How Did the Chargers Fare in the Pro Bowl?

Ahh the Pro-Bowl, where the NFL’s best of the best who aren’t in the Super Bowl, or recovering from injury, or too busy walking the dog, come together to play in one last excitement-filled game. Or something to that effect. That was this past Sunday and 3 members of the 2016 San Diego Chargers squad were invited to Orlando to participate in the “big game”. This doesn’t mean much to many people, but this year it certainly meant a little bit more to Philip Rivers, who relished the chance to play one last game representing the San Diego Chargers. Accompanying Rivers in Orlando were his teammates, cornerback Casey Hayward and running back Melvin Gordon. Here is a very short overview of how each of the Chargers did.

Let’s start with Melvin Gordon, who actually ended up watching the entire game from the sideline. There is a little confusion as to whether he chose to sit out himself, or if And Reid (who was head coach of the AFC squad) felt it was in Gordons best interest not to play. Gordon, of course, missed the last few weeks of the regular season with an injury, so it was a little surprising that he was even going to attempt to play in the Pro-Bowl. Either way, it was probably safer that he sit out, and we should all be happy about that.

Casey Hayward had himself a decent game going against the likes of Dez Bryant of the Dallas Cowboys and the New York Giants Odell Beckham Jr. Early in the game he defended Bryant deep down the left the sideline and looked to be interfered with as Dez appeared to push him to the ground. There was no flag and the pass ended up incomplete. Later on, Hayward broke up back to back passes intended for Bryant and Beckham, and afterwards gave a little shout out to his Chargers teammate Joey Bosa by performing his signature shrug celebration. Hayward did lose Beckham on a shallow in route that went for a nice gain, but other than that it was a good performance for the bolts star corner.

Philip Rivers entered the game midway through the 3^rd quarter in relief of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton. Rivers was in a groove early, completing a big pass over the middle to Indianapolis Colts receiver T.Y. Hilton, and converting a 3^rd down pass on the sideline, again to Hilton. Now, Rivers doesn’t get a whole lot of protection from his linemen on the Chargers, so why should that have been any different in the Pro-Bowl? The AFC struggled to contain the NFC’s disruptive pass rushers, even though they could only rush four men at a time, and Rivers was sacked multiple times. Overall, it was a solid performance for El Capitan. He led the AFC down the field on his first drive and got some points off a Justin Tucker field goal, but finished without a touchdown or an interception.

Did you watch the Chargers players in the last Sunday’s Pro-Bowl? Let us know in the comment section below.