Brandon Marshall caught six passes for 176 yards and a Pro Bowl-record four touchdowns as the American Football Conference (AFC) used a second-half surge to beat the National Football Conference (NFC) 59-41 on Sunday.
The Miami Dolphins wide receiver had a touchdown catch in each quarter, including an early 74-yard pass and a three-yard pass in the fourth, in a game filled with highlight-reel catches. He was selected the game’s Most Valuable Player and his four touchdown catches set a Pro Bowl record.
The 59 points by the AFC set a Pro Bowl mark and the 100 points scored by the two teams combined was the second-highest, a touchdown shy of the 107 scored in 2004.
However, it was clear from the start it was Marshall’s day. He hauled in a deflected, go-ahead 47-yard touchdown pass from Andy Dalton, while on his back, to give the AFC a 38-35 lead late in the third quarter. It was Marshall’s third touchdown catch of the game, tying Jimmy Smith’s Pro Bowl record set in 2004.
Marshall, making his third Pro Bowl appearance, then nabbed a three-yard touchdown pass from Dalton that gave the AFC a 52-35 lead with 8 minutes, 25 seconds left and put the game away.
The game featured 36 first--timers, including rookie quarterbacks Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers and Dalton of the Cincinnati Bengals, who replaced Super Bowl quarterbacks Eli Manning and Tom Brady. Their selection made this Pro Bowl the first to feature two rookie signal callers.
While Dalton looked composed, Newton played horribly — struggling to move the ball, stay in the pocket and find his targets, which drew some boos from the sun-splashed, sellout crowd of 48,423.
Newton finished nine of 27 for 186 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Dalton, meanwhile, was seven of nine for 99 yards and two touchdowns.
On his first series, Newton overthrew a wide-open Tony Gonzalez over the middle, with the ball sailing into Eric Weddle’s hands. The San Diego Chargers’ safety popped up to his feet and returned it 63 yards to the NFC 23, leading to a 37-yard field goal by Sebastian -Janikowski, which gave the AFC its first lead of the game at 31-28.
Newton recovered on the next series, airing out a 55-yard go-ahead touchdown pass to Panthers teammate Steve Smith, making it 34-31. However, he was intercepted again on the next series.
With the Pro Bowlers unable to get out of third gear — particularly on the offensive and defensive lines — and hitting each other as though they were having a pillow fight, the Pro Bowl featured some good, bad and real ugly — sometimes on the same play. For example, Aaron Rodgers caught a pass from himself. His throw was deflected at the line and he leaped to catch the ball and backpedaled for a 15-yard loss.
Rodgers was 13 of 17 for 141 yards and two touchdowns, giving him a quarterback rating of 139.6, higher than his NFL record 122.5 rating during the season. However, he was watching late in the game as Newton struggled.
The NFC had three players with 100-yard yard receiving: Gonzalez (seven for 114), Larry Fitzgerald (six for 111) and Smith (five for 118).
TOOTHLESS: Bologna never looked like finding a way back, and Antonio Conte and his substitutes were waiting to celebrate long before the final whistle SSC Napoli on Monday lifted the Italian Supercoppa with a 2-0 win over Bologna in Riyadh, David Neres netting both goals to earn the league champions a deserved victory over the toothless Coppa Italia winners. Neres opened the scoring with a stunning strike from distance six minutes before halftime and found the net again in the 57th minute when Bologna were caught trying to play out of defense. “We came here as champions of Italy, we wanted this trophy and we showed it with a great performance,” Napoli forward Matteo Politano told Mediaset. “We could have scored a few more goals, but
Backup quarterback Luke Weaver on Wednesday night threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Nick Cenacle with 10 seconds left, as the University of Hawaii rallied for a 35-31 comeback victory over the University of California, Berkeley in a thrilling Hawaii Bowl. Weaver entered the game after Micah Alejado took a hard hit on the previous play. With the Rainbow Warriors (9-4) in range for a tying field goal, coach Timmy Chang took a shot at the end zone, and Cenacle got between two defensive backs and made the contested catch. “How amazing is that?” Chang said. “It’s a program that is built
Hosts Morocco on Friday were held to a 1-1 draw by Mali at the Africa Cup of Nations, ending their world record run of wins and leaving them still to make sure of progress to the next stage. Midfielder Brahim Diaz tucked away a penalty in stoppage-time at the end of the first half, but Mali equalized from the spot midway through the second half through Lassine Sinayoko. Both penalties were awarded after video reviews in a tempestuous clash at the end of a busy day of action at the tournament. Morocco were atop the Group A standings with four points, while Zambia,
An astounding 20 wickets fell on a frantic first day of the fourth Ashes Test yesterday, with Australia all out for 152 before storming back to dismiss England for 110 and leave the clash on a knife-edge. England skipper Ben Stokes won a key toss on a green track and his quicks feasted after sending in the hosts under overcast skies in front of 94,199 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was the biggest cricket crowd ever at the cavernous arena, exceeding the 93,013 who watched the 2015 World Cup final, and they witnessed the home side collapse with Josh Tongue
RSS