Pro Bowl Skills Showdown live stream: How to watch NFL’s latest all-star event online

The 2018 Pro Bowl is still a few days away, but as far as we’re concerned, the real main event is Thursday when the players take part in the Skills Showdown. The annual showcase of dodgeball, relay races, and general wackiness begins at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN (live stream at WatchESPN).

To spice things up during the week of the Pro Bowl, the NFL brought back the skills competition last year. It was a big success and exactly the breath of fresh air the Pro Bowl needed. Now it returns in 2018, with action that promises to be more intriguing than Sunday’s exhibition game.

Players like Von Miller, Keenan Allen, Michael Thomas, Patrick Peterson, Kareem Hunt, and Russell Wilson will be competing in the games.

This year’s events include the following:

A drone carries a football high in the air, drops it over the field, and players must try to catch it. It’s as cool as it sounds and leads to some fantastic camera angles:

The quarterbacks compete to see who can make the most accurate passes, hitting targets from various sizes and distances.

Receivers have to catch footballs from different angles and points on the field, including one-handed, over-the-shoulder, and diving catches. Think of it as the football version of H-O-R-S-E.

This is a relay race with five players from each team. Some of the challenges include a 40-yard dash with a parachute attached to the players’ backs, which should make for some entertaining TV.

The obligatory kickers challenge, this game involves players not only drilling field goals but attempting to hit marked targets inside the uprights.

IT’S DODGEBALL.

The Skills Showdown has already become must-see TV, so here’s hoping the 2018 version lives up to the hype.