Patrick Mahomes being named in Pro Bowl over Josh Allen, C. J. Stroud has NFL fans riled up: "Absolute CRIME"
The Pro Bowl list for the 2023 NFL season and the AFC list featured Patrick Mahomes over Josh Allen and C.J. Stroud. Now, in normal circumstances, the two-time MVP making the Pro Bowl as the quarterback for his conference would not be a surprise. But the Chiefs offense has not been great this year and their star players has definitely regressed. It might be due to not having adequate receiving options, but his numbers are down.
Patrick Mahomes has 27 total touchdowns this season and 14 interceptions. Josh Allen, on the other hand leads the league with 42 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. C.J. Stroud, on the other hand, has 24 touchdowns in total but just five interceptions, which is the best among the top 15 quarterbacks with most scores. The Texans quarterback has also played two fewer games due to injury.
In fact, the quarterback with most touchdowns after the Bills quarterback in the AFC is the much-maligned Russell Wilson with 29 in total. He also has just eight interceptions and was benched by Sean Payton despite his record. If we look purely using passer rating, Patrick Mahomes at 92.6 is the sixth-best quarterback in the AFC after Tua Tagovailoa, Lamar Jackson, C.J. Stroud, Russell Wilson, and Justin Herbert.
Fans make case for Josh Allen and C.J. Stroud over Patrick Mahomes for Pro Bowl inclusion
All of this has contributed to fans feeling that this Pro Bowl nomination for the Chiefs quarterback has been given to him unfairly and others like Josh Allen and C.J. Stroud deserved it more. They took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to register their protest as the decision. Here are some of the responses from the platform.
The case for Patrick Mahomes over Josh Allen and C.J. Stroud for Pro Bowl selection
Heading into Week 18 of the NFL season, Pattrick Mahomes is the only one among the trio mentioned who has booked his playoff spot. The Buffalo Bills are not sure of the postseason and the same applies to the Houston Texans.Therefore, giving Josh Allen or C.J. Stroud a Pro Bowl nomination would have looked weird if they did not feature beyond the regular season.
It might be better for the Pro Bowl to consider naming their chosen players after the final game of the season. But when we know that star players like Lamar Jackson for the Baltimore Ravens or Christian McCaffrey for the San Francisco 49ers will be unavailable in the last week, we also understand why the current cut-off might be better.