NFC Tops AFC

It is not the Super Bowl. It is not hard hitting. It has different rules. There is no blitzing, you have to play a basic 4-3 defense, and a basic two wide receiver offense. There are not even any coach’s challenges or reviewed plays. But the Pro Bowl is not about those things. It is about celebrating the past season of NFL football that we all got to witness. It is a fun exhibition game that most players love playing in. They get to spend a week in Hawaii and they get a chance to meet players they usually are trying to kill on any given Sunday.

Larry Fitzgerald’s NFC team defeated the AFC 30-21, in a game that surprisingly had a little more excitement than most Pro Bowls. It was somewhat ironic when Fitzgerald, would have been this years Super Bowl MVP, was awarded the Pro Bowl MVP. Fitzgerald finished with 5 catches for 81 yards, and 2 touchdowns, including the game winning touchdown catch with 4:03 left in the forth quarter to go up 24-21.

Le'Ron McClain, a running back for the ravens who would not have even played much this year if it were not for injuries, scored on a little trickery from the AFC with 6:59 left in the forth quarter. McClain ran the ball in from 5 yards out on the old fumbleruski play. The touchdown put the AFC up 21-17.

The 3rd quarter was dominated by defense, which is rare for a Pro Bowl. Not only was it dominated by defense but it was also dominated by NFC players from the same Minnesota Vikings team. There were three turnovers in the quarter, two of them being made by Vikings players. The lone touchdown of the quarter came with 2:24 left when last years Pro Bowl MVP Adrian Peterson, of the Vikings, ran the ball in from 10 yards out. This came right after Jared Allen, a defensive end for the Vikings, sacked and forced AFC quarterback Kerry Collins to fumble the ball. Allen recovered the ball and gave his NFC team the ball on the ten yard line. The third Vikings player to make a play in the 3rd quarter was Antoine Winfield when he intercepted Kerry Collins with 4:36 left in the quarter.

Fitzgerald made the play of the game when he caught his first of two touchdowns on a hail marry 46 yard pass from Saints quarterback Drew Brees on the last play of the 1st half, which cut the AFC lead to 14-10. The play was almost as good as the play that Steelers outside linebacker, James Harrison made at the end of the 1st half of the Super Bowl. Both players gave their teams momentum going into the half. Harrison’s was just a little more important.

The rest of the 1st half was all AFC. The AFC went up 14-3 after a Kerry Collins 9 yard touchdown pass to Texans tight end Owen Daniels with 0:28 left in the half. The only other touchdown of the 1st half came with 7:44 left in the 1st quarter when season MVP Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts, found Chiefs tight end Tony Gonzales for a 19 yard score to put the AFC up 7-0. Gonzales with the touchdown catch broke the record for career receiving yards in the Pro Bowl with 533, tied Jimmy Smith and Marvin Harrison for most career Pro Bowl touchdowns with 5.