AFC Hopes to Restore Some Faith : Pro football: With 11 Bills on the squad, they hope to soften Super Bowl disappointment with a victory today.

HONOLULU — Following what has become an annual embarrassment by its Super Bowl teams, the AFC tries to close the books on the season Sunday with a Pro Bowl win against the NFC.

The AFC all-stars have fared no better than the conference’s Super Bowl representatives in recent years--NFC teams have won the league’s title game nine years in a row and its all-stars have won three of the last four Pro Bowl games. The NFC owns a 13-9 edge in the series.

“Of course you would rather win the Super Bowl, but if you don’t, you at least want to win this one,” said Buffalo’s Steve Tasker, a special teams player for the AFC.

The American Conference squad has a definite Bills flavor. Eleven Buffalo players were scheduled to appear in the Pro Bowl, although quarterback Jim Kelly, running back Thurman Thomas and tackle Will Wolford won’t be able to play because they were injured in last Sunday’s 52-17 Super Bowl loss to Dallas.

With eight players in the game, Buffalo has more representatives than any team except Houston, which has nine.

The Cowboys, meanwhile, have six players on the NFC squad, topped only by the San Francisco 49ers with seven.

The Dallas contingent is led by quarterback Troy Aikman, the Super Bowl MVP; Emmitt Smith, who rushed for 108 yards in that game; and wide receiver Michael Irvin, who had six catches for 114 yards and two touchdowns.

Other Cowboy all-stars are tight end Jay Novacek and center Mark Stepnoski and guard Nate Newton, the first Dallas offensive linemen to play in the Pro Bowl in 11 years.

Noticeably absent are any players from the Cowboys’ defense, statistically the NFL’s best this season.

“They all play with such a sense of urgency, and they’re so in synch, I think it may be hard to single out individual players on the Dallas defense,” said NFC coach George Seifert of the 49ers.

The NFC’s defense is led by end Reggie White from the Philadelphia Eagles ; the New Orleans Saints’ linebacking trio of Pat Swilling, Rickey Jackson and Sam Mills; Atlanta cornerback Deion Sanders and Phoenix safety Tim McDonald.

The game will be the swan song of Mike Singletary, the retiring Chicago Bears linebacker who has played in 10 consecutive Pro Bowls, tying Lawrence Taylor’s record.

Offensively, San Francisco’s Steve Young, will start for the NFC, with Aikman and Brett Favre of Green Bay sharing the duty.

Detroit’s Barry Sanders will join Smith as the starters at running back.

The AFC, coached by Don Shula, will have the Dolphins’ Dan Marino open at quarterback, with Houston’s Warren Moon and Pittsburgh’s Neil O’Donnell, a replacement for Kelly, the backups.

Although he can’t play because of a knee injury, Kelly still came to Hawaii for the game. Kelly, who threw a late touchdown pass for the AFC the last time the conference won the Pro Bowl, 23-21 two years ago, will have a different assignment this time--handing out the punt, pass and kick awards.

Barry Foster of the Steelers and Lorenzo White of Cincinnati are scheduled to start at running back for the AFC, with the wide receiver corps including Anthony Miller of San Diego and Haywood Jeffires of Houston.

The AFC defense will be led by San Diego linebacker Junior Seau, who was the only unanimous choice for the AFC in the Pro Bowl voting by the league’s players and coaches.

Also on the defense are Raider end Howie Long; Seattle tackle Cortez Kennedy; and linebackers Derrick Thomas of Kansas City and Bryan Cox of Miami.