Pro Bowl 2012: AFC Takes Out NFC In A Thrilling Grudge Match, 59-41

And the NFL isn’t like MLB where the all-star game actually means something (home field advantage in the World Series). Instead, the only thing motivating players to actually play hard is money.

The players from the winning team, which was the AFC in this case, pulled home an extra $50,000, while the players from the losing team received $25,000.

Football is a contact sport with lots of injuries so we’ll never have a Pro Bowl that actually demonstrates good football fundamentals -- players take it easy to avoid injury -- but a player like Marshall scoring four touchdowns is a good consolation.

Check out SB Nation’s The Phinsider, where they’re talking about Marshall’s record-setting Pro Bowl performance.

GIFs after the jump.

Looks like Brees will just have to fall back on that “is a quarterback who threw for more yards in a season than anyone else in NFL history” thing!

With a 59-41 victory at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, AFC set a new record for points by a single team in a Pro Bowl and torched the NFC to even the all-time series in the NFL’s all-star game.

The AFC scored 21 straight points in the fourth quarter to break the previous record for points by a team, set by the AFC team that scored 55 in a 55-52 shootout in the 2004 Pro Bowl. The AFC and NFC combined for the most total yards in the game’s history.

In the third quarter of the 2012 NFL Pro Bowl, some exciting football broke out for a bit, largely in spite of itself. Despite the players’ best effort to plod through the entire event, the action picked up quite a bit after halftime.

For updates leading up to the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl, stick with SB Nation’s NFL hub.

The 2012 Pro Bowl has been an exercise in moderate shoving, half-pace scrambling and when you should attempt an onside kick (every other time). Along the way, some teams have scored and some players have made some plays. Occasionally, both of those things happened at the same time.

For updates leading up to the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl, stick with SB Nation’s NFL hub.

If you’re one of the nine people on the face of the Earth watching the Pro Bowl and hoping for a close game in Honolulu, the halftime score of the game should be good news: the AFC and NFC all-star teams are tied at 28-28 after two quarters of play.

Defense, as you might imagine, has been perfunctory at best, despite the NFC line’s attempts to at least do amusing things. Surely, that will change in the second half, as players risking injury with nothing whatsoever at stake decide to put themselves in harm’s way anyway. (That’s not actually going to happen.)

This isn’t my idea, but it’s absolutely brilliant and needs to be put into place. Michael Felder, of In The Bleachers and TV show live-tweeting fame, has a plan to fix the Pro Bowl. His plan is, in my own estimation, flawless and needs to be enacted as soon as possible. Like, it should be done at halftime, if at all possible.

Maybe it’s just me pining for the days of old, but I miss Rock ‘N Jock. And turning the Pro Bowl into Rock N Jock would be the best idea. Thanks to the magic of Twitter, the pieces are already in place here.

This is what we’ve been reduced to in the Pro Bowl. Things are happening and touchdowns are being scored, sure, but this was one of the more entertaining moments. Linemen doing monkey rolls to shift pre-snap? Count me in, please.

Here’s Jared Allen with the roll and Justin Smith showing off his hops.

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The 2012 Pro Bowl is underway from Aloha Stadium in Hawaii. After the first quarter of play, the score is tied 14-14 between the AFC and NFC teams.

The game didn’t get off to an especially thrilling start, with the players appearing to move at half-speed. One early run by NFC running back LeSean McCoy actually drew boos from the crowd in attendance for its lack of effort.

That’s it. Just a few minutes into the Pro Bowl and we already have our second “oh, just forget it” moment. The first was this one. The second came on an interception by Clay Matthews, followed by a couple laterals, one of which went the wrong way, giving the offense the ball back. This is the Pro Bowl in a nutshell.

Here’s the mistake-filled, odd sequence. We’ve set it to music which fits the situation.

I don’t hold any false illusions about what the Pro Bowl is. There’s computer banks on the sidelines, it’s in Hawaii and we all know exactly what we’re getting into. This is not professional football, but more what you’d see during a semi-competitive game of pickup flag football.

But come on, this is ridiculous. This was an actual play, run at “full speed.”

The 2012 Pro Bowl will be taking place on Sunday evening from Aloha Stadium in Hawaii. The annual NFL All-Star game will pit AFC and NFC teams against one another for one final football event before Super Bowl XLVI.

Although the players will be wearing unified jerseys (red for AFC, blue for NFC), it appears that each player will be wearing colorful cleats that are specific to the individual player’s own team.

The 2012 Pro Bowl will kick off on Sunday night and, while the outcome in all-star games typically doesn’t matter to the casual fan, the NFL has attempted to make sure that the players will play to win. The league will pay $50,000 to each player on the winning team while the losers take home $25,000 as a nice participation bonus.

The players commented on just how important winning is while talking to NFL.com on Saturday.

The 2012 Pro Bowl will take place at Aloha Stadium in Hawaii on Sunday, January 29. The annual All-Star game nicely bridges the gap between the final round of playoffs and Super Bowl XLVI, so NFL fans don’t have to spend a week without football.

During practices this week, the AFC and NFC players took the time to model the 2012 Pro Bowl uniforms for their respective teams. Since the game takes place in Hawaii and the NFL doesn’t for one second want you to forget that, there were the requisite floral leis and hula dancer-esque models, also decked out in the team colors. Cam Newton in particular seemed to be having an especially good time.

The 2012 NFL Pro Bowl will take place on Sunday, January 29. The annual football All-Star competition will take place in Aloha Stadium in Hawaii.

Time: Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM EST on Sunday.

Kubiak brings Offensive Coordinator Rick Dennison and Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips with him to run the respective units.

For updates leading up to the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl, keep it with SB Nation’s NFL hub.

A select number of the NFL’s best players will be making a trip to Hawaii to participate in this Sunday’s AFC-NFC Pro Bowl. However, it’s not just the players who get rewarded for good seasons, some of the league’s top coaches get the chance to be there as well.

For updates leading up to the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl, keep it with SB Nation’s NFL hub.

The NFL’s best players will be making a trip to Hawaii to participate in this Sunday’s AFC-NFC Pro Bowl. The NFC will field an impressive array of all-stars.

The selected NFC starting defense won’t be undergoing a whole lot of changes, with Rogers the lone honoree to bow out of the contest. The 49ers will still have a presence on the unit, however, with disruptive tackle Justin Smith (58 tackles, 7.5 sacks) and inside linebacker Patrick Willis (97 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 INT) each receiving well-deserved citations for their contributions to one of the NFL’s stingiest defenses in 2011.

A select number of the NFL’s best players will be making a trip to Hawaii to participate in this Sunday’s AFC-NFC Pro Bowl, though the league’s annual all-star game will be lacking some of its star power once again due to a variety of factors.

For updates leading up to the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl, keep it with SB Nation’s NFL hub.

It’s pretty impossible to not like Cam Newton. In addition to his play on the field -- he was very, very good this year, if you missed it -- Newton has a personality that just makes him a star. For example...

Sideways hat, leggings, shorts pulled way up. Yep, it’s awesome.