The NFL released its most recent tallies for 2010 Pro Bowl voting this week, and St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson made a huge leap in the standings.

Last week, SJ was ranked fifth in the fan vote, but he has leaped to second this week, trailing only Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.

But Steven is still behind Peterson by more than three-quarters-of-a-million votes — despite the disparity in statistics between the two that tilts a comparison in No. 39's favor.

S-Jax leads the NFL in carries this season with 285, carrying the load for the St. Louis Rams, in the absence of a change-up back. Peterson has 269 carries for Minnesota, but is often relieved on non-rushing downs by backup Chester Taylor, who also has 77 carries.

St. Louis' second running back, Kenneth Darby, has 13 carries this season.

Steven also leads Peterson in rushing yards, with 1,279 to Peterson's 1,200 for the NFC lead. Both average about 4.5 yards per carry. Peterson has 14 touchdowns to SJ's four, but even that stat is misleading.

On his way to 14 scores, Peterson has worked with the NFL's No. 6 ranked offense. His quarterback, the NFL's all-time leading passer Brett Favre, accounts for a strong chunk of that offense with the No. 11 passing game, averaging about 254 yards per game.

Steven's Rams, on the other hand, are ranked 25th in the league in total offense and have used three quarterbacks over the course of the season to accumulate about 181 yards passing per game, 24th in the league. Teams have filled the box to try to stop SJ39, but on his back alone, the Rams rank 15th in the NFL in rushing, just four spots behind Peterson, Taylor and the Vikings offensive line.

As a pass-catching back, Steven has 11 more catches than Peterson, but AP has gained 38 more yards through the air. Still, in total yards from scrimmage, SJ39 outpaces Peterson 1,552 yards to 1,519.

Both backs are clearly at the top of the class among the NFC's top runners with the two leading the NFC's best other backs DeAngelo Williams, Michael Turner and Frank Gore across the board in nearly every category.

While AP and SJ are clearly deserving of nomination to the Pro Bowl, the gap between Steven and Peterson in the voting is something only SJ39's stable of fans can change.

To vote Steven to his second career Pro-Bowl, click here. The 2010 Pro-Bowl is on January 31, 2010 in Miami, one week before the Super Bowl.

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Pro Bowl Update: Balloting for Offense (ESPN.com, December 15, 2009)
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcwest/post/_/id/11049/pro-bowl-update-balloting-for-offense