Everson Griffen Had A Big Night At The Pro Bowl

Sunday night’s Pro Bowl in Orlando, Florida, turned out to be a pretty good night for several Minnesota Vikings. The Pro Bowl is usually a high-flying shootout, but that wasn’t the case last night, as the AFC managed to squeak out a 20-13 victory over the NFC.

I’m not saying that it was a defensive battle because the Vikings had five players that were a part of the NFC defense. . .but I’m not not saying that, either. Several Minnesota defenders had big nights, none more so than defensive end Everson Griffen.

The man they call Sack Daddy did his thing in a big way on Sunday night, collecting three sacks of AFC quarterbacks and finishing the night with eight overall tackles to lead all NFC defenders. Harrison Smith, who also started for the NFC on defense, collected five tackles on the evening.

Xavier Rhodes entered the game on the second defensive series, and immediately made his presence known by breaking up a long pass intended for T.Y. Hilton. Linval Joseph and Anthony Barr also each had a couple of tackles on the evening.

The Vikings’ lone non-defensive Pro Bowl selection, Cordarrelle Patterson, managed one catch for one yard and a tackle on special teams. Patterson’s bread and butter, the kickoff return, was not a part of the Pro Bowl, as the ball is simply spotted at the 25-yard line after each scoring drive, which greatly negated his potential impact.

All in all, it was a pretty solid night for members of the purple and gold at the 2017 Pro Bowl. Unfortunately, that’s the last time we’re going to get to see any of them in action until this August.