AFC 38 - NFC 17
(February 4, 2001)

The 2001 Pro Bowl was a demonstration of the West Coast offense by an old master of the system and a new pupil. The AFC coach was John Gruden of the Raiders and the NFC was coached by Dennis Green of the Vikings. The attendance in Honolulu was 50,301. It was the second sellout crowd in the history of the game.

Oakland’s Rich Gannon played only in the first quarter, but accounted for two touchdowns while demonstrating the effectiveness of the West Coast offense. The first score was an 8 yard strike to Kansas City Chiefs' tight end and former teammate Tony Gonzales. The second strike to Marvin Harrison of the Indianapolis Colts was from 16 yards out and gave the AFC a 14 point advantage. In the second quarter, Peyton Manning of Indianapolis, who had been studying the offense all week in practice, took over for Gannon and didn't miss a snap. After the sides traded field goals, Baltimore’s Matt Stover from 29 and Tampa’s Martin Gramatica from 48, Manning hit the Jag’s Jimmy Smith with a 2 yard touchdown pass to make the score AFC, 24-3 at the half.

The NFC tried to get back in the game when Philadelphia’s Donovan McNabb led a quick sprint to the end zone on the opening drive of the second half, throwing a 17 yard TD pass to Terrell Owens of San Francisco. But, Manning responded with a drive of his own. It ended with a 24 yard scoring pass to Harrison. Dante Culpepper of the Vikings countered with a 20 yard scoring pass to Torry Holt of St. Louis to make it 31-17 with 3:22 left in the third. In the 4th quarter, the Colt’s Edgerrin James ran it in from 20 yards out with 11:19 remaining to lock it up. The final was 38-17.

Named the Pro Bowl's most valuable player, Gannon overcame a shoulder injury suffered in the loss to Baltimore in the AFC championship game. He was in the game for only 19 plays. He completed 12 of 14 passes, including his first eight, for 160 yards and two touchdowns. Manning completed 16 of 22 attempts for 150 yards. Randall McDaniel also made his 12th straight start, 11 with the Vikings and this year as member of the Buccaneers. The NFC attempted a Pro Bowl record 56 passes; the old mark was 55, by the NFC in 1993. The teams combined for 98 passing attempts, four more than the previous record, set in 1983.

ROSTER