Final Four, Group 2: Cowboys top 64 plays of all-time

We are nearing the end of the Blogging The Boys 64-play tournament that we’ve been running for the last three weeks. During this time, we reduced all of the top plays in Dallas Cowboys’ history down to the Final Four. Yesterday, the voting went out for the first group that consisted of a match up between Tony Dorsett’s 99-yard run and Alvin Harper’s catch over the middle in the 1991 NFC Championship game. If you haven’t had a chance yet, you can still weigh in on that one. Today, we have the last of the two semifinal match ups.

All Hail, to the original

Roger Staubach and Drew Pearson have shown up quite a bit in this tournament. In fact, it was one of the plays the Hail Mary had to beat out in the Sweet 16 round in order to advance to the final four. Here is how that bracket finished:

The Hail Mary is a common last-second desperation pass attempt deep down the field, and we’re not going to lie - there are some pretty impressive wild finishes from this play. They usually involve a committee of defenders all stationed deep, and sometimes they’ll contain a lucky bounce from a deflection. Here are some of the best Hail Mary plays over the years.

While those are some fantastic plays, there can be only one original. The Cowboys pulled off a miraculous come from behind victory over the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Divisional round of the playoffs thanks to two big passing plays from Staubach to Pearson. Of course, the last one still remains one of the most memorable plays in NFL history.

I’m a hustler, baby

I don’t know what Jay-Z was talking about in that song, but I highly doubt it involved a 335-pound offensive lineman running down a linebacker. Larry Allen ran a 4.85 40 at Sonoma State and this past week, he ran away with his Sweet 16 bracket to advance to the final four.

The significance of the play didn’t mean a whole lot. It happened in the second quarter of a regular season game. It didn’t set any type of record, and the guy making it wasn’t even holding the ball. The reason this play has stood the test of time is that big men his size just aren’t supposed to do that. And when it happens, it’s worthy of our appreciation. The only play I can recall from an offensive linemen that is comparable is when New England Patriots Dan Connolly picked up a squib kick and ran it 71 yards in one of the worst kick coverage plays I’ve seen.

Allen’s play was so amazing that the TV announces on Monday Night Football completely disregarded the fact that a Saints player had intercepted the ball. Instead, the camera focused on Allen. Little did we know that this rookie offensive lineman would one day make his way into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but after seeing that play - we are not surprised one bit.