NEW NFL ALL-STAR GAME: DeMarco Murray’s late TD lifts Team Jerry Rice to 2014 NFL Pro Bowl win

The NFL wanted a better Pro Bowl. And it got it.

Criticized in recent years for players not giving full effort and for the games getting too high-scoring and too different from the regular product we see each Sunday, this year’s Pro Bowl was a different story.

Whether it was the unconferenced format, which pitted regular-season teammates against each other for the first time, or the competitive draft from alumni captains Jerry Rice and Deion Sanders, or maybe just the threat from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell last year that the players needed to pick it up or the game could be discontinued, the 2014 Pro Bowl was a lot more entertaining.

In the end, Team Rice defeated Team Sanders 22-21 with a late touchdown from DeMarco Murray with just 41 seconds to play. A two-point conversion run Carolina’s Mike Tolbert gave Team Rice the lead. A 67-yard field goal attempt by Baltimore’s Justin Tucker fell short, giving Rice the win.

Eagles QB Nick Foles was named Offensive MVP and Kansas City linebacker Derrick Johnson took home the Defensive MVP honors.

The Dallas Cowboys originally had only two players – Tyron Smith and Dez Bryant – voted into the game. But in the last two weeks, three players were added as alternates. The Cowboys had a total five on the field tonight.

Here’s a quick look how each player fared in the game.

Dez Bryant – Playing in his first Pro Bowl, the receiver wasn’t a huge factor for Team Sanders. He had two catches for 12 yards but did have a chance to score in the third quarter but dropped a fourth-down pass right at the goal line.

Jason Witten – For most of the game, Witten was a non-factor but he did have two catches – his only two – in the final minute of the game as Team Sanders drove for the win. Although he did start, he gave way to Cleveland’s Jordan Cameron, who ultimately caught the game-winning score late in the fourth. Witten has now played in nine Pro Bowls in his 11-year career.

Tyron Smith – The first-time Pro Bowler started for Team Rice but played the entire game at right tackle after playing the season on the left side. Smith had a false start penalty early in the game but clearly had some issues blocking Houston’s J.J. Watt and a stiff pass-rush by Team Sanders, which had four sacks and four turnovers. Smith played most of the game without much substitution.

Jason Hatcher – Also a starter for Team Rice, Hatcher had a fourth-quarter sack on Eagles QB Nick Foles on third down. Hatcher also had an offside penalty but played fairly well, coming up with a huge QB pressure in the final seconds in what could be his final game with a Cowboys helmet.

DeMarco Murray – The third tailback for Team Rice, Murray wasn’t much of a factor until the final drive. Murray caught a dump-off pass from Alex Smith and scurried in for 20-yard touchdown to pull his team within one point. A two-point conversion by Tolbert on the next play gave Team Rice the win. Murray had four carries for 25 yards and four catches for 37 yards.

DeMarco Murray scores game winning TD in 2014 NFL Pro Bowl (WATCH)

Dallas Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray scores for Team Rice with less than a minute to play, and alumni captain Jerry Rice makes the bold decision to go for the game winning 2-point conversion.

Team Jerry Rice

Passing	CP/AT	YDS	TD	INT
A. Smith	9/22	116	1	1
P. Rivers	8/13	94	1	2
D. Brees	9/19	81	1	1
Rushing	ATT	YDS	TD	LG
M. Forte	6	31	0	11
D. Murray	4	25	0	12
L. McCoy	3	14	0	8
M. Tolbert	3	14	0	7
J. Gordon	1	13	0	13
A. Smith	1	13	0	13
D. Brees	2	4	0	4
Receiving	REC	YDS	TD	LG
J. Gordon	6	66	1	24
J. Graham	5	51	1	16
T. Gonzalez	3	50	0	31
D. Murray	4	37	1	20T
M. Forte	3	24	0	13
A. Jeffery	2	22	0	14
B. Marshall	1	21	0	21
L. McCoy	1	18	0	18
D. McCluster	1	2	0	2
Fumbles	FUM	LOST	REC	YDS
D. Brees	1	0	1	-6
L. McCoy	1	1	0	0
D. Johnson	0	0	0	0
A. Verner	0	0	1	0
Kicking	FG	LG	XP	PTS
S. Gostkowski	0/1	0	2/2	2
Punting	NO	AVG	I20	LG
J. Hekker	4	47.0	2	56
Kickoff Returns	NO	AVG	TD	LG
Punt Returns	NO	AVG	TD	LG
D. McCluster	5	11	0	26
Defense	T-A	SCK	INT	FF
D. Johnson	8-1	0.0	0	1
V. Burfict	5-0	0.0	1	0
M. Dareus	4-0	2.0	0	0
R. Mathis	4-0	0.0	0	0
A. Rolle	3-1	0.0	0	0
J. Byrd	2-0	0.0	0	0
B. Flowers	2-0	0.0	0	0
J. Hatcher	2-0	1.0	0	0
C. Jordan	2-0	1.0	0	0
K. Williams	2-0	0.0	0	0
J. Abraham	1-0	0.0	0	0
J. Haden	1-0	0.0	1	0
R. Quinn	1-0	1.0	0	0

Team Deion Sanders

Passing	CP/AT	YDS	TD	INT
C. Newton	8/17	95	0	1
N. Foles	7/10	89	1	0
A. Luck	5/7	80	1	1
Rushing	ATT	YDS	TD	LG
J. Charles	5	43	0	17
E. Lacy	7	14	0	8
A. Morris	2	4	0	4
C. Newton	2	1	1	1T
A. Luck	1	0	0	0
Receiving	REC	YDS	TD	LG
A. Morris	4	69	0	27
D. Jackson	3	40	1	36T
A. Brown	1	39	0	39
M. Reece	2	31	0	21
J. Cameron	3	27	1	12T
J. Witten	2	26	0	15
D. Bryant	2	12	0	10
E. Lacy	1	9	0	9
A. Green	1	7	0	7
J. Charles	1	4	0	4
Fumbles	FUM	LOST	REC	YDS
A. Luck	1	0	0	-10
A. Morris	1	1	0	0
C. Newton	1	0	1	-7
E. Berry	0	0	1	0
D. Jackson	0	0	1	0
L. Kuechly	0	0	0	0
Kicking	FG	LG	XP	PTS
J. Tucker	0/2	0	3/3	3
Punting	NO	AVG	I20	LG
B. Fields	5	38.0	0	59
Kickoff Returns	NO	AVG	TD	LG
Punt Returns	NO	AVG	TD	LG
C. Patterson	2	0	0	1
A. Brown	1	7	0	7
Defense	T-A	SCK	INT	FF
L. Kuechly	11-1	0.0	0	1
E. Berry	4-0	0.0	1	0
P. Posluszny	4-0	0.0	0	0
T. Suggs	4-1	0.0	0	0
T. Jennings	3-0	0.0	0	0
B. Grimes	2-0	0.0	1	0
T. Hali	2-0	0.0	0	0
G. McCoy	2-1	2.0	0	0
D. Revis	2-0	0.0	0	0
T. Ward	2-1	0.0	0	0
G. Hardy	1-0	1.0	0	0
B. Orakpo	1-1	0.0	0	0
P. Peterson	1-0	0.0	1	0
M. Reece	1-0	0.0	0	0
N. Suh	1-0	0.0	0	0
J. Watt	1-0	1.0	0	0
E. Weddle	1-1	0.0	0	0
D. Poe	0-0	0.0	1	0

Team Jerry Rice | Team Deion Sanders

Total First Downs	24	Total First Downs	14
By Rushing	7	By Rushing	4
By Passing	16	By Passing	10
By Penalty		By Penalty
Third Down Efficiency	6/16 – 37%	Third Down Efficiency	2/11 – 18%
Fourth Down Efficiency	2/4 – 50%	Fourth Down Efficiency	1/2 – 50%
Total Net Yards	384	Total Net Yards	285
Total Rushing/Passing Plays (includes Sacks)	78	Total Rushing/Passing Plays (includes Sacks)	56
Average Gain per Offensive Play	4.9	Average Gain per Offensive Play	5.1
Net Yards Rushing	114	Net Yards Rushing	62
Total Rushing Plays	20	Total Rushing Plays	17
Average Gain per Rushing Play	5.7	Average Gain per Rushing Play	3.6
Tackled for a Loss (Number-Yards)	1–1	Tackled for a Loss (Number-Yards)	1–3
Net Yards Passing	270	Net Yards Passing	223
Times Sacked (Number-Yards)	4 – 21	Times Sacked (Number-Yards)	5 – 41
Gross Yards Passing	291	Gross Yards Passing	264
Pass Comp-Att-Int	26 – 54 – 4	Pass Comp-Att-Int	20 – 34 – 2
Average Gain per Passing Play (includes Sacks)	4.7	Average Gain per Passing Play (includes Sacks)	5.7
Kickoffs (Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks)	0 – 0 – 0	Kickoffs (Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks)	0 – 0 – 0
Punts (Number-Average)	4 – 49.0	Punts (Number-Average)	5 – 49.2
Blocked	0	Blocked	0
Net Punting Average	47.0	Net Punting Average	38.0
FGs Blocked – PATs Blocked	0 – 0	FGs Blocked – PATs Blocked	0 – 0
Total Return Yardage (excludes Kickoffs)	56	Total Return Yardage (excludes Kickoffs)	109
Punt Returns (Number-Yards)	5 – 56	Punt Returns (Number-Yards)	3 – 8
Kickoff Returns (Number-Yards)	0 – 0	Kickoff Returns (Number-Yards)	0 – 0
Interception Returns (Number-Yards)	2 – 0	Interception Returns (Number-Yards)	4 – 101
Penalties (Number-Yards)	4 – 20	Penalties (Number-Yards)	2 – 10
Fumbles (Number-Lost)	2 – 1	Fumbles (Number-Lost)	3 – 1
Touchdowns	3	Touchdowns	3
Rushing	0	Rushing	1
Passing	3	Passing	2
Interceptions	0	Interceptions	0
Kickoff Returns	0	Kickoff Returns	0
Fumble Returns	0	Fumble Returns	0
Punt Returns	0	Punt Returns	0
Extra Points (Made-Attempted)	3 – 3	Extra Points (Made-Attempted)	3 – 3
Kicking (Made-Attempted)	2 – 2	Kicking (Made-Attempted)	3 – 3
Two Point Conversions (Made-Attempted)	1 – 1	Two Point Conversions (Made-Attempted)	0 – 0
Field Goals (Made-Attempted)	0 – 1	Field Goals (Made-Attempted)	0 – 2
Red Zone Efficiency	2/4 – 50%	Red Zone Efficiency	2/3 – 66%
Goal To Go Efficiency	2/3 – 66%	Goal To Go Efficiency	1/2 – 50%
Safeties	0	Safeties	0
Final Score	22	Final Score	21
Time of Possession	32:47	Time of Possession	27:13