Action picks up, as does hitting

The action picked up in the second quarter, and so did the mistakes, as a misty rain continued to fall at Aloha Stadium throughout most of the half. Team Sanders got the ball first under the guidance of Carolina quarterback Cam Newton and quickly went three-and-out, prompting a few boos Newton’s way.

Team Rice wasted little time evening the score, going 60 yards on seven plays to tie things up at 7. Cleveland’s Josh Gordon got things started with a 12-yard reverse, Drew Brees found Philadelphia running back LeSean McCoy for an 18-yard completion and burly Carolina back Mike Tolbert had an 8-yard run to set up first-and-goal from the 8.

Brees, who struggled with two picks in the opening period, found Jimmy Graham from 8 yards out and Stephen Gostkowski added the tying PAT to make it 7-7 with 9:05 remaining in the half.

From there, it got interesting, as both teams traded the first of four turnovers in the period. Team Sanders’ Newton had a pass intercepted by Team Rice’s Joe Haden of Cleveland and then Team Rice’s Philip Rivers had a pass picked by Team Sanders’ Dontari Poe. The Chiefs defensive lineman lumbered for 42 yards, setting up a first-and-goal at the 7.

Four plays later, Newton snuck in from the 1 to give Team Sanders a 14-7 lead as Justin Tucker hit the extra point with 5:42 left in the half. The next two possessions resulted in two more turnovers. After one of the turnovers, Team Rice marched 58 yards on seven plays for the tying score. Rivers shook off some of the rust and completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Gordon. Gostkowski added the PAT to make it 14-14 with 36 seconds left in the half.

What was noticeable for those in attendance, the defenses played hard. In the past, the rules applied to the defense made this a quarterback and receiver show. There were lots of points because there were no blitzes and no man coverages. In this quarter, there were plenty of line stunts up front and contested coverage in the secondary leading to six turnovers in the first half alone.