NFL Old School Game of the Week: White Shoes Catches Hail Mary TD For Falcons

Billy Johnson(81) stretches for the goal line to complete the 47-yard game-winning touchdown as time expires.

The Atlanta Falcons do not have the prestigious history of the San Francisco 49ers as the Falcons have recorded only 16 winning seasons and have never won a Super Bowl in their nearly half-of-century existence while the 49ers have won five Super Bowls.

But what the Falcons do have a great history of winning games with the “Hail Mary” or “Big Ben” which has happened on three occasions.

The first occurred in 1978 when Steve Bartkowski threw a pass down the right sideline that was tipped in the air by Wallace Francis and caught by Alfred Jenkins for a 57-yard touchdown with five seconds left to give the Falcons a 20-17 win against the New Orleans Saints and helped the Falcons get into the playoffs for the first time in team history.

Five years later, “Big Ben” would strike again for the Falcons against the 49ers on November 20, 1983.

The Falcons entered the 1983 season with a new head coach, Dan Henning, who replaced Leeman Bennett despite the fact that Bennett had led the Falcons to the postseason three times in five years.

Henning’s first year was not going so well as the Falcons entered their meeting with the 49ers with a 4-7 record.

One of the few bright spots for the Falcons was the reemergence of Billy “White Shoes Johnson” , who after a knee injury in 1978 hampered his play for several seasons and forced to to play the 1981 season in the Canadian Football League, had been become the Falcons’ leading receiver and had returned a punt for a touchdown for the sixth time in his career.

If the Falcons were to beat the 49ers, Johnson would need to have a big day.

The 49ers entered the 1983 season hoping to get back to the playoffs after failing to reach the playoffs in 1982 following their Super Bowl title.

In the offseason, head coach Bill Walsh tried to upgrade the team’s running game, which finished dead last in 1982 by drafting Roger Craig and acquiring Wendell Tyler in a trade.

Still, the 49ers’ fortunes rested on the right arm of quarterback Joe Montana, who would gone to throw for nearly 4,000 yards during the 1983 season.

The 49ers entered their game with the Falcons with a 7-4 record, but needing a win as they in a hotly contested race for the NFC West title with the Los Angeles Rams.

The 49ers got the ball to start the game at their own 19-yard-line and drove to their 44-yard-line when Montana hit running back Earl Cooper for an apparent 1st down on 3rd-and-1, only to have Cooper fumbled the ball when he was hit by Falcons strong safety Tom Pridemore.

Cornerback Bobby Butler recovered the fumble for the Falcons at their own 40-yard-line, where Atlanta took over and drove to the 49ers’ 36-yard-line, where the drive stalled.

Mick Luckhurst come on to attempt a 53-yard-field goal, but his kick was short, giving the 49ers the ball at the 36-yard-line.

That is when Montana and the 49ers drove 64 yards in 11 plays, culminating with a six-yard touchdown run by Craig that put San Francisco ahead 7-0 with 1:30 left in the opening quarter.

The Falcons took over at their nine-yard-line, but lost six yard on three plays forcing Atlanta to punt, which was blocked by safety Ronnie Lott, giving San Francisco the ball at the Atlanta eight-yard-line.

Floyd Hodge(83)who had seven catches for 68 yards, tries to break from the 49ers' Ronnie Lott.

Two plays later, the 49ers were back in the end zone as Montana found Tyler for a eight-yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter to increase the 49er lead to 14-0.

After Tyler’s touchdown, the Falcons took over at their 17-yard-line when Bartkowski went to work as he went 7-of-8 for 75 yards on a 11-play, 83-yard drive that ended when Bartkowski found Stacey Bailey for a 18-yard touchdown that cut the 49er lead in half, 14-7 with 6:30 left before halftime.

The Falcons would force the 49ers to punt on their next possession to get the ball back at their 10-yard-line and drove to the San Francisco’ 43-yard-line where they faced a 4th-and-6 with just over a minute to go in the first half.

Henning decided to gamble and go for the 1st down as Bartkowski completed a pass to Johnson, who came up a yard short as he was stopped by Lott, giving the 49ers the ball at their 38 with 1:02 left in the half and a chance to get into field goal range.

Montana got the 49ers to the Falcons’ 44 when he faced a 3rd-and-4, needing one more completion in order to give his kicker, Ray Wersching, a shot at a field goal.

Montana dropped back and found Renaldo Nehemiah for a gain of six yards to get the apparent 1st down.

But Nehemiah was met by Falcons cornerback Kenny Johnson, who clobbered the 49ers receiver, knocking Nehemiah out cold.

As Johnson tried to see if Nehemiah, there was a mad scramble behind him as Johnson’s hit had knocked the ball loose after Nehemiah made the catch.

The Falcons’ Blane Gaison picked up the ball and raced 64 yards for the touchdown that along with Luckhurst’s extra point tied the game at 14 with nine seconds left in the half.

Renaldo Nehemiah falls to the ground after being hit by Falcons cornerback Kenny Johnson(37).

The 49ers got the ball back but ran out the final seconds to go into halftime tied at 14, but with momentum on the side of the Falcons thanks to the defensive touchdown and the fact the Falcons would get the ball to start the second half.

The Falcons got the ball at their own 20 and drove to the 49ers’ 39-yard-line only to have drive stall and force Atlanta to punt the ball back to San Francisco, who took over at its 16-yard-line.

The 49ers put together a 12-play, 77-yard drive that included a pair of 15-yard passes by Montana; one to Craig, the other to Mike Wilson, plus a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty that was called on Atlanta defensive end Jeff Morrow.

However, the Falcons held the 49ers out of the end zone and forced San Francisco to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Wersching that broke the tie and put the 49ers back on top 17-14 with 2:07 left in the third quarter.

Atlanta took over on its 20 and drove to the 49ers ‘40-yard-line where they faced a 4th-and-1.

Henning again decided to go for it as both teams lined up in their respective goal line formations.

Bartkowski took the snap and handed it off to Gerald Riggs, who busted through the line and scampered for the 40-yard touchdown that gave Atlanta its first lead of the game at 21-17 with 13:22 remaining in the game.

Following Riggs’ touchdown, both teams traded punts until the 49ers got the ball at their own 49-yard-line with 2:56 left and a chance to retake the lead.

On the first play of the drive, Montana connected with Wilson for 19 yards to put San Francisco at the Atlanta 32-yard-line.

After an incomplete pass and a four-yard run by Tyler, Montana hit Bill Ring for six yards on 3rd-and-6 to give San Francisco a 1st down at the 22.

Then, Montana ran for six yards and then got linebacker Buddy Curry to jump offsides to give the 49ers another 1st down at the 11.

That is when Montana dropped back to pass but then tucked the ball in and ran in the final 11 yards for the touchdown that put the 49ers back on top 24-21 with just 1:10 to play.

Joe Montana drove the 49ers 51 yards in six plays to score what was thought to be the game-winning touchdown with 1:10 left.

Riggs returned the ensuing kickoff 19 yards to the Falcons’ 23-yard-line giving Bartkowski 64 seconds to get into field goal range and give Luckhurst a chance to tie the game and send to overtime.

The drive started with a 10-yard pass from Bartkowski to Riggs, followed by two incomplete passes, leading to a 3rd-and-10.

That is when Bartkowski found Johnson for 17 yards to put the Falcons right at the 50-yard-line.

But after a three-yard pass to tight end Junior Miller and another incomplete pass, the Falcons were at the 49ers’ 47 yard-line with two seconds remaining and well out of field goal range.

Atlanta had no chance to but to go for their “Hail Mary” which they called “Rocket Left”, which had Johnson, Bailey, and Floyd Hodge all line up on the left side and ran downfield with the intention of one of the receivers tipping the ball so one of the other receivers can make the catch.

Bartkowski took the snap, dropped back, and launched a pass as far as he could throw, which came down around the five-yard-line.

As the three receivers ran down the field, Johnson slipped on the wet grass and fell down around the five as the ball descended into a crowd of 49er defenders, only to have Bailey get his hand in through the crowd to tip the ball back to Johnson.

Johnson made the catch, then circled to his right to get around the 49er defenders, until he was hit at the two-yard-line by the 49ers’ Eric Wright, causing him to fall down again.

But as he was falling, Johnson stretched the ball with his right arm to cross the plane to get the touchdown.

After Johnson was down, the referees huddled for several seconds to discuss what they had saw, though the 49ers tried to convince the officials that Johnson’s knee had hit the ground before he crossed the plane.

Finally, the referees raised their arms and signaled touchdown, and the Falcons had come away with a shocking 28-24 victory(Luckhurst had to kick the extra point).

The Falcons would pull off another amazing victory the following week as they came back from a 21-point deficit for the second time in the 1983 season to win a game as they defeated the Green Bay Packers 47-41 in overtime.

However, Atlanta would finish the season 7-9 while the 49ers would win their final three games to finish the season with a 10-6 record and clinch the NFC West.

San Francisco would defeat the Detroit Lions 24-23 in the Divisional Playoffs, before falling to the Washington Redskins 24-21 in the NFC Championship Game.

For the next several years, the 49ers would dominate the rivalry with the Falcons as they went 12-1-1 over the next 14 meetings until 1991 when the Falcons swept the season series, that included a 17-14 victory as Michael Haynes caught a Hail Mary pass from quarterback Billy Joe Tolliver with one second to go in the game for “Big Ben III”.

As for Johnson, he would finish the year as the NFL Comeback Player of the Year thanks to his 64 catches and 709 yards with his four touchdowns to go along with 489 punt return yards which was 2nd most in the NFL.

However, another knee injury would keep out for most of the 1984 season before he returned in 1985 to be the Falcons’ leading receiver that year.

He retired after the 1988 season as the all-time punt returner in yards with 3,317(he now sits 7th) and six touchdowns to go along with his 2,902 kickoff return yards and two touchdowns.

In 1994, Johnson was named to the NFL’s 75th Anniversary Team as the punt returner but yet remains the only member of that team not in the Hall of Fame.