

by Helmsy on Jan 30, 2012 10:28 AM EST up reply actions

+1

by pemci on Jan 30, 2012 10:37 AM EST up reply actions

Had to turn it off

after I watched the first play from scrimmage. Can’t blame the players though for not wanting to risk injury in a meaningless game.

by donnyscott on Jan 30, 2012 7:58 AM EST reply actions

I watched some just to see our guys.........

and saw the NFC getting booed on their first possession of the game. They were running less than half speed. Would never want to pay money to go see that game.

"The next person you see that throws something, point em out! You don’t live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati!"
- Sam Wyche

by The Van Buren Boys on Jan 30, 2012 8:02 AM EST up reply actions

It got a lot more interesting

After the half… I think the onside kicks got under the AFC players skin a little bit. But I thought the play calling was great, it let Daltoon showcase what he’s good at managing the game.

AD to AJ = TD!!

by Toasted_Orange_Monster on Jan 30, 2012 8:13 AM EST via mobile up reply actions

Agreed, turned back over to see Andy in second half and the pace was better.....

did get to see AJ catch his TD. Gresham didn’t do much but seemed to be in almost the whole game. Really was expecting him to catch a TD on one of those red zone trips. Maybe it’s not just with us that he disappears?

"The next person you see that throws something, point em out! You don’t live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati!"
- Sam Wyche

by The Van Buren Boys on Jan 30, 2012 8:19 AM EST up reply actions

ashame to admit it

after watching the 1st half, i got involved in something else, forgot about the game for an hour then remembered and thought , “crap, i missed dalton, why bother to turn it back on now. only to suffer through the 4th quarter.”

"the bengals are not a west of the 104 longitude team."

by palewook on Jan 30, 2012 9:03 AM EST up reply actions

Cam looked like crap at the end of the game Dalton 7 for 9. 2 td and maybe 3 if aj didnt fumble.

The biggest thing ive notice between the two was poise. When they were booing him he bugged and lost it

by njbengalstat on Jan 30, 2012 8:07 AM EST reply actions

Was surprised seeing Newton playing like he did.......

then they just called some running plays for him to try and scramble for first downs. He just looked like he could’ve cared less though.

"The next person you see that throws something, point em out! You don’t live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati!"
- Sam Wyche

by The Van Buren Boys on Jan 30, 2012 8:20 AM EST up reply actions

Plus, Dalton also had a 152.1 passer rating....

by pemci on Jan 30, 2012 10:40 AM EST up reply actions

Dalton was there to win for sure, i think most of the veteran players werer there to have fun and get paid lol

AMAS

by AMAS85 on Jan 30, 2012 10:46 AM EST up reply actions

they might as well play this game as a flag football game, no one really wants to play hard except WRs lol

AMAS

by AMAS85 on Jan 30, 2012 10:28 AM EST reply actions

Couldn't Stomach the entire game..

…even with Dalton and the boys. Pro Bowl is a waste of 3 hours. I mean, the only good thing about this game is that it allowed me to skip Ambien for one night. Just awful.

by Who dey in LA on Jan 30, 2012 10:30 AM EST reply actions

pretty much, most players are their to collect thier checks and NOT get injured

and i guess to kick onside kicks, which i don’t mind because it keeps the game interesting. They should definately do more trick plays in the Pro bowl

AMAS

by AMAS85 on Jan 30, 2012 10:45 AM EST up reply actions

reedy gives aj and dalton some love for their probowl appearances

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/bengals/2012/01/29/greens-first-pro-bowl-reception-goes-for-td/

"the bengals are not a west of the 104 longitude team."

by palewook on Jan 30, 2012 10:34 AM EST reply actions

Just like his first catch in the NFL....

TD!

by pemci on Jan 30, 2012 10:41 AM EST up reply actions

I like that all four contributed.

They represented us well. Can’t say so much for some other teams players. I HATE the Pro Bowl as much as anyone, but I think our guys played to win, and that should earn them respect from fans of other teams. You may have paid to see Cam, but Andy is the one who made it worth your while.

by Ben-GAL on Jan 30, 2012 11:26 AM EST reply actions

+1

by pemci on Jan 30, 2012 11:40 AM EST up reply actions

I like how Cam played very very poorly after everyone blows sunshine up his ass.

The one catch that Steve Smith had was awesome, but it was nice to see the dline giving Newton some trouble. After he decided he wasn’t going to go down after being the pro bowl equivalent of sacked, and kept the play going, the Dline decided that he was an asshat and said let’s put him on the ground. I LOVED seeing the dline going after Newton full speed basically saying “If you’re gonna go full go and be a try hard then so are we… get comfy down there…” I think that was my favorite part of the game. Was actually very entertaining to see the Dline going after him full speed trying to make him pay for going 100% against 50% opponents on the dline.

by Luke on Jan 30, 2012 11:57 AM EST up reply actions

rather hard for geno to do much

the usefulness of the d-line in the probowl, yeah. cough.

"the bengals are not a west of the 104 longitude team."

by palewook on Jan 30, 2012 12:19 PM EST up reply actions

Seeing Marshall on the receiving end from Dalton was ambrosia

Go Reds!
(and gooooo krogering)

by supergrover on Jan 30, 2012 11:37 AM EST reply actions

Anyone catch...

…when the commentators on the game mentioned how the Bengals usually do poor in the draft but the last couple drafts have been outstanding, and they even gave MB credit??

by spif on Jan 30, 2012 3:45 PM EST reply actions