A game ripe with scoring and turnovers—seven of each, in fact—the 2022 Pro Bowl at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium delivered exactly what everyone expected as the AFC notched its fifth straight victory, 41-35, in the penultimate game of the NFL season.
Colts linebacker Darius Leonard took a Kyler Murray interception to pay dirt on the sixth play of the game, and the AFC never trailed the rest of the afternoon.
The Pro Bowl is notorious for lacking big hits, but not big picks. Quarterbacks Murray, Kirk Cousins, Russell Wilson and Patrick Mahomes all threw interceptions in the first quarter, with Mahomes’ also being returned for a score.
Cousins was stripped by T.J. Watt on the first play of the second quarter, also resulting in a Myles Garrett touchdown. Mac Jones also threw a pick, and Wilson threw another.
Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby, making his Pro Bowl debut, batted down three Murray passes in the first half and sacked Cousins, finishing with five tackles, three for a loss, two sacks, three passes defenses and the Most Valuable Defensive Player award.
Justin Herbert, also making his Pro Bowl debut, was the only QB without a first-half interception; he was 7 of 10 for 98 yards and hit Ravens tight end Mark Andrews for a pair of scores before finally succumbing to the interception monster on his final toss of the second half. He took home Offensive MVP honors.
Also making its debut was the experimental fourth-and-15-alternative-to-the-kickoff rule, which allows a scoring team the option to convert a fourth-and-15 play from its own 25 in lieu of trying an onside kick. The experiment needs some tinkering, as the teams went a combined 0 for 8 on such plays. That doesn’t bode well for its potential inclusion in regular-season games.
