PRO BOWL • NFC 55, AFC 52
NFC storms back to win

By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer

The NFC won yesterday's Pro Bowl the old-fashioned way: They stole it.

"For me to be named MVP is a collection of everyone on the team," said St. Louis quarterback Marc Bulger, who threw for a Pro Bowl record four touchdowns. "We made plays when we had to. The whole team deserves it." Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

An announced sellout crowd of 50,127 at Aloha Stadium — the 24th sellout in 25 games in Honolulu — watched the NFC explode for 42 points after falling behind 38-13 in the third quarter.

"We just kept on fighting," Seattle's Shaun Alexander said. "At the end it was our turn to come back and win."

The AFC had a chance to tie on Mike Vanderjagt's 51-yard field goal attempt with four seconds left, but his kick sailed wide right.

St. Louis' Marc Bulger was named the game's MVP after completing 12 of 21 attempts for 152 yards and four touchdowns with one interception in the second half.

"For me to be named MVP is a collection of everyone on the team," Bulger said. "We made plays when we had to. The whole team deserves it."

With the victory, the NFC snapped the AFC's recent success in the Pro Bowl. Entering yesterday's game, the AFC had won the past three contests and six of the past seven.

"They've been talking and bragging about how they have been dominating," said Detroit's Dre' Bly, whose fourth-quarter interception return for a touchdown gave the NFC its first lead of the game at 48-45. "We knew with the big-play guys we have we would be able to turn it around. We just had to buckle down and that's what we did."

After falling behind 38-13 with 11 minutes and 16 seconds left in the third quarter, the NFC roared back, scoring 35 of its 42 points off five turnovers.

Marvin Harrison hauls in a 50-yard TD pass from Indianapolis teammate Peyton Manning in the second quarter. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Two plays after St. Louis' Leonard Little recovered a fumble by Kansas City's Trent Green, Bulger tossed a 12-yard touchdown to Torry Holt, cutting the AFC's lead to 38-20.

"I had a lot of confidence in Marc," Holt said. "I think he did a tremendous job. I asked him on the sidelines, 'When are you coming in?' I was looking forward for him coming in and having an opportunity to work with him in the Pro Bowl."

On the next AFC possession, Tennessee's Derrick Mason had the ball knocked loose by Bly after a 6-yard reception, and Chicago's Jerry Azumah returned the ball to the AFC's 7-yard line.

After two running plays, Bulger found Tampa Bay's Keenan McCardell for a 2-yard touchdown, pulling the NFC to 38-27.

In the fourth quarter, Denver's Clinton Portis caught a screen pass from Kansas City's Green and sprinted 23 yards for an AFC touchdown for a 45-27 AFC lead.

But Bulger wasn't through. One play after Azumah's 60-yard kickoff return to the AFC 33, Bulger found Atlanta tight end Alge Crumpler for a touchdown, closing the NFC to 45-34.

After an interception by Washington's Champ Bailey, Bulger led an eight-play, 88-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard shovel pass to Alexander for a TD, getting the NFC to 45-40. The 2-point conversion attempt failed.

The NFC grabbed its first lead when Bly intercepted a Peyton Manning pass and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown. Green ran for the two-point conversion for a 48-45 NFC lead.

"I read Peyton and read the receiver, and I was just able to get a good break," Bly said. "We had talked about making plays on defense and we were just able to do that today."

On the next AFC possession, Bly tipped a pass by Manning and teammate Corey Chavous intercepted it and ran to the AFC's 2-yard line. On the next play, Alexander scored on a shovel pass from Bulger for a 55-45 NFC lead.

After Manning's 10-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward cut the NFC lead to 55-52, the AFC got the ball back when Brock Marion intercepted Bulger in the end zone and returned the ball to the AFC 22 with 1:15 remaining.

With no time outs, Manning completed 3 of 6 passes for 45 yards and drove his team to the NFC 21. However, Manning was sacked on the next play, pushing the ball back to the NFC 33, setting up Vanderjagt's 51-yard field goal attempt to tie game.

The game got off to a quick start.

On the first play from scrimmage, Tennessee's Steve McNair tossed a 90-yard touchdown to Cincinnati's Chad Johnson.

It was the second longest touchdown pass in Pro Bowl history behind Jeff Blake's 93-yard toss to Yancey Thigpen in 1996.

On the ensuing NFC possession, Baltimore's Ed Reed blocked a punt from Carolina's Todd Sauerbrun and returned the ball 23 yards for an AFC touchdown.

The NFC responded with Alexander's 12-yard touchdown run, and pulled to 14-10 on Jeff Wilkins' 28-yard field goal.

Vanderjagt's 27-yard field goal increased the AFC's lead to 17-10. On the drive, Manning hit Tennessee's Mason for a 71-yard gain, but was denied a touchdown when Bly jarred the ball loose from Gonzalez in the end zone.

In the second quarter, following Wilkins' 38-yard field goal that closed the NFC to 17-13, Manning engineered two touchdown drives in the final 10 minutes for a 31-13 AFC lead at halftime.

Manning connected with teammate Marvin Harrison for a 50-yard touchdown, and then found Gonzalez for a 9-yard score with 54 seconds remaining in the half.

The AFC continued rolling in the third quarter behind Jamal Lewis' 22-yard touchdown run. The Baltimore running back and league rushing champion broke three tackles on his scoring run to give the AFC a 38-13 lead.

The combined 107 points surpassed the 82 points scored in 2000.

"That's what the crowd wanted to see," said McCardell. "They wanted to see a lot of points, a lot of excitement, a lot of deep balls, a lot of field goals. We provided that for them tonight. It was like an NBA all-star game."

Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2458.