BY DAN BEGNOCHE
Thirteen players from across the AFC East will be shopping for new luau shirts this week as the NFL released the rosters for the Pro Bowl in Hawaii. Bills players, however, will have to settle for new winter jackets.
Buffalo was shut out in the all-star category this year, as hopes for potential Bills Pro Bowlers went down the tubes with running back Fred Jackson’s season-ending injury and the team’s disasterous second half of the year. Jackson was atop the league leaders in vote-getting before his injury, picking up nearly 1,400 all-purpose yards and six touchdowns in only 10 games.
Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was in the running early on in the season as well, carrying a QB rating of nearly 100 into Week 9, back when the Bills were 5-2. Fitz’s chances were quashed throughout the next seven weeks, as the Bills went winless and he threw a combined 12 interceptions while averaging a QB rating of 64.
Other Pro Bowl potentials for the Bills included strong safety George Wilson, who had more tackles (96 combined) and interceptions (4) than the AFC leading vote-getter, Troy Polamalu, and linebacker Nick Barnett, who was fourth in the league in combined tackles among linebackers and had three sacks and two interceptions — one for a touchdown.
Buffalo was one of only four teams to not have a player selected, with St. Louis, Washington and Tennessee drawing blanks as well.
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