The NFL’s Pro Bowl week will look very different this year.
Instead of a traditional tackle game, the league announced the four-day event will have a series of skill competitions as well as three flag football games between AFC and NFC players on Feb. 2-5 in Las Vegas.
This year’s event, now dubbed the Pro Bowl Games, consists of several skills challenges that include dodgeball, the longest drive and best catch as well as the trio of flag football games. However, the skills competitions between both conferences and the first two flag football games will be calculated cumulatively ahead of the last flag football game between the two sides.
The number of points from each conference will be incorporated as the starting score in the final flag football game. The winner of the last flag football game will be considered the champion of the 2023 Pro Bowl Games.
The skills competitions include epic Pro Bowl dodgeball, the lightning round, the longest drive, precision passing, best catch, gridiron gauntlet, kick tack toe and move the chains. Epic Pro Bowl dodgeball will consist of four teams of five players competing in a multi-round tournament, ending with a clash between the AFC and NFC. The winners will earn three points for their respective conference.
In the lightning round, both conferences will select 16 players to participate in a three-part elimination challenge, allowing players to put their skills to the test while fielding punts and catching water balloons. The longest drive will consist of four NFC and AFC players competing to see who can drive a golf ball the farthest.
In precision passing, three quarterbacks from each conference will compete in a one-minute accuracy competition and gain points based on the number of targets they hit. Best catch, a competition with two different rounds, calls for two players from each conference competing to see who can make the best reception, putting emphasis on creativity, inventiveness and talent.
In the first round on Feb. 2, players will show off their best receptions in highlight reels at different venues across Las Vegas. Fans will then vote to determine their favorite catch by a player from each conference, and the players with the highest number of votes will compete in the finals on Feb. 5 in front of a panel of high-profile judges.
Gridiron gauntlet will allow six players from each conference to compete in a side-by-side relay race through an obstacle course, showcasing strength, speed and agility. Kick tack toe calls for each team’s kicker, punter and long snapper to face off in an oversized tic-tac-toe competition, while the move the chains will consist of two teams of five players pulling a weighted wall 10 yards as quickly as possible using first-down chains.
Both conferences will also have a head coach as well as offensive and defensive coordinators. Peyton Manning will serve as the AFC’s head coach, while Diana Flores and Ray Lewis will serve as the conference’s offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively. Eli Manning will lead the NFC side, with Vanita Krouch as offensive coordinator and Demarcus Ware as defensive coordinator.
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