Honolulu – Before Tuesday’s Pro Bowl practice, Champ Bailey let cool breezes hit his face as he gazed toward the Pacific Ocean.
The serenity of Hawaii, however, couldn’t wash away the agony of his last football game of the season. It was as if Bailey could still feel an ill-fated Ben Roethlisberger pass careen off his right shoulder on the first series of an eventual 17-point loss in the AFC championship game to Pittsburgh on Jan. 22.
Bailey is in the camp that if he had caught that ball – which would have been an easy touchdown – the landscape of the rest of the game would have been different.
“It still kills me,” Bailey said. “It was a tough play. But we had been making those types of plays all season.”
Sunday, just for kicks, those types of plays once again went Bailey’s way in a 23-17 NFC Pro Bowl win at Aloha Stadium. Bailey had an interception – which he returned 33 yards in the second quarter – and a fumble recovery late in the third quarter that set up a Larry Johnson touchdown run that tied the game at 17-17 early in the fourth quarter.
Bailey’s Denver secondary mate John Lynch also had a big game. Lynch returned a Matt Hasselbeck pass 40 yards in the first quarter to the NFC’s 45-yard line. Lynch was heading toward the sideline and a clear shot at the end zone before being pushed out of bounds.
“I think I would have made it if I didn’t get pushed out,” Lynch said. “That would have been sweet.”
Lynch’s interception was the game’s first big play and set up a Peyton Manning-to-Chris Chambers touchdown pass and a 7-0 AFC lead.
Denver’s ability to create turnovers improved dramatically in 2005, after a three-year dry spell, and Sunday it continued in the Pro Bowl.
“Three more for us,” Bailey said. “All year the pick was important to us, and we capped the season the right way.”
Lynch came up with several big tackles and had a key breakup. Lynch, who will enter his 14th season, spent the week telling reporters he felt great and could play multiple seasons.
Sunday it showed. Actually, he became an early favorite for the player of the game honors. Tampa Bay linebacker Derrick Brooks, a former teammate and close friend of Lynch’s, won the award on the fuel of a 59-yard interception return for a touchdown. He was awarded a Cadillac.
“After that first quarter or so, guys were telling me that it looked like I really wanted that Cadillac,” Lynch said. “I was playing hard. I wanted to win. The juices get flowing. It was a fun day. I think (all of Denver’s players) showed we wanted to win.”
Bill Williamson can be reached at 303-820-5450 or bwilliamson@denverpost.com.
