Monday, February 2, 1998

AFC Cashes In

MVP Warren Moon leads
the rally after two NFC turnovers

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

The NFC was on the sidelines counting its 25 grand a dollar at a time when Warren Moon sneaked in from the 1 to steal the dough.

Thanks to the thrill-ride comeback engineered by the Seattle quarterback, the AFC overtook the NFC, 29-24, yesterday before a sellout crowd at Aloha Stadium.

By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Chris Chandler's fumble, above, set up Warren Moon's
touchdown plunge, below, as the AFC rallied past the NFC.

By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin

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At 41, Moon was the oldest player in the 28th annual NFL all-star game. The last-second replacement for injured Denver quarterback John Elway didn't practice until Thursday and didn't make an appearance until the AFC was down by 10 with 13 minutes left.

While the NFC was busy forgetting there was a fourth quarter, Moon energized the AFC to the tune of 15 unanswered points. Jacksonville's Mike Hollis kick-started the comeback with a 48-yard field goal with 8:51 remaining.

Tennessee's Eddie George scored on a 4-yard run with 2:31 left and Moon capped the comeback on a 1-yard quarterback sneak.

Moon, who completed a 57-yard pass to Oakland's Tim Brown to set up George's touchdown, was named the most valuable player. It was his ninth Pro Bowl appearance.

"They called my number and asked me if I could do a quarterback sneak," said Moon, who was 4-for-8 for 89 yards. I said, 'Sure, I've done a lot of them in my career.' I got a good takeoff by the line and just punched it over.

"You never think you're out of a game until it's over. I have confidence in my ability and I have great players around me. It's just a matter of making things click. Without a lot of practice time, you never know how things are going to work out."

AFC head coach Bill Cowher, who called a fake punt in the third quarter that led to the AFC's second touchdown, didn't think the sneak was that much of a gamble.

"Even though he's older than I am," the 40-year-old Cowher said, "I thought he could run the quarterback sneak pretty well.

"It was kind of nice knowing Warren Moon was the guy coming in for us in the fourth quarter with all his experience. He is such a good player."

By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Oakland's Steve Wisniewski and Minnesota's
John Randle mix it up.

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Unfortunately for NFC head coach Steve Mariucci, he couldn't make the same claim for Atlanta Falcons quarterback Chris Chandler. Like Moon, he was a last-second replacement. But unlike the Seahawks veteran, it was his first Pro Bowl appearance.

"It was kind of tough out there," said Chandler, who fumbled the exchange from center to set up Moon's winning score. "You feel kind of bad because we played so well in the first half. They took advantage of our mistakes."

With the NFC leading, 24-17, Tampa Bay running back Warrick Dunn fumbled the ball at the AFC 49. It was recovered by Seattle's Darryl Williams. Moon took over from there.

On a second-and-20 from the AFC 39, Moon hit Brown on a crossing pattern. NFC cornerback Darrell Green raced across the field to knock Brown out of bounds at the 4.

"We were in man on that play and Tim just broke clean underneath," Green said. "I was lucky I was able to get him out of bounds. I feel disappointed with the loss, but nothing could take away from my week here. Who knows? This may be my last time trip to Hawaii."

George scored on the next play, setting up a decision for Cowher. With 2:31 left in the game, he decided to go for two points on the conversion attempt. But it failed when Moon's pass to Andre Rison, who caught a 17-yard touchdown pass from Mark Brunell in the first half, was too high.

"I had him too tight and it was too close to the sideline for them to make the completion," NFC cornerback Cris Dishman said. "At that point, I figured we had it."

But Chandler fumbled the exchange to set up Moon's sneak to give the AFC a five-point win in a game dominated by the NFC in the first half.

By Blaine Fergerstrom, Star-Bulletin Webmaster
Aloha Stadium was sold out yesterday. This is a Quicktime VR
"fan's-eye view" from high in the yellow section. Click and
drag your cursor around in the photo to view the entire stadium.
Quicktime software can be downloaded here.

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On the opening drive, NFC quarterback Steve Young kept the AFC defense off balance with a good mixture of running and passing plays.

He completed a 21-yard pass to Carolina Panthers tight end Wesley Walls on third down, and ended the 11-play drive with a 22-yard touchdown toss to wide receiver Herman Moore of the Detroit Lions.

The AFC came back to tie it on Rison's touchdown grab, but Young changed that in a hurry. He took his team 71 yards on only seven plays to give the NFC the lead. Young culminated the drive with a 36-yard touchdown toss to Arizona wide receiver Rob Moore.

Young faked a reverse to Minnesota receiver Cris Carter, then dropped back in the pocket and threw a perfect pass to Rob Moore, who was wide open.

The NFC built on the 14-7 lead later in the second quarter when Green Bay running back Dorsey Levens scored from 12 yards out to culminate the eight-play, 61-yard drive just before the half.

Levens became the first Green Bay back to score in the Pro Bowl since John Brockington in 1973. The touchdown run gave the NFC a comfortable 21-7 lead at the half.

"At that point, we were in control," Mariucci said. "But any time you have three turnovers in the final eight minutes, it makes it very difficult to win."

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More in Notebook

Box Score

AFC 29, NFC 24

NFC  	7	14	0	3--24
AFC  	7	0	7	15--29

First quarter
NFC--H. Moore 22 pass from Young (Hanson kick), 9:35.
AFC--Rison 17 pass from Brunell (Hollis kick), 0:30.

Second quarter
NFC--R. Moore 36 pass from Young (Hanson kick), 12:10.
NFC--Levens 12 run (Hanson kick), 1:36.

Third quarter
AFC--Smith 14 pass from Bledsoe (Hollis kick), 11:31.

Fourth quarter
NFC--FG Hanson 35, 14:19.
AFC--FG Hollis 48, 8:51.
AFC--George 4 run (pass failed), 2:31.
AFC--Moon 1 run (pass failed), 1:49.
A--49,995.

Team statistics

   	NFC	AFC	
First downs 	19	20
Rushes-yards 	33-107	34-110
Passing  	197	254
Punt Returns 	3-28	2-10
Kickoff Returns 	6-122	5-109
Interceptions Ret. 	0-0	0-0
Comp-Att-Int 	14-36-0	15-33-0
Sacked-Yards Lost 	4-15	0-0
Punts  	3-36.0	4-40.0
Fumbles-Lost 	3-3	3-3
Penalties-Yards 	3-20	7-37
Time of Possession 	32:22	27:38

Individual statistics

Rushing--NFC: Dunn 11-26, Levens 6-24, Sanders 7-22, Alstott 4-14, Young 2-20, Chandler 3-1. AFC: George 12-43, Bettis 11-34, Davis 6-27, Metcalf 1-6, Brunell 1-2, Moon 2-0, Brown 1-(-2).

Passing--NFC: Young 5-11-0--103, Dilfer 8-18-0--98, Chandler 1-7-0--11. AFC: Brunell 6-11-0--98, Bledsoe 5-14-0--67, Moon 4-8-0--89.

Receiving--NFC: Fryar 3-46, Walls 3-36, R. Moore 2-47, Carter 2-12, Alstott 1-23, H. Moore 1-22, Chmura 1-16, Dunn 1-10. AFC: Brown 5-129, Smith 2-31, Anders 2-29, Bettis 2-9, George 1-23, Rison 1-17, Coates 1-8, Metcalf 1-8.

Missed field goals--NFC: Hanson 44.

Pro Bowl Results 1971 -- NFC 27, AFC 6 1972 -- AFC 26, NFC 13 1973 -- AFC 33, NFC 28 1974 -- AFC 15, NFC 13 1975 -- NFC 17, AFC 10 1976 -- NFC 23, AFC 20 1977 -- AFC 24, NFC 14 1978 -- NFC 14, AFC 13 1979 -- NFC 13, AFC 7 1980 -- NFC 37, AFC 27 1981 -- NFC 21, AFC 7 1982 -- AFC 16, NFC 13 1983 -- NFC 20, AFC 19 1984 -- NFC 45, AFC 3 1985 -- AFC 22, NFC 14 1986 -- NFC 28, AFC 24 1987 -- AFC 10, NFC 6 1988 -- AFC 15, NFC 6 1989 -- AFC 34, NFC 3 1990 -- NFC 27, AFC 21 1991 -- AFC 23, NFC 21 1992 -- NFC 21, AFC 15 1993 -- AFC 23, NFC 20, OT 1994 -- NFC 17, AFC 3 1995 -- AFC 41, NFC 13 1996 -- NFC 20, AFC 13 1997 -- AFC 26, NFC 23, OT 1998 -- AFC 29, NFC 24 Pro Bowl MVPs Most Outstanding Player Award-winners since the Pro Bowl began in 1971 (in 1971 and 72, an outstanding back and an outstanding lineman were chosen): 1971 -- Back-Mel Renfro, WR, Dallas; Lineman-Fred Carr, LB, Green Bay 1972 -- Back-Jan Stenerud, PK, Kansas City; Lineman-Willie Lanier, LB, Kansas City 1973 -- O.J Simpson, RB, Buffalo 1974 -- Garo Yepremian, PK, Miami 1975 -- James Harris, QB, Los Angeles 1976 -- Billy "White Shoes" Johnson, WR, Houston 1977 -- Mel Blount, DB, Pittsburgh 1978 -- Walter Payton, RB, Chicago 1979 -- Ahmad Rashad, WR, Minnesota 1980 -- Chuck Muncie, RB, New Orleans 1981 -- Ed Murray, PK, Detroit 1982 -- Lee Roy Selmon, DE, Tampa Bay, and Kellen Winslow, TE, San Diego 1983 -- Dan Fouts, QB, San Diego, and John Jefferson, WR, Green Bay 1984 -- Joe Theismann, QB, Washington 1985 -- Mark Gastineau, DE, New York Jets 1986 -- Phil Simms, QB, New York Giants 1987 -- Reggie White, DE, Philadelphia 1988 -- Bruce Smith, DE, Buffalo 1989 -- Randall Cunningham, QB, Philadelphia 1990 -- Jerry Gray, CB, Los Angeles Rams 1991 -- Jim Kelly, QB, Buffalo 1992 -- Michael Irvin, WR, Dallas 1993 -- Steve Tasker, WR, Buffalo 1994 -- Andre Rison, WR, Atlanta 1995 -- Marshall Faulk, RB, Indianapolis 1996 -- Jerry Rice, WR, San Francisco 1997 -- Mark Brunell, QB, Jacksonville 1998 -- Warren Moon, QB, Seattle