Pro Bowl 'Open Thread'

However, the are no players representing the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers in this game, despite a bunch of guys on both teams who were selected in the voting by fans, players and coaches. These two teams are preparing to head to New Orleans tomorrow for Super Bowl XLVII.

The fact that this game is played between the two conference championship games and the Super Bowl is meant to give fans their weekly dose of football that otherwise would be missing. However, the game you will be watching is far from a "real" football game and may be about to become a distant memory if things turn out the same way as it has the past few years.

The Pro Bowl has always been more of an offensive show, as players do not want to hit or be hit and therefore risk unnecessary injury. Scores were regularly in the 30's and 40's and on two occasions in 1999 and 2003, the winning team topped the 50-point barrier. Things "settled" down to more reasonable offensive showings from 2004 through 2009, with the winners scoring in the 20's and 30's, but only twice breaking the 40-point barrier in those six years.

However, that all changed in the past two games with the winning teams scoring over 50 points and even the losers scoring over 40 points. Even NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell thinks the players need to take the game more seriously and put forth a better effort. However, the players will determine the level of output and will continue to look at the game as an offensive exhibition ad thus, the concern that it has deteriorated to nothing more than that.

A skills competition similar to what is done prior to the NBA or NHL All-Star Games as well as something akin to the MLB Home Run Hitting Contest might end up being the better option in the future. Thus, for one more time, at least, sit back, enjoy the fireworks and post your comments below in this 'Open Thread' on the future of the game as well as the game itself.