Patriots in the Pro Bowl

The Pro Bowl rosters are set. There are 4 Patriots on the AFC Pro Bowl roster:

• QB Tom Brady
• WR Wes Welker
• G Logan Mankins
• NT Vince Wilfork

All of the players selected to the roster are certainly deserving players. Only Mankins and Wilfork are starters. I was most happy to see Wes Welker make the roster as the fourth receiver. The other receivers are Andre Johnson, Reggie Wayne, and Brandon Marshall. Other quarterbacks include Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers. I was a little surprised that Tom Brady made the cut over Matt Schaub, though Brady has been able to lead his team to more wins and a division title. Logan Mankins is unquestionably the best and toughest player on the offensive line and is definitely deserving. The only defensive player to make it, Vince Wilfork, is the anchor and centerpiece of the Patriots 3-4 defense. As he goes, the strength of the unit goes. Belichick has done a decent job putting a band-aide on the line while Wilfork has been out, but they couldn’t make it through an entire season with 3 players rotating in and out, doing the job of 1 Wilfork. Pay the man!

Here are the stats of the Patriots’ Pro Bowlers  with one week to go in the season:

• Tom Brady: 4,212 yards, 28 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and a 97.4 QB rating
• Wes Welker: 122 receptions, 1,336 receiving yards, 11 yards/catch average, and 4 TDs
• Vince Wilfork: 43 tackles, 1 forced fumble (consistently takes up 2 – 3 blockers)

Patriots snubs? You could throw Randy Moss’ name out there, but with the effort controversy I can see why he didn’t make it. Besides, how can you argue with Johnson, Wayne, Marshall, and Welker? Brandon Meriweather made a strong case for the Pro Bowl earlier in the season but he fizzled during the middle of the season before turning it back on with the return of James Sanders. Other than that, I can’t really argue strongly for any other Patriot to make it on the roster. I thought for sure I’d be writing a 5-page paper about how Wes Welker was snubbed, but I was very happy to see that he made it.

For the complete Pro Bowl roster, go here.

Stay tuned later tonight for my likes and dislikes from the Pats/Jags game.