The Kansas City Chiefs Have Five Pro Bowlers, the Same as Denver and Seattle

The Pro Bowlers were announced yesterday, and the Kansas City Chiefs have five pro bowlers. Only four teams have more (San Francisco, Houston, New England, and Baltimore). Kansas City is on target for a 2-14 season if they lose Sunday, and now their opponent has one more reason to win (in addition to securing a first round bye). Denver is 12-3, and has the same number of pro bowlers as the 2-13 Chiefs.

Kansas City also has the same number of pro bowlers as Seattle and Chicago, and more than playoff teams Atlanta, Cincinnati, Green Bay, and Indianapolis. How does this happen? Remember, you can talk about the expansion of the pro bowl rosters, but this is before any alternates have been named or players have withdrawn with injury.

The reasons are the horrific offense and quarterback play, some reputation and questionable choices, and in one case, a position that benefits from being on bad teams. Jamaal Charles is an excellent choice at running back. His talents are somewhat muted in an offense with no passing game, but he is the one threat on the team offensively. Derrick Johnson is a reasonable choice, though Lawrence Timmons would have been another good selection.

Tamba Hali was a stretch, and he is not having as good of a year this year, and was suspended for the opener. Justin Houston has been just as good if not better on the other side. Eric Berry is a ridiculous selection, and not based on actually watching him play all year. No way was he one of the two best safeties in the AFC this year. Meanwhile, Dustin Colquitt got selected as the punter, which is typical for the position, where being on bad teams actually leads to more selections. That said, Dustin Colquitt is a very reasonable choice as well. He has been very good at limiting returns and avoiding touchbacks, and so he’s going to be right there with punters that had higher gross averages.

The five pro bowlers by Kansas City will be most by any team with at least fourteen losses, if they lose on Sunday. The previous high for was three, by both the 2001 and 2010 Carolina Panthers.

Another curious selection was Jeff Saturday, who is in his first season in Green Bay after a long career in Indianapolis. Saturday was benched for this weekend’s game he was playing at such a high level.

[photo via USA Today Sports Images]