Dre' Bly doesn't disappoint Lion fans

Dre' Bly really had nothing to prove to Detroit Lion fans when he was selected for the Pro Bowl. He probably had nothing to prove to the rest of the NFL either, but he did. Bly played a great game for his conference and was instrumental in the 55-52 win by the NFC over the AFC.

This game was fantastic. Sure, it started out like a blowout with the AFC dominating its conference counterpart. At one time in the second half, the AFC was leading the game 38-13. I'm sure many fans turned it off at this point. If they did, these NFL fans missed a fantastic comeback in the highest scoring Pro Bowl ever.

Marc Bulger was voted the game MVP and ended up with four passing touchdowns, also a record. Peyton Manning pulled another choke job tossing up two interceptions in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Manning did come back, however, and drove his team down the field for a makeable field goal, until he took a sack instead of getting rid of the ball. This forced his "drunken kicker" teammate, Mike Vanderjagt, into a 51-yard field goal attempt, instead of a much shorter one. Vanderjagt, who had been perfect throughout the season, came up short and right.

Fortunately, this game did not go into overtime. Watching the referees refuse to call holding and grabbing the face mask penalties was getting old. The defensive lines did not have a chance. It was no wonder that so many points were scored.

Now, let's go back to Dre' Bly. He has been in the NFL for five years. He was drafted as a defensive back out of North Carolina by St Louis, and spent his first four years with the Rams. Matt Millen then made a great move by signing Bly as a free agent after last season.

In the 14 games he played this season with the Lions, Bly had 54 tackles, one sack, six interceptions, two touchdowns and five forced fumbles. He was one of the few bright spots in this somewhat disappointing Detroit season.

Bly was fantastic in the Pro Bowl. He ended up with five tackles, one forced fumble (one other one was called back because of a penalty), and one interception, which he took back for a touchdown. Although Chad Johnson burned him on a 90-yard touchdown reception to start the game, Bly came back to be a major factor in the comeback.

Late in the first quarter, Bly knocked a touchdown pass out of Tony Gonzalez's hands keeping the AFC out of the end zone. In the third quarter, he forced a fumble to give the ball to the NFC and stop an AFC drive.

However, Bly's biggest play of the game, which really set the tone for the NFC's comeback, was his interception of Manning late in the fourth quarter. Not only did Bly make a great pick, but he took the ball back 31 yards for a touchdown, which gave the NFC a 48-45 lead after the successful two-point conversion. The NFC never lost the lead after that.

The scariest moment for me watching the Pro Bowl was when I saw Marty Mornhinweg on the sidelines as one of the coaches on the NFC staff. It brought back so many bad memories and kind of made me sick to my stomach. His laughable press conferences, riding away on his Harley Davidson, and giving the ball away in overtime after winning the toss all passed through my head when I saw his unmistakable dome. Please ESPN, don't show his face again for Lions fans' sakes.

Anyway, I turned on the television hoping for a decent game and, though it took awhile, I got one. The referees do need to start calling the holding penalties though, even if one of the NFL's precious quarterbacks gets sacked. If not, then why not just play flag football with no lineman, and where you count to 10 and then rush the QB.

Face masks were grabbed and defensive lineman were tackled with no penalties called either. I guess these referees were told not to call penalties because there is no way they missed them. I like offense too, but come on, call the game a little closer. If it was holding in the regular season and post season, call it in the Pro Bowl.

That is one reason why Dre' Bly's performance was even more amazing. When the quarterback has all day to throw, the defensive backs are at the mercy of the QB. Thanks Dre' for representing the Detroit Lions in a big way. You deserved to be there and, hopefully, you will get some help next year to get the Lions to the playoffs.