NFC 28

AFC 24

February 2, 1986

The 1986 Pro Bowl was attended by 50,101 fans at the Aloha Bowl. The coaches for the game were Don Shula of Miami for the AFC and John Robinson of the L.A. Rams for the NFC. The NFC dug a big hole for themselves by the half and it looked very bleak.

The AFC took an early lead on the Raiders’ Marcus Allen’s 2 yard run in the first quarter. The NFC came back to tie it early in the second quarter when Joey Browner of Minnesota intercepted Dan Fouts of the Chargers and returned it 48 yards for a touchdown. The AFC responded with an Allen option pass to Wes Chandler of San Diego covering 51 yards. The score was suddenly 14-7 and the AFC wasn’t finished. Pittsburgh’s Gary Anderson kicked a 34 yard field goal for the AFC after Rulon Jones of Denver recovered a fumble by Chicago’s Jim McMahon at the NFC ten yard line. Next, McMahon threw an interception to Louie Wright of Denver who returned it 12 yards to the NFC 19. Ken O’Brien of the Jets hit Pittsburgh’s Louis Lipps with an 11 yard touchdown pass to make the halftime score a comfortable 24-7 in favor of the AFC. But, the fireworks were just beginning.

Phil Simms of the Giants, who was alternating in the first half with McMahon, assumed full second half duties when McMahon was injured. Simms hit Washington’s Art Monk on a 15 yard scoring route culminating a 49 yard drive for the only points of the third quarter. The score was 24-14 heading into the fourth period. Following a poor punt by Rohn Stark of the Colts, Simms then hit Dallas’ Doug Cosbie on a 2 yard scoring pass with 11:49 to play to pull the NFC to within 3 at 24-21. The AFC then moved deep into NFC territory before Mike Singletary of the Bears intercepted an O’Brien pass in the end zone. Simms then took the NFC 80 yards, hitting key third down passes of 19 yards to Green Bay’s James Lofton and 17 yards to Monk. Simms finished the drive with a 15 yard touchdown pass to Jimmie Giles of Tampa Bay with 2:47 left in the game.
 

Simms had brought the NFC from a 17-point halftime deficit to a 28-24 victory. In doing so, he completed 15 of 27 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns and was named the player of the game.

Marcus Allen unleashes his 51 yard option pass to Wes Chandler for a second quarter touchdown.

Tampa Bay's Jimmie Giles catches the game winning touchdown pass from Phil Simms.

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