Pressing Pro Bowl questions

With the big game just days away, here's what all the NFL fans are talking about (other than the Super Bowl, the just-completed championship games, the upcoming draft, the possible lockout, next year's college football season, and pretty much anything else):

** Will two more Falcons make the team?
The all-time record for players on a single Pro-Bowl squad is 11, set by the 2007 Cowboys. But with the addition of CB Brent "Frank" Grimes on Monday, the Hotlanta birds now boast nine all-stars (and zero playoff wins this year.) Can the NFL find room for just a few more of their players, and erase that Dallas record?

** Will WR Brandon Lloyd win the MVP?
Only three teams have never had a Pro-Bowl MVP: the Ravens, Panthers and Broncos. The Baltimore and Carolina don't have any likely candidates on offense, but Denver does have their #1 WR in the mix. Hopefully he can haul in three TD passes and the MVP award for the good fans out in the mile-high city.

** Will anyone rush for 181 yards?
Hard to believe, but the Pro-Bowl single game rushing record is 180 yards, posted by Marshall Faulk (in 1995, while he was with the Colts, for the love of gawd). The single game receiving record is 212 yards (Randy Moss, in 2000) and the passing record is 342 yards (Peyton Manning, 2004). It's hard to believe anyone would try that hard, but maybe Phillip Rivers or Jamaal Charles is really angry about how the season turned out and wants to take it out on someone.

** Will a Seahawk be named to the squad?
Seattle grabbed the biggest upset of the playoffs this year (upending the Saints in the first round), but so far they're the only team not to have a representative on the Pro-Bowl roster. S Earl Thomas appeared to be in line to replace Packers' S Nick Collins, but that honor went instead to S Roman Harper of New Orleans (so, the Saints win that round). Time is running out for the NFL to keep that valuable Seattle TV market interested in the game.

** Will anyone watch?
Someone must care -- Vegas even sets a betting line for the game (NFC is favored by 1.5 points). But, with the game back in Hawaii and more players planning to bail on the trip, it's worth asking whether the NFL needs to shake up the spectacle.

Here's an idea that's been floated before, but it worth exploring: replace it with a skills competition. A good skills competition. And instead of offering money, make the winners be the only players eligible to sign shoe contracts (the NFL already has stricter on-field uniform rules than that). Think that won't make DeSean Jackson participate in a 50-yard dash? Think that won't make Peyton Manning see who can chuck a football the furthest? Hell, throw in one free helmet-to-helmet penalty for the winner of the linebackers' skill contest, and the whole thing falls in place.