This is serious business, right?

Troy Walters, one of the NFL's most successful position coaches, gets a chance as an offensive coordinator to call plays on a national stage for the best players in the game, even if Sunday's Pro Bowl (Cincinnati's Channel 9, ESPN) is the flag football version.

But how serious can it be with Peyton Manning as your AFC head coach and the gags abounding through a television studio in Orlando, Fla., in which he's going against brother Eli, the immortal Chad Powers coaching the NFC?

At a certain time on the clock, very, very serious, says Walters, and he should know. Long before he was the prolific Bengals wide receivers coach, Walters caught 69 balls from Peyton during four seasons with the Colts. Eight of them came in the playoffs.

"Peyton wants to have fun, but in the end, I know him as a competitor," Walters says. "I think it will be fun and loosey-goosey for probably the first three-and-a-half quarters, and then probably the last two, three, four minutes with the game on the line, it's going to get very competitive, very serious."

Peyton texted Walters a few weeks ago to offer the job of offensive coordinator in the matchup with Eli. No way Walters could say no. After all, the next step in his NFL career is calling plays.

Plus, there is Disney's doorstep staring at his young family, a chance to call plays for Joe Burrow and to be reunited with his best player coming off his Mona Lisa of a season in NFL receiving Triple Crown winner Ja’Marr Chase.

"It's no fun not playing at this time of year," Walters says. "But if I have to, I'd rather be with the greatest players in the NFL, being around them, calling plays for them. A great opportunity and the family gets to come.

"It's going to be a fun time and it's a fun game. But I know he wants to win. He hasn't in the last two meetings with Eli. He wants to win it, so I'm going to come up with some plays that hopefully help us achieve that. Those two guys are funny, though. They really know how to go back and forth."

Walters can't ever remember calling a flag football game, so he's preparing like he would any game and clicked YouTube.

"I watched highlights of last year's game and the year before just to get a feel for what was going on," Walters says. "The tempo. I know it's vanilla coverages. I'll be using a simplified playbook and let the guys go out there and just have fun and go put on a show for the people on national TV and the people in Orlando."

Chase is playing in his third Pro Bowl, and Walters reviewed what he did the last two years.

"I haven't watched it from start to finish, but I noticed he made some highlight plays, he scored some touchdowns," Walters said. "It will be fun getting him back with Joe. I'm sure they'll link up a few times. I'll make sure they link up a few times."

Burrow figures to be the starter in his first Pro Bowl appearance with the Patriots' Drake Maye replacing Lamar Jackson and the Steelers' Russell Wilson replacing the Bills' Josh Allen.

Wouldn't it be nice if Bengals history repeats itself?

When quarterback Carson Palmer came back from his ACL surgery, he ended the next season being named the Outstanding Performer of the 2007 (non-flag) Pro Bowl and hooked up with teammate Chad Johnson for a touchdown and three catches for 70 yards. Palmer rang a 127.1 passer rating and led the AFC on a game-winning field goal drive.

Burrow is also working on a comeback season and, unlike Palmer, may win the Associated Press Comeback Player of the Year next week in New Orleans.

Walters isn't sure who is going to end up with the ball at the end of the game ("We'll see what happens"), but he knows Burrow and Chase are going to be on the same page at any given moment. He's just trying to get everyone else on it and plans to give everyone wrist bands so all he has to do is signal in plays corresponding to the list.

But he clearly has an edge Eli doesn't.

"I can call whatever we have in our arsenal," says Walters of Chase and Burrow. "You get a feel for how they're playing defense and you know they know what the other guy is going to do. We've seen that. That's going to be fun to watch."

It would seem Walters would be tempted to urge Peyton to have Nos. 9 and 1 available on the wristbands the later the game gets.

"I would imagine things heat up in the last few minutes with Peyton and Eli needing that win," Walters says. "And the guys being able to put some extra in the pocket."

Footnote: Winners take home $90,000 each, the losers $45,000.