London Fletcher will be joining Brian Orakpo and DeAngelo Hall at the Pro Bowl in Hawaii on Sunday.
Fletcher was added to the roster when Brian Urlacher of the Bears dropped out due to an injury he sustained in yesterday's NFC Championship game. Orakpo will replace Clay Mathews, who will play in the Super Bowl with the Packers, at outside linebacker.
Hall was selected as a reserve cornerback when the NFC squad was announced in December.
It may seem off that three members of the defense that was ranked 31st in the NFL are going to the Pro Bowl. There are a few possible takes here.
- The defense wasn't that bad--They were in the middle of the pack in terms of points allowed and takeaways, which are left out of the picture when talking about the league's defensive rankings, which are based on yardage given up.
- There were good players on the unit but some fatal flaws as well--In particular, the team couldn't find a nose tackle to plug up the middle, something that hurt them all year long.
- Pro Bowl berths are based largely on name recognition--In the case of Hall in particular, you could easily make the case that he was not one of the top 15 cornerbacks in the NFC. But he had the six interceptions, four of them in one game, and he is a known personality and that greatly aided his Pro Bowl selection.
