NFL: Pro Bowl in Orlando: AFC triumphs after chase to catch up

The AFC team has won the NFL Allstar game after an exciting race to catch up. A week before the 52nd. Super Bowl, the quarterbacks Derek Carr (Oakland Raiders), Ben Roethlisberger (Pittsburgh Steelers) and Alex Smith (Kansas City Chiefs) led their team at the Camping-World Stadium in Orlando/Florida to a 23:24 defeat of the AFC.

Carr threw the touchdown to equalize Delanie Walker (Tennessee Titans) 2:13 minutes before the end, kicker Chris Boswell (Pittsburgh) scored an extra point, which was enough for the tight AFC victory. The NFC had long been looking for a win for the NFC, with playmakers Russell Wilson (Seattle Seahawks), Drew Brees (New Orleans Saints) and Jared Goff (Los Angeles Rams) leading the match at half-time 20-3.

Brees threw a touchdown pass, Kicker Graham Gano from the Carolina Panthers scored three field goals. The NFC also benefited from a Roethlisberger intercepted pass that Harrison Smith carried into the final zone. Quarterback Smith, who held the AFC with a touchdown pass in the third quarter, did better.

The Pro Bowl took place for the second time in Orlando, and between 1980 and 2016 the match was played 35 times at Aloha Stadium in Hawaii. Last year, the NFL had also returned to the old NFC versus AFC format.