Goose Picks'em: Pro Bowl Week

Every weekend in this postseason, I have batted .500 on my picks. I guarantee that's not going to happen this week--mainly because there is only one game. The real question is, will I be 100 percent for the week, or zero?

The only game this weekend is the Pro Bowl, being included as part of the Super Bowl festivities in Miami this year. So it's AFC versus the NFC, who's going to take it home?

NFC over AFC

I always want to root for the AFC in this thing, and I would be picking them to win it under the old rules, but this year there is a new rule that provides a wrinkle in the competition that must be addressed. Under the old Pro Bowl rules, the losing coaches in the AFC and NFC Championship Games would coach their respective conference in the Pro Bowl. That would give us an AFC headed by Rex Ryan and an NFC coached by Brad Childress. In that scenario, I like the AFC as it has a much better running game--Chris Johnson, Maurice Jones-Drew and Ray Rice--that would be utilized quite well by the guy who coached the league's number one rushing attack, and I also think that Brad Childress is vastly overrated. However, our coaches this year are going to be Norv Turner for the AFC and Wade Phillips for the NFC. Now don't get me wrong, I don't think that Phillips is a much better coach than Turner--I actually think they are both about the same--but Turner ran the second worst running offense in the league this season and he'll have David Garrard as his 4^th quarter Quarterback. That will be interesting.

                                Another surprise rule change: Sombreros replacing helmets   

Suicide Pool Pick 'o the Week: Really? Uhh... NFC over AFC?

Last Week: 1-1

Season: 5-5

Peyton Manning Award for Best Performance, Championship Weekend:

This is the first time in the history of ever that Peyton Manning has led a team to the Super Bowl after having a first round bye in the playoffs. For getting over this hump, he wins Peyton Manning Award for Best Performance for the Championship Weekend.

Random Thoughts for Pro Bowl Weekend:

• This year marks big changes in the Pro Bowl. As you probably already know, it used to be the weekend after the Super Bowl, in Hawaii and nobody who wasn't going to it really cared. Now that they have moved it to the week before the Super Bowl--where we would typically have a week without football--in the same city as the Super Bowl everything seems great. I had been hoping that they would make this change for a while, but now that they have, there are still some issues that may need to be fixed.

• Many of the players are complaining about the location of the game. While Miami is nice, I can imagine why a player might be upset that he doesn't get a free trip to Hawaii just like every Pro Bowl player has since 1980. Some people wonder why the game has been moved, but what it boils down to is the same reason the Super Bowl is rarely held in a cold weather city. Hosting the Super Bowl is more than getting the biggest game, it also means a week's worth of lead-up, press events and tourism boosts for your city. By adding the Pro Bowl into this, you can extend that lead-up by another week to make even more money for the city in question. It makes hosting the Super Bowl an even bigger deal and financial boost for the host city and will hopefully result in the game being spread around more cities. Additionally, I am hoping this change now allows Hawaii to host the Super Bowl someday because, come on, that would be awesome.

                                          Hawaii: It's just awesome

• Another issue with the new Pro Bowl format is that the players in the Super Bowl are exempt from playing though they are still required to be at the game. This is because it would be unfair to their teams for them to risk injury and spend time practicing for the Pro Bowl when the Super Bowl is looming, yet it would also be unfair to the fans for their favorite players to not be present at the game. This seems like an amicable resolution, but it does result in some players making it into the Pro Bowl as fourth or fifth alternates that are real head scratchers--David Garrard and Vince Young anyone?

• Speaking of two guys who shouldn't be in the Pro Bowl, the NFC seems to have a big advantage at QB--Rodgers, McNabb and Romo versus the AFC's Schaub, Young and Garrard--and a pretty good pass rush. The AFC looks to have the advantage on running backs, wide receivers and defensive backs. In any case, I think it should be a good one this year but expect the NFC to air it out to any part of the field that isn't being covered by Darelle Revis.

• With so many alternates making the game is there still a Pro Bowl snub? Answer: Yes. I think that once Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis had to pull out from the AFC because of the Super Bowl, Buffalo Bills DE Aaron Schobel should have gotten in. Now, as I am originally from Upstate New York, you may want to accuse me of homerism, but please consider the stats first. Schobel had 56 tackles and ten sacks this season. Freeney had 24 tackles as well as 13.5 sacks. Mathis had 37 tackles and 9.5 sacks. So it's fine by me that both of them made it in ahead of Schobel--Mathis doesn't have the stats but is more of a game changer then Schobel--but how about their replacements? Mario Williams didn't have as good of a year as we are used to from him, but still got 43 tackles and 9 sacks, while Kyle Vanden Bosch had 44 tackles and a mind bogglingly low three sacks--tied for 66^th in the league. So why is Vanden Bosch in the Pro Bowl again?

• What's your favorite Pro Bowl moment? I expect some good ones this year as Chad Ochocinco is one of the most entertaining and funny players in the NFL, but my favorite was the Skills Challenge from the 2006 Pro Bowl. It was an obstacle course designed to test various NFL skills and the players involved were Darren Sharper, Koren Robinson, Larry Johnson, Cato June, Shawne Merriman, Jason Witten, Tommie Harris and Brian Moorman. Moorman is, of course, a punter. He actually did quite well and also competed in the fastest man contest that year. Seeing players try new things and goof around with other hugely talented players is what I love about the Pro Bowl.

                                      And when Goose says "hugely talented" he means this guy

• While Lance Briggs is not going to play due to injury this weekend, Bear's rookie Johnny Knox has been entered in as the kick returner for the NFC. In a year where we in Chicago are struggling to come up with positives about our beloved Bears, I love that the fifth round pick is making the game in his rookie year. Knox was a surprise for the Bears and had a great year. I'm hoping he takes one to this house on Sunday.