Should You Bet The Pro Bowl? (You Probably Will)

What are you doing this Sunday afternoon? Those in warm-weather climes may be golfing with the boys, while those up North could be hitting the slopes. But what if you hate golf and you can’t ski or vice-versa? Some of us would prefer to cut out the pretense and go directly to the 19th hole or stop by the lodge, apres-ski, and watch the ski bunnies get warm.

But no matter what you do, it’s going to cost you some dough. So why not use your lazy Sunday afternoon to feed that football jones, watch the Pro Bowl, and bet a few bucks on it to make it more interesting? Hell, you don’t even need to get out of your chair to do this. But for the more energetic of us who actually get dressed and venture outside on Sundays, even when we don’t have to, there’s nothing like an afternoon libation in your barroom of choice.

Now let’s face facts. There’s not a real good reason to watch the Pro Bowl unless you have a vested interest because we’re not watching real football. It’s an exhibition with nothing for these athletes to play for except a free vacation in what used to be Hawaii, now Orlando, and a few bucks more if they’re on the winning team versus the losing team.

Quarterbacks can take solace in knowing that there will be no hulking 300-pound edge rusher looking to decapitate them while receivers running a slant pattern won’t need to think about the mass of kinetic energy coiled and ready to unleash the moment they catch the ball. Even intentional grounding is legal and blitzes are banished in this modified version of America’s favorite sport. It amounts to a slap fight with no hitting above the shoulders and nobody leaves on a gurney or winds up in the trainer’s room.

However, there is a final score and a wager to be made on it. If there’s action, we’re down regardless. Consider this game like taking a dip in the ocean in late October, the conditions may not be ideal and our unit size will shrink substantially, but action is action. So, with that, let’s talk strategy. Remember, the Patriots’ Tom Brady and cornerback Stephon Gilmore will not attend due to their standing reservation at the Super Bowl while the Rams’ Jared Goff, defensive tackle Aaron Donald, running back Todd Gurley and linebacker Cory Littleton have also given their regrets in order to be New England’s Super Bowl date this season.

The best online sportsbooks, found over at Sportsbooks Review, will be dealing lines on this game once it is certain who will be accepting their invitations to compete with, and against, their fellow elite players. The AFC has won this game the last two seasons, but throw out any trends on this game because the names and faces change each and every year. The older dudes often take a pass because they’ve been there and done that while the young guns are far more inclined to attend.

Speaking of young guns, say hello to Patrick Mahomes who has accepted his invitation as the starting quarterback of the AFC. If we’re lucky, his best gridiron buddy Tyreek Hill will decide he wants to play catch one more time with Patrick this season. The third leg of this talented triumvirate, Travis Kelce, has declined his invitation and will be replaced by the Raiders’ Jared Cook at tight end.

There’s little reason to spend more than a few minutes researching this game but the best piece of advice we can give is to key exclusively on offense because there is no defense to speak of in the Pro Bowl. Try to back the team with the most offensive players on the same side of the ball as they’ve worked with each other all season long and have developed a chemistry.

If that’s our sole criteria, and it pretty much is, then the AFC is the team to bet as the Chiefs have five offensive players selected, the Chargers four, and the Steelers a whopping six. Regardless of which side you bet, make sure you get the best number possible and click on over to Sportsbook Review to check out what all the best online sportsbooks are hanging on this year’s Pro Bowl.