NFC 55 - AFC 52
(February 8, 2004)

It is impossible to adequately describe what transpired the 2004 Pro Bowl. The game was an explosion of talent unlike any before it. The total attendance at Aloha Stadium was 50,127. The coaches were Andy Reid of the Eagles and Tony Dungy of Indianapolis.

On the AFC's first offensive play, Steve McNair of the Titans faked a handoff to the Ravens' Jamal Lewis and then found a wide-open Chad Johnson of Cincinnati behind the NFC secondary. The 90 yard TD pass play was the third longest in Pro Bowl history. Cincinnati's Jeff Blake and Pittsburgh's Yancey Thigpen hooked up for a 93-yard play in the 1996 game and Cecil Isbell hit Don Hutson for 98 yards in 1940. Just four plays later, Ed Reed of the Ravens blocked a punt by Carolina's Todd Sauerbrun. Reed pick up the bouncing ball and ran it into the end zone for a 14-0 lead. The NFC came back on Seattle’s Shaun Alexander’s 12 yard run and a 28 yard field goal by Jeff Wilkins of the Rams. Indianapolis’ Mike Vanderjagt matched Wilkens with a 27 yard field goal and the score at the end of the first quarter was AFC 17, NFC 14. In the second quarter, Wilkens again connected on a 38 yard field goal. But, Peyton Manning of Indianapolis threw two scoring passes of 50 yards to teammate Marvin Harrison and 9 yards to Kansas City’s Tony Gonzalez with :54 remaining in the half. The halftime score was 31-13.

In the third quarter, The AFC added to the lead when Jamal Lewis scored on a 22 yard run. The score had ballooned to 38-13. The NFC attempted to claw their way back into it with a 12 yard touchdown pass the Ram’s Marc Bulger to Rams teammate Torry Holt. Two minutes later, Bulger came back with a 2 yard aerial TD to Tampa’s Keenan McCardell. The score at the end of the third period was 38-27. The AFC struck first in the 4th quarter when Kansas City’s Trent Green connected with Denver’s Clinton Portis for a 23 yard touchdown pass. The score was 45-27. Then the NFC’s explosion came.

With 12:54 remaining in the game, Bulger hit Atlanta’s Alge Crumpler with a 33 yard touchdown pass. At 5:43, he hit Shaun Alexander with a 5 yard scoring pass. The two-point conversion attempt failed. With 4:50 to play, Detroit’s Dre Bly returned an interception of a Manning pass 32 yards for the go-ahead score. Ahman Green carried for the two point conversion and the NFC led 48-45. They had erased an 18 point deficit in 8 minutes. With 3:32 remaining, Shaun Alexander scored from 2 yards to make the score 55-45. The AFC scored again when Manning hit Pittsburgh’s Hines Ward with a 10 yard touchdown pass and the AFC wasn’t through. Miami's Brock Marion intercepted a Bulger pass 5 yards deep in his own end zone and ran it back to the AFC 22. Manning was on the move again with 1:15 and no timeouts left. He found Ward once more, as well as Colts teammate Marvin Harrison for two big catches, and an interference call on Bly against Harrison put the ball on the NFC 21. But, Carolina defensive tackle Kris Jenkins sacked Manning to push the ball back to the NFC 33 yard line with six seconds left in the game and the NFC up by three points. Vanderjagt, 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 final score was NFC 55, AFC 52.

Marc Bulger threw a Pro Bowl record four TD passes and was named the game’s MVP. He completed 12 of 21 passes for 152 yards. Shaun Alexander became just the fourth player to score three TD's in a Pro Bowl and the NFC scored 28 straight points in the fourth to set the scoring record for a single team. Johnson, Cincinnati’s brash receiver, had five receptions for 156 yards. Bulger’s St. Louis teammate, Torry Holt, caught seven passes for 128 yards and a score.

A total of at least 15 Pro Bowl offensive records were set. With 42 points in the helter-skelter fourth quarter, the teams easily topped the 82 total points scored in 2000 (51 by the NFC, the previous team high) and they set another record with 1,022 total yards, including 300 in the fourth quarter. The teams also set records with seven touchdowns apiece. League co-MVP Peyton Manning established records with 22 completions, 41 attempts and 342 yards passing. 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.

ROSTER