NFC wins Pro Bowl, 55-52

By Greg Beacham
Associated Press

There was nothing relaxing about this Sunday afternoon in Hawai'i: The highest-scoring Pro Bowl in history also might have been the most exciting edition of the NFL's all-star game.

MVP Marc Bulger threw a Pro Bowl-record four TD passes, and Detroit's Dre' Bly returned an interception 32 yards for the go-ahead score with 4:50 to play during the NFC's rally from an 18-point deficit in the final 13 minutes of a 55-52 victory over the AFC.

And it wasn't over until Indianapolis' Mike Vanderjagt — the automatic kicker who didn't miss a field goal or an extra point all season — was barely wide right on a 51-yard field goal attempt as time expired.

The 25th straight sellout crowd at Aloha Stadium loved this thriller, with both teams' millionaire players giving their all for the paltry $35,000 given to each winner. With 42 points in the helter-skelter fourth quarter, the teams easily topped the 82 total points scored in 2000 — and they set another record with 1,022 total yards, including 300 in the fourth quarter.

Shaun Alexander had three touchdowns for the NFC, which scored 28 straight points in the fourth period to set the scoring record for a single team. Torry Holt caught seven passes for 128 yards and a score.

Bly, Corey Chavous and Champ Bailey all had fourth-quarter interceptions.

Thanks to an incredible surge that had the stars dancing on the sidelines, the NFC won for just the second time in eight meetings. First-time Pro Bowlers Bulger, Alexander and Bly led the way in a game with newcomers filling nearly half of the rosters.

Peyton Manning passed for 342 yards and three touchdowns, but he couldn't stop the AFC from falling apart. Manning threw a 10-yard TD pass to Hines Ward with 1:54 left, and after Bulger threw an end-zone interception, Manning led the AFC into scoring territory.

But he was sacked with 4 seconds left, and Vanderjagt barely missed for the second time Sunday. He also made one field goal.

Just how crazy was it? The AFC set a Pro Bowl record with 31 points in the first half — and it stood for about two hours until the NFC scored 42 after halftime.

Bulger, an injury replacement for Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb, sat out the first half, then led an impressive comeback. He owed one of his completions to thousands of smart football fans, however: Atlanta's Alge Crumpler scored a 33-yard TD in the fourth quarter on a pass play selected by online voters.

Denver's Clinton Portis, another first-timer, put the AFC up 45-27 with 13:14 left, turning a 23-yard screen pass into a TD with a sideline sprint and dive. Portis celebrated by getting up and running full-tilt into the goalpost.

But Bulger engineered two more scoring drives. When Alexander scored on a 5-yard pass with 5:43 to play, the NFC pulled within 45-40.

Moments later, Bly stepped in front of Manning's pass to the AFC sideline and rambled for a diving score.

"It's going to be tough to match, if I make it back in the future," Bulger said.

The tremendous entertainment even extended to the sideline. Moments after Alexander's third touchdown, set up by Chavous' interception and return to the AFC 2, the NFC's Daunte Culpepper, LaVar Arrington and Alexander broke into an exuberant line dance to OutKast's "The Way You Move," to the vocal delight of fans.

This edition of the NFL's 54th annual all-star game was a showcase for the league's next wave of talent. When Green Bay's Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila was added to the NFC roster on Saturday, he became the 41st first-time Pro Bowler among the 86 players in uniform.

League co-MVP Steve McNair, who started but got just four plays, was in his first Pro Bowl after nine NFL seasons. Kansas City quarterback Trent Green and St. Louis kicker Jeff Wilkins waited 10 years for their first trips to Honolulu. NFL rushing champion Jamal Lewis scored a touchdown in his first game.

The fireworks began from the AFC's opening play. Coach Tony Dungy called a long pass — and when Bly stumbled to the turf, Chad Johnson streaked behind him for a 90-yard scoring catch from McNair on the first play of his first Pro Bowl.

Johnson, Cincinnati's brash receiver, had five receptions for 156 yards.