AFC Beats NFC in Overtime, 23-20 : Pro Bowl: Fumble recovery by the Raiders’ Long sets up winning field goal by the Chiefs’ Lowery.

The Raiders’ Howie Long recovered a fumble by Steve Young, setting up a 33-yard field goal by Nick Lowery that gave the AFC a 23-20 overtime victory over the NFC in the Pro Bowl on Sunday.

Young, of the San Francisco 49ers, fumbled after his touchdown pass to the New York Giants’ Rodney Hampton forced the overtime.

Kansas City’s Derrick Thomas caught Young from behind on the fumble in overtime, and Long fell on the ball at the NFC 28-yard line.

After three running plays, Lowery made his third field goal of the game at 4:09 of overtime.

“I was just trying to pass and he grabbed the ball,” Young said of Thomas.

Young, scrambling on fourth and 12 with time running out in regulation, found the Giants’ Hampton open at the goal line and Hampton stepped into the end zone with 10 seconds remaining. The New Orleans Saints’ Morten Andersen kicked the extra point to make the score 20-20.

The Buffalo Bills’ Steve Tasker, who blocked a punt the previous week in the Super Bowl, blocked Andersen’s field goal try earlier in the fourth quarter and the Raiders’ Terry McDaniel scooped up the ball and ran 28 yards to put the AFC ahead, 20-13, with eight minutes remaining.

“The kicking game obviously was our Achilles’ heel and ultimately cost us the game,” NFC Coach George Seifert said. “The blocking for the field goal kicker was not good.”

Troy Aikman of Dallas, one of three NFC quarterbacks, wasn’t around for the final quarter--he left Aloha Stadium early in the period. No one was certain why Aikman departed early, including Seifert.

“No, we did not discuss it. I think we’ll just have to check into it,” Seifert said of Aikman leaving. “I don’t believe he would have played any more.”

Aikman had staked the NFC to a 13-7 lead, completing his first six passes and capping a 54-yard drive with an 11-yard scoring pass to Dallas teammate Michael Irvin.

The AFC, which was outgained, 472 yards to 114, had turned another blocked Andersen field goal into its first touchdown, in the closing seconds of the first half.

The second time, Andersen was kicking from 53 yards out when Tasker broke though, blocked the ball up the field and batted it along, trying to get possession. McDaniel caught up with the play, grabbed the ball and ran the rest of the way.