The National Football League announced today that three Atlanta Falcons have been named to the NFC Pro Bowl roster. QB Matt Ryan, TE Tony Gonzalez, and WR Julio Jones will represent the Falcons as members of the 2012 NFC Pro Bowl team.
Ryan has been selected to the Pro Bowl for the second time in his career. He has completed 394 of 571 pass attempts (69.0 percent) for 4,481 yards with 31 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, and a 100.2 passer rating this season. His completions, yards, touchdowns, and passer rating are all career bests. Ryan has already broken his own single-season franchise records for completions and passing yards and his 31 touchdown passes are tied for the club record with QB Steve Bartkowski. Ryan ranks second in the NFL in completion percentage, third in completions, and fifth in passing yards, touchdowns, and passer rating. The fifth-year signal caller has led the Falcons to an NFL-best 13-2 record and the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs.
Gonzalez was named to the Pro Bowl for the 13th time in his career and the third time in his four seasons with the Falcons. The future Hall of Famer has continued to shine in his 16th season, catching a team-high 88 passes for 889 yards with eight touchdowns. He ranks second in the NFC among tight ends in receptions, yards, and touchdowns this season. Gonzalez joined Hall of Fame WR Jerry Rice as the only players in NFL history to record 15 seasons with 50-or-more receptions and tied WR Tim Brown's NFL record with his 10th straight 70-catch season. Additionally, his 88 catches are tied for the fourth most in the conference. Gonzalez has more career receptions (1,237), receiving yards (14,227), touchdown catches (103), 100-yard games (30), Pro Bowl appearances (12) and 1,000-yard seasons (four) than any other tight end in NFL history.
Jones earned his first career Pro Bowl selection after setting career highs with 76 receptions, 1,142 yards and a team-high 10 touchdowns. He joined WR Roddy White (1,309) to make the Falcons the only team in the NFL with two 1,000-yard receivers this season, and 2012 marks the first time since the 1998 season that the Falcons have had a pair of 1,000-yard receivers. Jones' 10 touchdowns rank fourth among NFC wide receivers, while his yardage and receptions rank in the top 10. Jones has hauled in three touchdown receptions of 40-or-more yards this season and his 13 receptions of 25-plus yards rank fifth in the NFL this season. His 18 career touchdowns are the most by any Falcons receiver in his first two seasons.
