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The Baltimore Ravens are back to their winning ways after dispatching the Jacksonville Jaguars this past Sunday amidst a 40-14 win. The good news has kept rolling in since though, as the NFL’s Pro Bowl rosters were officially announced, with Baltimore sending seven of their own to represent the AFC:
Congrats to our Pro Bowlers‼️ @jtuck9 @CalaisCampbell @PRic508 @morgancox46 @marlon_humphrey @ZEUS__78 pic.twitter.com/bItXuREYLl
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) December 22, 2020
It’s nice to see Baltimore send seven players after a tough stretch of play this season that left many rightly wondering if they would come close to that number, though the selections themselves (and the lack of other players being selected) will leave some scratching their heads. As much as Matt Judon and Calais Campbell are integral parts to this defense, neither have had the consistently dominant type of seasons that they were hoping for, with Judon himself saying as much in response to being selected:
Matthew Judon: "Honestly, I didn't have the numbers or production like last yr when I went to my first PB, so the amount of excitement, surprise and happiness that rushed in when I got the news ... I could have done jumping jacks all around the house."
— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) December 22, 2020
Marlon Humphrey and Orlando Brown Jr. are both good choices, with the latter being one that you might not have expected the voters to take notice of after a position change midseason — but he’s certainly earned the accolade after shifting from the right to the left and keeping things stable in Ronnie Stanley’s absence.
Morgan Cox and Pat Ricard almost make the list by default as the best at their positions, though the same would hopefully be said about Justin Tucker to an even higher degree every year and as we’ve learned, that isn’t always the case.
As far as snubs go, there isn’t too much to complain about, but Mark Andrews and Marcus Peters getting a little bit of love would’ve been nice to see. And, of course, Lamar Jackson who’s presumably being left off of this list in favor of Deshaun Watson, who finished third in AFC QB voting behind Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. Watson’s passing stats are slightly better than Lamar’s, but Baltimore’s QB has better rushing stats by a decent margin, and plays for a team that’s in the AFC playoff mix, unlike Houston at 4-10.
Regardless, it’s not worth getting worked up over, as we re-learn each year that there doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason to Pro Bowl voting, though it is a fun exercise.
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