Brandon Marshall made fellow Pro Bowlers proud on Sunday. Indeed, somewhere Pete Weber is smiling.

If you were expecting big things in the 2012 Pro Bowl from the Indianapolis Colts’ lone representative, DE Dwight Freeney, you were surely sorely disappointed.   Of course, the same could be said if you expected either defense to actually show up at all.   What really happened on Sunday night was that the NFC offense lined up and ran a few plays, unopposed, until it tuckered out.   Then the AFC did the same.   The Americans were apparently a little more conditioned than the Nationals, as the junior circuit prevailed by a final score of 59-41.   The star of the game was Miami Dolphins wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who pulled down six passes for 176 yards and FOUR touchdowns.  I’ll bet the Broncos are feeling pretty foolish about letting him slip through their fingers, huh?

Should we just slap the tag “Pro Bowler” on these guys from now on and not bother with the game?  Nah … it’s more fun to poke fun at these superb athletes play what amounts to a Saturday afternoon flag football game.

By the way, Broncos linebacker Von Miller did somehow manage to sack Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, so Denver had a really good day.  They must be truly blessed.

The 2012 Pro Bowl is being played tonight, but it is debatable how many fans will actually watch.   The NFL continues to struggle with where to slot this game,  as they ditched the traditional strategy of playing the Pro Bowl a week after the Super Bowl a couple of years ago.   Now, the Pro Bowl is played on the week between the conference championship games and the Super Bowl, but this is problematic, as well.   Don’t believe me?   There are 18 guys who were selected to go to the 2012 Pro Bowl but won’t show up because they are playing in the Big Game next week.

Maybe this game should be played in the summer instead of the Hall of Fame game.   Maybe it should be played in the spring, sometime around the NFL Draft.   Maybe, just maybe, it shouldn’t be played at all.