The skills challenge is happening Thursday night. The flag football game will happen Sunday.
Seven members of the Minnesota Vikings will participate in the Pro Bowl Games, but it remains a bit unclear as to how many of them will be partaking in Thursday night’s skills challenge and Sunday’s flag football game. Let’s dive into what we know so far…
The skills challenge will feature six events and be televsied on ESPN at 6 p.m. CT Thursday, January 30. The events are titled “Passing the Test,” “Satisfying Catches,” “Relay Race,” “Helmet Harmony,” and “Dodgeball.”
We still don’t know which Vikings, if any, will be competing in Thursday night’s skills challenge. The NFL has kept that information private. What we do know is that each event will NOT include every player who made the Pro Bowl Games. For example, the “Satisfying Catches” competition will feature one wide receiver, tight end and defensive back from each conference.
The seven Vikings invited to the Pro Bowl Games are wide receiver Justin Jefferson, quarterback Sam Darnold, cornerback Byron Murphy, Jr., edge rushers Jonathan Greenard and Andrew Van Ginkel, long snapper and Andrew DePaola, and offensive tackle Brian O’Neill.
Here’s how the NFL describes each competition in the skills challenge.
Passing the Test: Quarterbacks try to hit targets at various distances around the field worth different point values in 40 seconds. Before the challenge, each quarterback will select a Pro Bowl Games teammate to answer five trivia questions about current Pro Bowl players. For every correct answer, the quarterback gets an additional 10 seconds. The winner of the competition is the team with the quarterback who scores the most points.
Satisfying Catches: One wide receiver, tight end and defensive back from each conference will compete in a challenge obstacle course, including catches from a jugs machine at three different distances, to test every aspect of catching a football. Each teammate will complete the course back-to-back with the lowest combined time winning the challenge.
Relay Race: A simultaneous relay-style event where four players from each conference complete a 40-yard dash before handing a football to the next athlete on their team, continuing until the fourth and final leg crosses the finish line. The conferences will compete in three rounds, with the fastest team winning.
Helmet Harmony: A game show to test player knowledge of their teammates, with every correct answer worth one point. The team with the most correct answers wins.
Dodgeball: A three-round tournament of classic dodgeball featuring six teams of five players. Teams will be a mix of AFC offensive, defensive and special teams players competing against a mix of NFC offensive, defensive and special teams players.