GLENDALE, Ariz. -- It took a little while for both Team Irvin and Team Carter to wake up during Sunday's Pro Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium.

Tackling was replaced by glorified hugs.

Defending passes was ... well, there weren't many passes defended.

As the second Pro Bowl since 1980 not to be played in Hawaii wore on, the intensity increased and the competitiveness amped up. Team Irvin won 32-28 over Team Carter with Detroit's Matthew Stafford winning the offensive MVP and Houston's J.J. Watt taking home the defensive MVP.

Besides discovering, to no surprise, that Pro Bowlers don't like to tackle, here are five things we learned from Sunday's Pro Bowl:

Watt is that good: Consider the Pro Bowl a prelude.

The game the Houston defensive end had Sunday -- an interception, a fumble recovery, a quarterback hurry and four passes defended (second most in the game) -- earned Watt the defensive MVP but it also proved that he's the best of the best, and should win the NFL MVP and the defensive player of the year when they're handed out Saturday.

"Ha, it's pretty cool," Watt said about winning the MVP among the league's all-stars. "It's a neat opportunity. To go out of here with a new truck is pretty sweet. But it's a lot of fun."

Watt's interception came in typical Watt style. He knocked down a Stafford pass with 23 seconds left in the second quarter and the ball dropped into his hands. He didn't have a chance to return it for a touchdown because Cleveland tackle Joe Thomas brought Watt down immediately. Stafford fumbled on the first play of the third quarter, which Watt quickly recovered, all but sealing his MVP in a span of 23 seconds.

Toward the end of the game, Watt wanted to get a chance to play offense but Team Carter, led by Baltimore coach John Harbaugh, didn't call a play for him.

"Right there near the end of the game, I strolled into the offensive huddle," Watt said. "I don't know if they didn't see me or they didn't want to use me, but strolled my way back to the sideline when I didn't get the call."

Narrow uprights aren't easy to kick through: Indianapolis kicker Adam Vinatieri learned the hard way how tough it will be to kick between narrower uprights. He missed two of four extra points and a field goal from 38 yards.

Had the uprights been the regulation 18-feet wide instead of the experimental 14 feet, Vinatieri felt he would've nailed all his kicks Sunday.

"The only one I had [a] question on was the last field goal and [punter Kevin] Huber, my holder, said, ‘Oh, for sure that was good,'" Vinatieri said. "I know the other ones all would've been good. I probably would've made all my kicks today and walked out of here feeling a little happier than I am right now. A little discouraged, or a little upset with myself. I also got to look back and go, 'I definitely need to work on some skinny posts' if we're going to be doing this stuff."

Team Carter kicker Cody Kicker from the Eagles made both his extra points, which were moved back to the 17-yard-line, but he didn't have a field-goal attempt. Even though he was perfect, Parkey wasn't a fan of the smaller target.

"They're picking on us," he said. "We're already the odd balls on the team. They're picking on us even more."

Pro Bowl needs a skills competition: It wasn't just the fans -- in person and on TV -- that was wondering when the players on the field would start tackling and playing real football. Arizona special teamer Justin Bethel noticed his teammates were going easy.

"It started off kinda slow," Bethel said. "I was sitting here like, ‘This ain't football.' But it started picking up."

The lackluster effort at the beginning begged the question to be asked: Is the Pro Bowl worth having?

In its place there should be a skills competition and from the skills some of the players showed throughout the week, it would make for must-see TV. Watt was making field goals during practice and Odell Beckham Jr. hit a 45-yarder during warm-ups Sunday.

Watt wasn't a fan of the idea, however.

"I enjoy it the way it is now," Watt said. "Those decisions are left to people much higher up than I am."

But Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson -- who has also played receiver, quarterback, wildcat quarterback and punt returner -- would rather see a seven-on-seven game than a full-blown game.

"I think so because that's what it is," he said. "I'd love to see it become a seven-on-seven. I think I'd be pretty good at it. I'd sit on a couple routes a little more. I know it's a passing route, and in seven-on-seven. It would only give you a couple routes anyway.

"I think it would be a lot more fun."

Jimmy Graham warned them: With 9 minutes, 51 seconds remaining in the first half, New Orleans Saints tight end broke his touchdown celebration out of league-imposed mothballs. Graham reeled in a 6-yard scoring pass from Stafford in the back right corner of the endzone, his first of two scoring catches in the game.

But after the catch he jogged down the end line and then dunked the ball over the crossbar. It was the first time he had done what had become the signature scoring celebration for the former University of Miami basketball player since he was fined $30,000 for dunking over the crossbar twice this past August in a preseason game against the Tennessee Titans.

"I did it, I asked them [the NFL], said I wanted to do it. I mean, I told them I'd be gentle," Graham said. "Hopefully they won't fine me."

Graham's celebration was outlawed by the NFL this past offseason, specifically categorized with other taunting penalties in which the ball is used as a "prop." The league's competition committee specifically addressed the celebration last March after Graham had knocked goal-posts ajar on two separate occasions.

Technically, by league rules Graham could be fined for Sunday's celebration for unsportsmanlike conduct.

"I hope they don't," Graham said. "I don't think I even nudged [the crossbar] when I did it."

Bend it like Beckham Jr.: The New York Giants rookie wide receiver has become must-see for his acrobatic work catching passes. His improbable one-handed snag on "Sunday Night Football" this past season, against the Dallas Cowboys, quickly made it onto a T-shirt.

And Beckham, who had fans buzzing in pregame warm-ups Sunday with a variety of one-handed catches, added a diving grab on a Stafford throw in the first half. And a former accomplished junior soccer player -- he has said had drawn interest from USA Soccer growing up in New Orleans -- also booted a 45-yard field goal during warm-ups Sunday, a kick that sailed down the middle of narrowed uprights.

The kick would have been good from more than 50 yards.

"Man, I had a great time participating in all of this," Beckham said. "I was just trying to have as much fun as possible, in warm-ups, in the game, the whole week."

Beckham led Team Irvin with 89 yards on his five receptions, including the 48-yarder from Stafford. Beckham had 75 of his receiving yards in the first half.

ESPN.com reporter Jeff Legwold contributed to this story.