NFL Pro Bowl Skills Competition 2023: Flag Football Takes Center Stage

The NFL announced the skills competition for the 2023 Pro Bowl Games on Thursday which includes seven-on-seven flag football games and dodgeball. Here’s what you need to know:

• The competitions include three flag football games, dodgeball, longest drive and best catch.
• The skills competitions and first two flag football games will be cumulatively scored leading up to Sunday’s final flag football game between the AFC and NFC.
• The points accrued by each conference will be used as the starting score for the third and final flag football game. The winner of the final game will be crowned champion of the Pro Bowl Games.

Backstory

The NFL announced in September that the Pro Bowl would no longer be a tackle football game and instead focus on skills competitions and other events culminating in a flag football game between the AFC and NFC. The Pro Bowl Games are scheduled for Feb. 5, 2023, in Las Vegas, which hosted the 2022 game.

The AFC team will be led by Hall-of-Famer Peyton Manning, Ray Lewis and Diana Flores, while the NFC team will be coached by Eli Manning, Demarcus Ware and Vanita Crouch.

Full list of skills competitions

Thursday, Feb. 2

• Epic Pro Bowl dodgeball: Four teams of five players will compete in a multi-round tournament of dodgeball that culminates in an AFC versus NFC showdown. The winner of this challenge earns three points for their conference.
• Lightning round: Each conference will select 16 players to compete in a three-part elimination challenge testing their skills including fielding punts and catching water balloons.
• Longest drive: Four players from each conference will compete to drive a golf ball the farthest.
• Precision passing: Each of the conference’s quarterbacks will compete in a one-minute accuracy competition, as they attempt to accumulate points by hitting targets.
• Best catch: The top vote-getters from each conference in the first round will compete to make the most impressive catch in front of a panel of celebrity judges.
• Gridiron gauntlet: Six players from each conference will compete in a side-by-side relay race through an obstacle course.
• Kick tac toe: Each team’s kicker, punter and long snapper compete in a giant tic-tac-toe competition.
• Move the chains: Two teams of five players from each conference will pull a weighted wall 10 yards as quickly as possible using first-down chains.

Courtesy of The Athletic.