While the final third of the NFL regular season is upon us to separate the contenders from the pretenders among NFL teams, the decisions of who are the best 88 players in the league for the 65th annual Pro Bowl spots are up in play as well.
For the second straight season, the format for the selections for the Pro Bowl will be unconferenced, with Hall of Fame receivers Cris Carter and Michael Irvin being the team captains and picking the 44 players for their respective teams. The game itself will be played at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, the site of the Super Bowl (only the third time in NFL history) on January 25, 2015, the Sunday before the Super Bowl
Fan voting is throughout the season and ends December 15, while votes from players and coaches are tallied until the voting results are announced on December 23. The coaches for each Pro Bowl team pick the long snapper for their respective squad to get the number of players invited to the game up to 90.
Ballots for voting are available at NFL.com. Below are some of the other additions to the game’s rules:
- A two-minute warning is added to the second and fourth quarters and overtime.
- Ball will switch hands after every quarter/overtime.
- There will be no kickoffs.
- A coin toss determines which team is awarded possession first.
- The ball is placed on the 25-yard line at the start of each quarter and after scoring plays.
- The defense is now allowed to play “cover two” and “press” coverage. In past years, only “man” coverage was permitted, except for goal line situations.
- At the two-minute mark of every quarter/overtime, if the offense does not gain positive yardage on a play (at least a yard), the clock will stop as if the play were an incomplete pass.
- Instead of the customary 40-second and 25-second clock, a 35-second and 25-second play clock is used instead.
- The game clock does not stop on quarterback sacks outside of the final 2 minutes of regulation.
