The AFC-NFC Pro Bowl on February 7, 1993 was played before 50,007 fans at Aloha Stadium on a sunny day with intermittent clouds. It marked the 14th consecutive year that the game was played in Honolulu. Coaches were Don Shula of the Dolphins for the AFC and San Francisco’s George Seifert for the NFC.
The NFC took the opening kickoff and drove 65 yards in 14
plays. QB Steve Young of the 49ers scrambled for eight yards in a
third-and-three situation and completed five passes, the longest to his San
Francisco teammate, TE Brent Jones, for 17 yards. The advance finally stalled
at the AFC 10 and Morten Andersen of the Saints kicked a 27-yard field goal.
The AFC punted following their first series but got the
ball back four plays later when a Young pass was intercepted by Denver FS Steve
Atwater at the AFC 29. Miami QB Dan Marino completed consecutive throws to WR
Anthony Miller of the Chargers for 16 yards and Houston WR Haywood Jeffires for
11 to get the ball into NFC territory, but a holding penalty moved them back,
and on third down Marino was sacked by Minnesota DE Chris Doleman for a 15-yard
loss, resulting in a punt.
The AFC managed to get on the scoreboard when, on the
first play of the second quarter, LB Junior Seau of the Chargers intercepted a
Young pass and returned it 31 yards for a touchdown. Kansas City’s Nick Lowery
added the extra point to give the AFC a 7-3 lead. The NFC responded with a
10-play, 58-yard possession. An illegal blitz (an infraction specific to the
Pro Bowl) on the AFC converted a third down and Dallas RB Emmitt Smith broke
away for a 23-yard gain to the AFC 34. The NFC converted another third down
before the drive came to an end at the AFC 20 and Andersen kicked a 37-yard
field goal to narrow the score to 7-6.
QB Troy Aikman of the champion Cowboys (pictured at right) was behind center
for the next NFC series and came out throwing, hitting on three straight passes
to pick up 25 yards, two of them to his Dallas teammate, WR Michael Irvin. The
nine-play drive covered 54 yards and ended with Aikman passing to Irvin once
more for a nine-yard TD. Andersen converted and the NFC took a 13-7 lead.
The AFC went three-and-out and punted, and with 56
seconds remaining in the first half, Aikman again went to the air, connecting
with Atlanta WR Andre Rison for 18 yards, RB Barry Sanders of the Lions for 19,
and Rison again for 11 yards. But Aikman’s next two passes fell incomplete,
with a Sanders run for no gain in between, and Andersen’s field goal try was
blocked by DE Leslie O’Neal of the Chargers and returned by Miami LB Bryan Cox
to the NFC 35.
Houston QB Warren Moon completed a pass to Jeffires and
it appeared that time had run out in the half before the receiver got out of
bounds. Players began to head to the locker room and technicians started to
pull sets for the halftime show onto the field. But the officials ruled that
there were still two seconds remaining and the field was cleared. On the final
play of the half, Lowery booted a 42-yard field goal and the NFC margin was
narrowed to 13-10 at halftime.
The AFC started the third quarter off with a short series
and punted. On the NFC’s third play, Aikman threw to Dallas TE Jay Novacek for
26 yards, but after Sanders ran twice to gain another 14 yards, Aikman’s next
pass was picked off by SS Henry Jones of the Bills, who returned it 32 yards to
the NFC 42. With Pittsburgh RB Barry Foster (pictured at top) running effectively and his
teammate with the Steelers, QB Neil O’Donnell, completing a pass, the AFC
reached the 11 before settling for a 29-yard Lowery field goal to tie the score
at 13-13.
Atlanta CB Deion Sanders returned the ensuing kickoff 46
yards and the NFC started with good field position near midfield. QB Brett
Favre of the Packers was in the game and misfired on his first three passes
before connecting with San Francisco WR Jerry Rice for 48 yards to the AFC two.
RB Ricky Watters of the 49ers lost two yards on first down and, while Rice
picked up three yards on a short toss from Favre, the AFC defense held as Favre
was stuffed for no gain on a quarterback sneak and, on fourth down, Watters
dove for the end zone and came up short.
The AFC had possession as the game headed into the fourth
quarter. O’Donnell completed passes to Houston WR Ernest Givins for six yards
and WR Andre Reed of the Bills for nine, but the AFC had to punt. RB Johnny
Bailey of the Cardinals returned the kick but fumbled when hit by Buffalo WR
Steve Tasker, the AFC’s special teams representative, and punter Rohn Stark of
the Colts recovered at the AFC 39. However, on the next play O’Donnell’s pass
was intercepted by Phoenix SS Tim McDonald.
The NFC punted for the first (and only) time following a
short series and a 20-yard return by Indianapolis WR Clarence Verdin had
another 15 yards tacked on for unnecessary roughness. Starting at the NFC 37,
the AFC netted a yard in three plays and Lowery missed a 54-yard field goal
attempt.
Favre threw to WR Fred Barnett of the Eagles for 16 yards
on first down and the NFC maintained possession when an apparent interception
was nullified by a pass interference penalty. Favre was sacked by DE Howie Long
of the Raiders on third down and that set up another big play for the AFC on
special teams. A field goal try by Andersen was blocked by Tasker and CB Terry
McDaniel of the Raiders recovered and ran 28 yards for a touchdown. Lowery
converted and the AFC was back in front by 20-13 with eight minutes left in
regulation.
Young was back at quarterback for the NFC and he threw to
Irvin for 19 yards and ran for eight. Sanders ran for six yards and it was
Young to Irvin again for 12 to the AFC 35, but a holding penalty backed the NFC
up and the next two passes were incomplete before Young was intercepted by
Buffalo CB Nate Odomes.
The AFC punted following the next series and the NFC took
over at its 22 with less than three minutes remaining on the clock. Young threw
to Rice for 16 yards but was sacked by DE Neil Smith of the Chiefs for a loss
of eight. Two plays later, he passed to Brent Jones for 16 yards and a first
down and, after another sack, connected with Rison for 18. Throws to Novacek
and Rison got the ball to the AFC 20, but the next two passes were incomplete
and Young was sacked by Cox on third down. Facing fourth down and with time
running out, a scrambling Young completed a throw to RB Rodney Hampton of the
Giants at the goal line for a 23-yard touchdown with ten seconds remaining in
regulation. Andersen tied the score at 20-20 with the point after and, with the
score tied at 20-20 at the end of four quarters, the game went into overtime.
The NFC won the toss and had the first possession in
overtime, but Young fumbled when caught from behind by Kansas City LB Derrick
Thomas while scrambling and Long recovered for the AFC at the NFC 28. Foster
ran the ball four times to reach the NFC 16 before Lowery came on to kick the
game-winning 33-yard field goal at 4:09 into OT. The AFC won the first overtime
Pro Bowl game by a final score of 23-20.
The NFC far outgained the AFC (472 yards to 114) and also
had big margins in first downs (30 to 9) and offensive plays (90 to 50).
However, the NFC turned the ball over six times, to one suffered by the AFC,
and the AFC had both an interception and blocked field goal returned for
touchdowns.
Dan Marino completed just three of nine passes for 31
yards and Neil O’Donnell had the most completed passes for the AFC, with four,
out of seven attempts for 23 yards with one intercepted. Barry Foster rushed
for 57 yards on 15 carries to lead the team by far (runner-up was RB Harold
Green of the Bengals with nine yards on four attempts). Haywood Jeffires led
the receivers with three catches for 26 yards and Anthony Miller contributed 23
yards on his two receptions. Steve Tasker (pictured below) was named the game’s MVP as he
accounted for four tackles, a forced fumble, and a blocked kick. Regularly
recognized for his outstanding play on special teams, Tasker was appearing in
his fourth of an eventual seven Pro Bowls.
For the NFC, Steve Young was successful on 18 of 32
throws for 196 yards and a TD, but gave up three interceptions and had the
disastrous fumble in overtime. He also led the team in rushing with 34 yards on
six carries. Troy Aikman was 10-of-15 for 120 yards with a touchdown and an
interception and Brett Favre, making his first Pro Bowl appearance, completed
four of eight passes for 74 yards with no TDs or pickoffs. Andre Rison had 8
catches for 80 yards and Jerry Rice gained 78 yards on his four receptions
while Michael Irvin scored a TD among his 5 catches for 59 yards.
The game marked the first time that the Pro Bowl went
into overtime and reduced the NFC’s lead in the series to 13-10 since going to
the AFC vs. NFC format following the 1970 AFL/NFL merger.
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