Minnesota Vikings put on a show in Pro Bowl
Although it was not the game the fans wanted to see their favorite Minnesota Vikings in, they performed exceedingly well in this year’s NFL Pro Bowl.
The rules of the game and the way the the Pro Bowl is contested, typically makes for a potent offensive high scoring affair. This year however, the Pro Bowl had a much different feel in both the competitive nature and the defensive mindset.
Most fans may attribute the competitive spirit to a return to the traditional Pro Bowl format and the enlarged payday the victors would receive, but Vikings’ fans know better. The Vikings had five of their best and brightest defensive stars shining on the NFC’s defense. Although the NFC walked away with a 20-13 loss and a smaller payout, the low score was in large part to what the Vikings’ representatives contributed to the game.
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Everson Griffen made good on his promise of being worthy of the Defensive MVP Award to Jon Gruden by wreaking havoc all night. Griffen finished the game with eight tackles, three sacks while applying pressure to AFC quarterbacks for most of the night. At least one of the NFC’s other sacks were because the opposing quarterback felt pressure from Griffen.
Harrison Smith finished second for the NFC with five tackles and was a major reason the NFC only gave up two touchdowns. Smith did, however, get beat by Travis Kelce on a well designed play that resulted in a touchdown for the AFC.
Xavier Rhodes did not see much action on his side of the field but did break up a nice pass attempt from Alex Smith to T.Y. Hilton. Hilton executed a nice double move but Rhodes sat on it perfectly and made an acrobatic stretch to knock the ball away from the Colts’ Pro Bowl receiver.
Linval Joseph and Anthony Barr combined for four tackles on the night, but their most memorable play came on a tackle where they combined with Griffen to turn Jay Ajayi into Superman. The best part of the light-hearted defensive play came at the end when Joseph and Griffen both let go of Ajayi at the same time.
Another great moment of the game happened when Richard Sherman intercepted a pass and received blocking help from Smith, Rhodes and Griffen on the return.
Cordarrelle Patterson was unable to provide any fireworks as a return-man but did make one reception on offense. Patterson did provide some very welcomed laughs on the sideline by being his normal joking self though.
The Pro Bowl provided Vikings’ fans with a great gauge as to what type of players they got to watch every Sunday. Telling by how the players performed and how they conducted themselves on the sideline, during their free time and practices, fans should be proud to call all six “their guys.”
— Justin Ekstrom can be followed on Twitter @thesportscrib21 and really enjoyed the Pro Bowl this year. Hopefully the NFL can continue to make the much maligned game better every year. Be sure to catch all the Vikings’ offseason news and notes. Don’t forget to like and follow vikings32 on Facebook and Twitter.
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