The NFL’s annual all-star game will be held in Orlando, Florida this Sunday. For the third straight year, the matchup between the AFC and NFC will end with a flag football game rather than a traditional football game to preserve the health of the participants.
In 2022, Peyton Manning and his entertainment company, Omaha Productions, joined forces with the NFL to revamp the Pro Bowl completely, turning the event into the Pro Bowl Games with various skills competitions as well as a seven-on-seven flag football game the Sunday before the Super Bowl.
Though my expertise relates to traditional football, we will still take a look at this flag football game and predict the winner.
📰 Table Of Contents
2025 Pro Bowl Flag Football Game
AFC vs. NFC
In the two Pro Bowl matchups that were held before transitioning to a flag football game, the AFC and NFC combined for 147 points. Over the last two years, that number has jumped to 191 points, an increase of 22 points per game. Clearly, flag football emphasizes offense and scoring.
When I first compared the AFC’s and NFC’s positional groups, I favored the AFC because of its quarterback room and the strength of its secondary. However, that all changed a few days ago when it was announced that Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson were being replaced by Pittsburgh’s Russell Wilson and New England’s Drake Maye. So the AFC is going from two guys who combined for 86 total touchdowns to a pair of players who only scored 35 total TDs this season, a 59.3% drop-off in production. Don’t get me wrong, Wilson and Maye will play well enough to put some points on the board, but we should expect a tremendous decline in quarterback performance from the AFC.
The secondaries will be a huge factor in how this one plays out. Usually, the defensive line gets after the quarterback and forces poor passes or mistimed throws, but there are some plays in flag football where defensive linemen don’t even rush the passer. Therefore, the cornerbacks and safeties will have to step up their efforts.
I like the way the AFC’s receivers match up with the NFC’s secondary compared to the NFC’s receivers vs. the AFC’s defensive backs. While the NFC’s DB group finished the regular season with more interceptions, those numbers were inflated by Green Bay’s Xavier McKinney, who intercepted six passes in his first eight games. Since then, he has only picked off opposing quarterbacks twice. On top of that, two members of the NFC’s secondary finished the season without an INT. The same cannot be said for the AFC, where every defensive back caught at least one interception. Though the National Football Conference has a better group of pass catchers, I think the AFC’s defense has a more favorable matchup than the NFC’s.
The National Football Conference does have an advantage in the running back department. In flag football, it’s better to be a shifty scat back who can evade defenders rather than a bruiser who runs people over, and the NFC has the league’s two most-agile running backs in Detroit’s Jahmyr Gibbs and Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson. Put those guys in a flag football game where defenses are playing at half-speed, and you’ll probably see them break off several big runs.
This one will also probably come down to coaching. I have high expectations for both Manning brothers, but I think Peyton Manning is a better coach than Eli Manning. After all, this is the same Eli Manning who threw 244 career interceptions, the 12th-most of all time. I don’t want to take anything away from Eli. He had a stellar career and will someday be a Hall of Famer. However, I have more confidence in Peyton Manning as a leader and a play-caller.
This will really boil down to which offense can score more points. Though that’s true for every sport, there are many times when playing stout defense can result in a victory (just go back and watch Super Bowl LIII when the New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3). That will not be the case in the 2025 Pro Bowl. Don’t anticipate many sacks or any hard hits. Just be on the lookout for touchdown after touchdown after touchdown.
Joe Burrow should be the starter for the AFC, which will allow the team to put some early points on the board. After that though, I don’t think Drake Maye and Russell Wilson will be able to go touchdown-for-touchdown with Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield, Minnesota’s Sam Darnold, and Detroit’s Jared Goff, three players who combined for 113 passing TDs during the regular season.
Expect a lot of points and a trick play or two as the NFC beats the AFC for a third straight year.
NFC wins 58-53
