Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 8, 1993 TAG: 9302080112
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: HONOLULU LENGTH: Medium
MEASURE OF REVENGE FOR AFC
Howie Long recovered a fumble by Steve Young to set up the winning points, a 33-yard field goal by Nick Lowery that gave the AFC a 23-20 overtime victory over the NFC in the Pro Bowl on Sunday.Young made the costly fumble just minutes after his dramatic touchdown pass to Rodney Hampton forced the overtime.
Kansas City's Derrick Thomas caught Young from behind and Long, of the Los Angeles Raiders, fell on the fumble at the National Football Conference's 28-yard line.
After three running plays, Lowery made his third field goal of the game to win the all-star contest after 4:09 of overtime.
San Francisco's Young, scrambling on fourth-and-12 with time running out in regulation, found the Giants' Hampton open at the goal line, drilled the ball to him and Hampton stepped into the end zone with 10 seconds remaining. New Orleans' Morten Andersen kicked the extra point to draw the NFC into a 20-20 tie and force the overtime.
Buffalo's Steve Tasker, who blocked a punt the previous week in the Super Bowl, blocked Andersen's field goal try earlier in the fourth quarter and Terry McDaniel scooped up the ball and ran 28 yards to put the American Football Conference ahead 20-13 with eight minutes remaining.
The AFC had turned another blocked Andersen field goal into its first touchdown, in the closing seconds of the first half.
The second time, Andersen was kicking from 53 yards out when Tasker broke though, blocked the ball up the field and batted it along trying to get possession. The Los Angeles Raiders' McDaniel caught up with the play, grabbed the ball and ran the rest of the way to break a 13-13 tie with eight minutes remaining.
A few moments earlier, Tasker had forced a fumble on a punt return by the NFC's Johnny Bailey of Phoenix, but the AFC failed to capitalize on that turnover.
The AFC came up with a goal-line stand late in the third quarter, with the game tied at 13-13 and the NFC on the 2-yard line after a 48-yard pass from Green Bay's Brett Favre to Jerry Rice of San Francisco. The AFC defenders yielded just 1 yard on the first three plays, then stopped Rickey Watters for no gain on fourth down.
Lowery kicked his second field goal, a 29-yarder, midway through the third quarter to tie it at 13. Buffalo strong safety Henry Jones intercepted Troy Aikman's pass at the AFC 26 and returned it to the NFC 42 to set up the field goal.
Lowery, of the Kansas City Chiefs, had kicked a 42-yard field goal with no time on the clock to make it 13-10 in a wild finish to the first half.
After Dallas' Aikman marched the NFC from its own 27 to the AFC 25 in a drive that took just 44 seconds, Andersen attempted a 42-yard field goal 19 seconds before halftime. But San Diego's Leslie O'Neal blocked the kick and Bryan Cox of Miami picked up the ball and ran to the NFC 35.
With eight seconds left, Warren Moon completed an 11-yard pass to Oilers' teammate Haywood Jeffires and Jeffires stepped out of bounds. The clock showed no time, most of the players headed to the locker room and technicians began dragging sets for the halftime show onto the field.
But the referees ruled there should be two seconds remaining. The teams returned to the field, the halftime sets were hauled off, and Lowery made the field goal.
Aikman staked the NFC to a 13-7 lead after replacing Young earlier in the quarter. Aikman drove his team 54 yards, completing his first six passes and capping the drive with an 11-yard scoring pass to Dallas teammate Michael Irvin.
Andersen's 37-yard field goal midway through the second quarter cut the NFC's deficit to 7-6. Young directed the 58-yard drive, with a 23-yard run by the Cowboys' Emmitt Smith a key play on the march.
San Diego linebacker Junior Seau gave the AFC a 7-3 lead early in the second period when he intercepted Young's pass into the left flat at the 31-yard line and ran untouched to the end zone.
The officials ruled after the play that the AFC was in an illegal defense, according to special Pro Bowl rules. But there was no penalty, only a warning.
Young drove the NFC to a field goal on its first possession, a 65-yard march that ended with Andersen's 27-yard kick.