One of the most important regular season games in nfl history. Totally flipped the playoff picture on its head. Bobby Hebert deserves some love from all Cowboys fans for pulling this game out.

As a Cowboys fan, this game saved Dallas' season. The Niners had the Cowboys' number by that point (they'd beaten Dallas three times in a row) and, had the NFC title game been at San Francisco that year, would have crushed Dallas again. The Cowboys were dead in the water at this point and had no momentum. But the shock news of the Falcons' win revved them up (they got the news while flying to Arizona, a mid-flight announcement) and they were a new team, psychologically. But Dallas still needed the Packers to do them a favor by beating the 49ers in the divisional playoffs, since, as the regular season 38-20 game had showed, even an NFC title game at Texas Stadium against the Niners would have been no gimme at all.

@mikelin2703

Жыл бұрын

This Niners loss was definitely one of my favorite moments from the '95 season (just behind them getting upset by the Packers in the playoffs). San Fran had all the momentum in the battle for home field advantage (when it still meant something), but this opened the door for Dallas.

@fortynights1513

11 ай бұрын

@@mikelin2703Why does home field advantage not mean something now in your opinion?

The music accompanying this highlight series was on point.

This had to be extra sweet for Hebert considering how many times the 49ers frustrated him when he was a Saint

@jasonwalker9091

4 жыл бұрын

Chris Kreager Poetic Justice that all.

Eric Metcalf was a fantastic football player

@Davidjon1946

3 ай бұрын

Fun to watch i was able to find his browns jersey when I was in high school at a starter outlet store

Adam Walker was a fumbling machine!!!!

I watched the game on TV with my mom. Our Raiders weren't doing shit, so we were happy as hell to see black jersey Atlanta Falcons beat the hated 9ers.

Everything that the 49ers had done going back to 38-20 at Dallas went to pieces here

@briancusack4386

3 жыл бұрын

It's so true!

@BAYAREA-kd1ig

2 жыл бұрын

Yes indeedy, they were playing like a #1 seed then this game happened and the 49ers train fell off the tracks.

@Speegs23

2 жыл бұрын

Yep, the NFC West was also super weak back then, was almost 6 guaranteed wins for the Niners every year, they sleep walked into this game over confident.

@walterlv01

2 жыл бұрын

Yup - after their back-to-back home losses to crappy Saints and Panthers teams they had to have a perfect rest of the season. They came within 1 point of doing it.

The once-great 49ers defense in 95 was turning into a shadow of itself in the final two weeks before the playoffs.

@justinturley7071

2 жыл бұрын

Yeah they were just terrible at the end of the year. Losing Ricky Watters to the Eagles didn't help their case on offense. With Watters in the backfield, the 49ers can probably go to the Super Bowl that year

@fortynights1513

Жыл бұрын

They didn’t play well in those games certainly. Fortunately that defense would remain well above average for the next two seasons before showing their age more regularly.

@fortynights1513

6 ай бұрын

@@justinturley7071If you believe not having the top seed cost them, then Steve Young missing five games hurt too

One could argue that this was the beginning of the end for Seifert in SF

@TheWakeup011

4 жыл бұрын

One would be right, although SF brass never really wanted Seifert.

@juliansmith4352

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheWakeup011 Seifert won 2 Super bowl titles and won more games when coaching the san Francisco 49ers he should be in the Hall of fame

@TheWakeup011

3 жыл бұрын

@@juliansmith4352 Doesn't mean SF brass didn't settle for him, at least in their eyes. They definitely preferred Holmgren or Jimmy Johnson. They did little to hide their interest, particularly in Holmgren. Seifert will never get into the HOF. He just isn't a great coach. Those 89 and 94 49ers were all time great teams. He was the weak link in the 90's btwn himself, Holmgren and Johnson. Granted most of the 90's 49er teams couldn't hold a candle to the 80's teams, but some of that is bc of him.

@TheWakeup011

3 жыл бұрын

@Jonathan Dee The One And Only agreed. I think he left right after the sb in 94 but you're right, they definitely wanted him as HC. Its my understanding that Young wasn't big on him either.

@juliansmith4352

3 жыл бұрын

@@TheWakeup011 Jimmy Johnson outcoached George seifert twice in the early 90s during the NFC championship Games although Mike Holmgren

This knocked the Bears out of the playoffs and prevented a Bears/Pack playoff matchup.

One of the best games of 1995, no question. It also makes it clear how little respect Jeff George had during his career, when Tom Jackson lauds Bobby Hebert for being able to scramble around before hitting the winning TD pass and says George wasn't capable of doing that. I liked Bobby Hebert, but the guy had the mobility of a telephone booth in his young days and he wasn't a young man for the 1995 Falcons. People loathed Jeff George for both valid and invalid reasons.

Just a stunning plot twist this game was.

@chrisuncleahmad

4 жыл бұрын

RogueGust it changed everything. That stretch from DAL to MIN, the 49ers had built up an aura of invincibility. That was shattered here

@roguegust8832

4 жыл бұрын

Not only that but the Niners would just murder the Falcons every single time they played them seemingly

@jamesmichael280

4 жыл бұрын

It also was the beginning of the end for Jeff George in Atlanta.

@jasonwalker9091

4 жыл бұрын

Chris Kreager And injuries throughout but if you at it yrs they whipped on Dallas in Week 11 ,but lost back to back divisional game of the Saints with the 11-7 tug of war and one of the major upset with Carolina and they lost of lot of good people like Ricky Watters, Deion Sanders and lot of people don't know if you're a Old school Broncos man, Mike Shananan was QB coach for 3 years from 1992-94 and had won a Super Bowl ring before coming head coach for Denver, This was the most exciting game ,next to Broncos and Raiders on Sunday Ticket on Christmas Eve. Thank you Santa for giving me so many good Christmas kid memories in the 90's 😊🎄🎄.

@jasonwalker9091

4 жыл бұрын

James Michael And went to Oakland and came back as a Raiders to face the Falcons and when Oakland won, Jeff did his Olympic type lap around the Georgia Dome yelling " This is My House" 😂 lol, and it was the beginning of the end for June Jones as 1996 all hell would break loose

Hebert really had some great games with the Falcons

@chrisuncleahmad

Жыл бұрын

Heck he was a Pro Bowler in 1993 when he finished 2nd in TD passes

@user-tt1qf5fg8b

10 ай бұрын

His career would of been different had he signed with the Raiders after his USFL career ended. The Saints never used his big arm to stretch the defense. 3 yards and a cloud of dust play defense...😮

Such an incredible year, of football! ... Thx, for the post. 😁

Even though the 49ers usually won, the Falcons of the 90s had some big wins against the Steve Young era 49ers. This game, the 1991 regular season, and the 1998 NFC Divisional game.

Ironically, George's injury might have been the keystone event in this game that affected so much playoff positioning. George had never been in that position before and really wasn't a guy who was going to lead a 4th-quarter comeback with the season on the line. Hebert was a poised veteran who was better suited for the moment.

@valseyer4486

2 жыл бұрын

Totally agree, I remember when I was a 3rd grader back in 93 and the 94 off season came and the falcons got jeff George, my cousins and I were watching S.C. and we were like whos that guy Jeff George. LOL.

@chrisuncleahmad

2 жыл бұрын

And you know this had to be extra sweet for Hebert considering how many times the 49ers frustrated him when he was on the Saints

Crucial win for 2 reasons, first obviously Falcons made the playoff, second it (eventually) knocked the 49ers down to the 2nd seed. Had the Niners had homefield advantage, they're would have been a Cowboys/49ers IV, and who knows, the Niners may have gotten to 6 before the Cowboys and Steelers get to 5.

@jakemicele4362

2 жыл бұрын

Homefield advantage obviously didn't matter cause the niners lost to the packers in the divisional at home

@dannykatz7392

2 жыл бұрын

Would’ve avoided GB

@dionr1168

2 жыл бұрын

Also, this proved to be huge for another team, this time involving the draft. The outcome of this game upgraded the draft pick Atlanta owed to Indianapolis to a 1st round pick (Jeff George trade). The player drafted with that pick? Marvin Harrison.

@FalconsWhiteSox

Жыл бұрын

But could the 49ers have beaten the Eagles in the playoffs? The Eagles blasted them 40-8 the year before in San Francisco.

I live in Georgia and the Falcons are my team. I sat up and strategized all morning on how in the world...too many FGs. Then the whiners hit a FG, up 5 about 2:00 to go. 4th down pass to Metcalf and the great pass to the eventual Super Bowl saving WR Mathis. My dad was very sick and I was stomping around the house. Hugged my mom, WE’RE GOIN TO THE PLAYOFFS, I screamed with tears. Her too. That game was preempted for a UGA “lady” Bulldog basketball game on the radio. When I told the DJ on the crappy country station, nobody listens to that and that they had a contract, he said nobody’s listening. I told him, fine, I’m calling the Falcons. Whatever. When I called, the secretary said we know and thank you. Hadn’t been on Athens FM stations since. It’s why I turned my back on them too.

I remember I was watching the game at my friend's house we were going crazy when Hebert hit Mathis and he scored that was a great gift frfr

What an awful loss by the Niners. Their lack of run game killed them in '95 and '96. They put too much on Young who was a crash test dummy those two seasons. Never a fan of Seifert.

Who remembers the certain Jeff George highlight that wasn’t shown here?

The fact that Jeff George was the starter over Bobby Hebert is enough to say the falcons didn’t want to win 😂

0:28 there was NOTHING he couldn't do.

All the 49ers had to do was win and they get homefield advantage. Dallas would not had home field and going in had 2 straight losses and a near 3rd, that would have made the road to the Super Bowl much harder. Instead, with the 49ers losing, it gave Dallas all the momentum which they took and ran with. Dallas destroyed the Cardinals which will be shown later and then took care of business in the playoffs. Basically Dallas went from a dead in the water to new life like a Phoenix in this game.

@chrisuncleahmad

4 жыл бұрын

Dallas would not have been a WC (H2H tiebreaker with GB)

@cbod14

4 жыл бұрын

Chris Kreager Thank you. With The Eagles losing in Chicago The Cowboys won the division without playing a game. This loss was huge for the Niners

@jamesgurksnis4392

4 жыл бұрын

Had San Francisco won, the 49ers would have clinched home field advantage and it would have been a fourth DAL vs. SF NFC Championship game.

@jasonwalker9091

4 жыл бұрын

James Gurksnis Yeah but most of us didn't want that and 49ers was running out of gas rsocalky when Mike Holmgren faced his former team in the divisional round and turned the tables on the 49ers completely, the 1995 playoffs was way more exciting than 1994.

@jamesmichael280

4 жыл бұрын

I remember that Dallas v Arizona game. It was on MNF. I wanted the Cardinals to win to keep the insanity of seeding changes that happened Sunday to continue. Dave Krieg’s arm was moving forward on a call ruled a fumble. It probably wouldn’t have mattered, but who knows. I still remember Buddy Ryan running off the field before the game ended and having to come out and wait in the tunnel for the last play to take place. Thanks for all the uploads! Brings back wonderful memories of my teenage years.

Niners without Ricky Watters and Deion .....

I was very surprised the final score was close considering the amount of times San Fran beat them

@MatthewDaSmitdog

Жыл бұрын

Well, for the first time in a while the Falcons found a way hang in there, it was practically a playoff game for the season finale, win or stay home til next summer for the Birds, and they played like it.

Within the span of three hours The NFC playoff picture took a drastic turn. The Packers beat Pittsburgh giving them the division and making Detroit a WC. Atlanta upset SF, giving Dallas an opening for the No. 1 seed & Philadelphia lost to Chicago giving Dallas the division. Green Bay would get Atlanta at home and ride that to the title game.

@jasonwalker9091

4 жыл бұрын

Christian Boddie And it was such a way better exciting game of the Championship game of Green Bay and Dallas, it was blood boling you can tell the Eagles loss and Redskins loss gave the Cowboys a wake up call and went in the playoffs pissed off.

@hoefler69

4 жыл бұрын

@@jasonwalker9091 one of 4 super bowls the Niners left on the table. 87, 90, 90, 95. Playing Green Bay without a plan for the 2x Te split is still inexplicable

@paulkelly8232

4 жыл бұрын

@@hoefler69 They really didn't leave 90 on the table. The Parcells Giants had beaten them multiple times before.

@TheWakeup011

4 жыл бұрын

@@paulkelly8232 agreed. Not only that, there is no Walsh, no Montana, and no running game. Therefore, no guarantee that they beat Buffalo if they get by the Giants.

@TheWakeup011

4 жыл бұрын

@@hoefler69 Right. Chmura and Jackson killed them. Ofc lm not too sure what could have been done. SF defense wore down at the end of theseason, primarily because they had no rushing attack.

"No jumping up and down, celebration." Tom Jackson doesn't like fun, I guess.

As a long time 49er fan, as soon as Bobby Hebert came in the game I knew we were in trouble.

@chrisuncleahmad

Жыл бұрын

Which sounds crazy considering Hebert when in New Orleans had never beaten the 49ers in a big game

@RLFLOWS

Жыл бұрын

@chrisuncleahmad True but the way the 1995 49ers season had went I knew they were in trouble.

@fortynights1513

Жыл бұрын

@@RLFLOWSCould this Niners team have made it at least a round further if they’d kept Ricky Watters?

@RLFLOWS

Жыл бұрын

@@fortynights1513 Ricky Watters loss was as big as Deion Sanders loss imo. Back to back home losses to the Saints & Panthers were embarrassing.

@fortynights1513

Жыл бұрын

@@RLFLOWSThose losses to Carolina and in particular New Orleans would definitely have been bad underperformances. Losing Deion Sanders hurt, but looking at the numbers, and even with a middling performance here, the 95 49er defense was still second ranked by points. In fact the defense would be top five for three years after Sanders left, and to their credit, they had four players who received votes for defensive player of the year in these years (Merton Hanks, Ken Norton Jr, Bryant Young, and Dana Stubblefield who won the award in 97). However the running game of the 95 team ranked only 25th in yards per carry in their first year without Watters, and in general I’ve heard it was bad in the two years between Watters and Garrison Hearst. That’s why I asked about Watters. Overall, from a Seahawks fan, San Fran was a pretty darn good team up through 98 in my opinion, but I think a better run game may have helped them go further in 95. Fun fact: From the fifth to last game of 1980 up through the fourth game of 1999 (a win over the Super Bowl bound Titans), and with all playoff games included, the Niners had a win percentage of about .734. That’s roughly the same as the all time win percentage of Alabama in college football.

This game made no sense to me as a kid. I kept thinking...how did they lose to the Falcons of all teams? 😂 Jerry Rice was a highlight reel in that one.

This lose cost the 49ers the 1 seed and possibly a superbowl because Dallas would've played the packers .

49ers owned the Falcons in the 90s..

Keep in mind the previous week ATL lost to expansion Carolina

@redpillfreedom6692

3 жыл бұрын

Well to be fair the inaugural Panthers weren't a typical expansion team

I miss the real nfl

At 3:15 Should have had it! Rice was in from if the defender, and just a tad lower by Young would have almost certainly won the game with the FG - a game everyone on here has aptly pointed out influenced multiple playoff scenarios that year!

@PhilJHaast7695

3 жыл бұрын

Even Jerry Rice falls short sometimes 😂.

2:33 Mathis' knee appeared to be down with the ball just short of the goal line. Benefit of the doubt has to be given here with no replay in these days and in live action

The Dallas Cowboys Immediately Knew That when the San Francisco 49ers Had Lost To the Atlanta Falcons that they would get HomeField Advantage for their Eventual Showdown In The 1995 🏈NFC Championship up against both the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers where on route to their last and final Super Bowl Of XXX in Tempe, Arizona where they had ended up with Defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 27➖17 !!!!!! 😉😉😉😉😉🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈🏈

Probably about 6 inches on that Young pass to Rice on 3rd down on the last drive away from winning the SB again.

@TheWakeup011

4 жыл бұрын

Agreed.

3:00 WHAT WHAT!!!

Bobby Hebert would of had an entirely different career had the Raiders signed him out of the USFL. Instead he played his heart and soul with the Saints where quarterbacks used to go to die...😢

Cajun Cannon

Esa derrota cambió el destino de los 49ers. Si hubieran ganado... hubieran sido el número 1 en la siembra de la NFC. La historia fue diferente y ahí tuvieron a Green Bay como su coco, como ellos fueron víctimas de tantas derrotas con Dallas.

@sodica81

Жыл бұрын

nunca pudieron con Green Bay

This game didn’t come close to selling out in the Georgia Dome. Didn’t air on Channel 5 in Atlanta. 20K short of a sellout

That is one of those games i remember exactly where i was when it happened : dining at my parents house and leaving diner to listen to the end of the game on my radio car 101.7fm armed forces network in belgium.... i was furious 😡 i knew it gave the cowboys the edge they needed 😡😡😡 shouldnt have lost like 1991 with hail mary against those same falcons and we missed the playoffs....

@mikedurden4256

4 жыл бұрын

It is great anytime we beat you.

@kaybevang536

4 жыл бұрын

mike durden now getting owned by the aints

@TheWakeup011

3 жыл бұрын

Agreed, although l dont think we beat Washington in 91 Dallas in 95? Different story imo.

( Christmas Spoiler : Den/Oak game is finally over as the Dolphins watch from the locker room in St Louis as Christmas misery comes on to one while the other is dashing through the snow into the Wild Card game with Buffalo....stay tuned, it's for those who remember this televised Primetime when it aired) . Our Christmas Eve tale is once again in Atlanta this time against the 49ers and Falcons in early action on FOX/Sunday Ticket early and this one is called " Sliver Bells in Hotlanta " 🕊🕊🕊🏈🎄🕭🔔. The Atlanta Falcons had a wacky season as it comes down to this Christmas Eve gunfight between Steve Young, Rice who set another milestone in the record books as they looking to receive blessings from Santa and his elves in the # 1 seed through, but the Dirty Birds had other ideas on this special holiday for the boys and girls in the South even with Jeff George knocked out by Tim Harris as Harris grins like the Grinch and George yelling " You gonna pay in our house,Punk !! . Former Saints QB Bobby Herbert takes charge of the sled of reindeer as they dash through the 2nd half with Terrence Mathis,Eric Metcalf,Craig Ironhead Heyward as they close in until Santa Herbert comes through with Blitzen by the Name of Terrence Mathis for the GW TD with time ticking away, but Steve Young looking to cook the Dirty Birds goose on this Eve is applied by Kevin Ross as the Georgia Dome is caroling throughout as the Falcons blessings are received with joyness as they get the final 6th seed in the NFC and it's was happiness as they get back in for the 1st since 1991 and received presents and a message from Santa: Congrats, Falcons now enjoy Christmas and pack you're bags to head into unfamiliar territory on New Year's Eve in Lambeau as you face the Packers. But Dallas on the flight to Arizona has received the greatest gift from Santa with a note : You're Are Number #1 ,Home Sweet Home throughout the playoffs,Merry Christmas Dallas!!!!!!! Goes to show you on " Judgement Day " of Week 17, anything can happen Espically on Christmas Eve 😁🎄🎄🎄🎄😁🕭. The End. ( Dick Stockton, Matt Millen & Pam Oliver on the call on this game 1:00 😊⛇🎄 HO! HO! HO! ) .

Morten Anderson was Money !!!

And then a week later in the playoff game, dimwit June Jones sits Hebert for the overrated Jeff George.

@chrisuncleahmad

2 жыл бұрын

Hebert was not going to win on the Frozen Tundra

@KingJaymo2k11

Жыл бұрын

I hated that too…but in hindsight, the Packers were very tough back then…especially in Green Bay

@fortynights1513

Жыл бұрын

Hebert may have done better, but the 95 Falcons probably couldn’t have gone out of the first round either way

Worse loss in franchise history cost us a sb ring. Dallas would had beaten gb and we crush dallas and pitt

@runitback5066

3 жыл бұрын

Reading all the comments on here and I agree the niners would’ve had a lock on the entire playoffs with favorable matchups plus homefield advantage. A sixth super bowl win was all but guaranteed. A tough pill to swallow looking back at it.

@chuckdavis2692

2 жыл бұрын

I blame Seifert & his staff for this loss & not having them prepared to play then they were even more unprepared for Green Bay 2 weeks later, if they won this game they would of had home field advantage & avoided the packers

Horsecollar tackle and DEs trying to throw QBs to China 😂