Former LSU receivers score 8 times as the NFC tops the AFC in the Pro Bowl Games again, 76-63

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — With Olympic flag football three years away, this much is becoming clear: the U.S. team should want a former LSU receiver on its roster.

The four ex-Tigers competing in the Pro Bowl Games scored a combined eight touchdowns in a flag football contest that capped the NFC’s third consecutive victory over the AFC, 76-63 on Sunday.

Rookie Malik Nabers of the New York Giants found the end zone twice for the NFC, and Minnesota’s Justin Jefferson also scored. Jefferson caught six passes for 46 yards. Nabers finished with five receptions for 62 yards.

“We’re on top for sure,” Jefferson said. “It is definitely great to see the guys having fun out here, scoring touchdowns, just making big plays. That’s what we normally do, so it’s good to see us coming out here and doing the same thing.”

The NFC essentially sealed the win by returning two interceptions for touchdowns in the second half, giving coach Eli Manning a third consecutive win over big brother and AFC coach Peyton. Arizona’s Budda Baker and Minnesota’s Byron Murphy delivered the big defensive plays in a made-for-TV event designed to showcase offense.

Jared Goff, who got the NFC off to a strong start with his near-perfect performance in a skills competition Thursday, completed 10 of 11 passes for 126 yards and three touchdowns. Goff and Murphy earned MVP honors.

Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield added three TDs on eight completions for the NFC, his second one going to Nabers.

Former LSU guys in the end zone ended up being the biggest trend in a game that lacked drama.

Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase scored three times, including a 45-yarder from Russell Wilson late, and Jacksonville’s Brian Thomas Jr. added two more for the AFC. Chase celebrated his third with a backflip and then performed “the Griddy” that his former college teammate, Jefferson, helped popularize.

The NFC started the day with a 14-7 lead after six skills competitions worth up to three points each Thursday night. The conference added to its lead by winning the “Great Football Race” and dominated an old-fashioned tug-of-war competition Sunday.

With Dexter Lawrence of the New York Jets, Tampa Bay’s Vita Vea and Seattle’s Leonard Williams anchoring the strength test, the AFC got yanked into a foam pit twice in a best-of-three event.

Speed thrills, and Dallas Cowboys return man KaVontae Turpin put on a show. Eli Manning used Turpin as a pass rusher, and his quickness was evident throughout the game. He pressured quarterbacks regularly, forcing them into mistakes, and seemingly pulled flags with ease. He finished with five tackles, including a sack.

Pittsburgh defensive tackle Cameron Heyward and Tennessee defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons spent time between the first and second quarters playing cards on the AFC bench. They eventually put the deck down and watched a skill game called “Punt Perfect.”

But it was fairly common to see players finding ways to pass the time in the game's laid-back atmosphere. Mayfield, Buccaneers teammate Tristan Wirfs and Dallas' Micah Parsons posed for pictures holding their babies on the NFC sideline. Cleveland's Jerry Jeudy spent much of the game signing autographs on the AFC sideline.

Jacksonville’s Logan Cooke edged Detroit’s Jack Fox wowed teammates and fans in double overtime of “Punt Perfect.” It may have been the most dramatic finish of the Pro Bowl Games.

“At the end of the day, everyone came here for a punt-off,” Cooke quipped.

Cooke and Fox went head-to-head in the first two rounds — with some help from Baltimore cornerback Marlon Humphrey and San Francisco fullback Kyle Juszczyk — and were tied after two rounds. It went to sudden death, where Cooke hit and then watched Fox’s attempt rattle off the rim of one of the six canisters from 35 yards away.

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NFC quarterback Jared Goff (16), of the Detroit Lions, passes during the flag football event at the NFL Pro Bowl, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Orlando. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

NFC wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (11), of the Seattle Seahawks, celebrates on his way to scoring a touchdown during the flag football event at the NFL Pro Bowl, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Orlando. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

NFC cornerback Byron Murphy, left, of the Minnesota Vikings, and quarterback Jared Goff, right, of the Detroit Lions, hold the 2025 Pro Bowl trophy after being named defensive and offensive MVPs, respectively, for the flag football event at the NFL Pro Bowl, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Orlando. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

AFC coach Peyton Manning, left, talks to players before the flag football event at the NFL Pro Bowl, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Orlando. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

AFC wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. (7), of the Jacksonville Jaguars, evades NFC return specialist KaVontae Turpin (9), of the Dallas Cowboys, as he throws a lateral pass during the flag football event at the NFL Pro Bowl, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Orlando. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

NFC wide receiver Justin Jefferson (18), of the Minnesota Vikings, celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the flag football event at the NFL Pro Bowl, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Orlando. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

NFC wide receiver Justin Jefferson (18), of the Minnesota Vikings, scores a touchdown next to AFC cornerback Pat Surtain II, of the Denver Broncos, left, and safety Kyle Hamilton, of the Baltimore Ravens, during the flag football event at the NFL Pro Bowl, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Orlando. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

NFC safety Budda Baker (3), of the Arizona Cardinals, celebrates with tight ends George Kittle, of the San Francisco 49ers, and Trey McBride, of the Cardinals, after returning an interception for a touchdown during the flag football event at the NFL Pro Bowl, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Orlando. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

AFC coach Peyton Manning reacts during the flag football event at the NFL Pro Bowl, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Orlando. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

NFC coach Eli Manning, center, watches from the sideline during the flag football event at the NFL Pro Bowl, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Orlando. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

NFC quarterback Baker Mayfield, of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, passes during the flag football event at the NFL Pro Bowl, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Orlando. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

AFC wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. (7), of the Jacksonville Jaguars, runs away from NFC return specialist KaVontae Turpin, of the Dallas Cowboys, right, during the flag football event at the NFL Pro Bowl, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Orlando. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

NFC tight end Trey McBride, of the Arizona Cardinals, celebrates after scoring a touchdown during the flag football event at the NFL Pro Bowl, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Orlando. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

NFC wide receiver Malik Nabers, of the New York Giants, right, catches a pass while defended by AFC safety Minkah Fitzpatrick (39), of the Pittsburgh Steelers, during the flag football event at the NFL Pro Bowl, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Orlando. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

Seattle (AP) — When tourists travel to Seattle, it’s common to take in the Space Needle and the downtown skyline from Puget Sound.

It’s an itinerary that a newly arrived pod of killer whales appears to be following too.

Three orcas that had not previously been recorded in the Seattle area have delighted whale watchers with several visits just off downtown this past month. They've also cruised by other shorelines in the region.

“People ... are all very happy to see this,” said Hongming Zheng, who photographs whales in his spare time. It took him 10 hours of driving to find the mysterious pod. “It was epic.”

Researchers keep detailed records of killer whales that frequent the Salish Sea, the waters between Washington state and Canada, by identifying their fins and saddle patches — the grayish markings on their sides.

So it was a surprise when this pod of three orcas showed up in Vancouver, British Columbia, in March. The three weren’t in any catalogs of local whales.

After some digging, researchers located photos of the pod in Alaska waters last year, said Shari Tarantino of the Washington-based Orca Conservancy. The pod includes an adult female and what are believed to be her two offspring, including a large young adult male.

They have now been designated as T419, T420 and T421 — the T standing for “transient,” not “tourist.”

The visiting orcas have something that local whales don’t: circular scars left by cookie-cutter sharks, which latch on to larger animals and slice a chunk off them. It was evidence they've spent time in the open ocean, because that's where the sharks live.

“We don’t know their exact origin with 100% certainty yet, but the leading hypothesis is that they’re from Alaska, possibly the Aleutian region, given their appearance and the fact that some Alaskan populations range widely across the North Pacific,” Tarantino wrote in an email.

As for why these three are thousands of miles from their home range? Tarantino said it's possible they're on a culinary field trip. This pod feeds on sea mammals — unlike the endangered salmon-eating resident orcas — and there are plenty of harbor seals, sea lions and porpoises in the Salish Sea.

“They have quickly become a crowd favorite,” Tarantino wrote. “People spend a lifetime hoping to see a killer whale from shore, and these three have more than delivered.”

A killer whale swims in Elliott Bay in front of the downtown Seattle skyline on Wednesday, April 1, 2026. The orca is a part of a pod that had not been recorded by researchers in this region until this past month when three whales appeared in waters off British Columbia and Washington state. (AP Photo/Manuel Valdes)