List of Successful Hail Marys in American Football - Professional Football

Professional Football

• 1975 — NFC Divisional Playoffs — Minnesota Vikings vs Dallas Cowboys: With 24 seconds left in the game, Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach threw the 50-yard winning touchdown pass to wide receiver Drew Pearson to defeat the Minnesota Vikings. Although this touchdown appears to be more of a traditional, scripted "bomb" pass play to a designated receiver, Pearson, Staubach's post-game comments about the play are thought to have popularized "Hail Mary" as a football term.
• 1978 — Atlanta Falcons vs. New Orleans Saints: The Falcons beat the Saints 20–17 on a 57-yard Hail Mary pass from Falcons quarterback Steve Bartkowski to Alfred Jackson. The play was known as "Big Ben" and was practically repeated by the Falcons against the Saints only two weeks later in the "Big Ben II" game (see more about the "Big Ben II" attempt below).
• 1980 — Minnesota Vikings vs. Cleveland Browns: Using a play from their playbook called "Squadron Right", Minnesota quarterback Tommy Kramer completed a Hail Mary pass to Ahmad Rashad as time expired resulting in a 28–23 victory for the Vikings. This pass is also known as the "Miracle Catch." Kramer passed for 456 yards in the game. As a result of the victory, the Vikings qualified for the playoffs.
• 1981 – Buffalo Bills vs. New England Patriots: Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson threw a 36-yard pass that was tipped in the end zone, and caught for a touchdown by running back Roland Hooks to give Buffalo a 20–17 victory. The win secured Buffalo the last AFC playoff spot in 1981.
• 1983 — Atlanta Falcons vs. San Francisco 49ers: Falcons quarterback Steve Bartkowski threw a Hail Mary pass 47 yards to Billy "White Shoes" Johnson on the final play of the game to give the Falcons a 28–24 win over the 49ers. TV coverage showed that it was very close to being "down at the 1 foot line" but a 2nd referee raised his arms indicating touchdown. Too close to call as Johnson's left shoulder hits the ground as he's putting the ball over the goal line with his right.
• 1984 — New Orleans Saints vs. Cincinnati Bengals: The Saints' Dave Wilson completed a 54-yard Hail Mary pass, deflected by Bengal safety Robert Jackson, to Hoby Brenner on the last play before halftime to take a 7–3 lead. Ken Anderson, who was recovering from a shoulder injury that he had received earlier in the season, replaced an ineffective Boomer Esiason and rallied the Bengals to a 24–21 victory.
• 1987 – San Francisco 49ers vs. Cincinnati Bengals: Leading 26–20, with 0:06 remaining, Bengals coach Sam Wyche inexplicably called a 4th-down running play instead of a punt. The 49ers stopped the runner with :02 seconds left, giving them possession and a stopped game clock (a de facto time out due to the Bengals' losing the ball on downs). On the game's final play, 49ers quarterback Joe Montana threw a touchdown pass to Jerry Rice as time expired, giving San Francisco a 27–26 win.
• 1987 (Playoffs) NFC Wild Card Playoffs — Minnesota Vikings vs. New Orleans Saints: In the Saints' first-ever playoff game, they were victimized once again. The Vikings were ahead 24–10 near the end of the first half, when Wade Wilson completed a Hail Mary pass to Hassan Jones, to make the halftime score 31–10. The touchdown put the game basically out of reach, and the Vikings defeated the Saints 44–10
• 1991 — Atlanta Falcons vs. San Francisco 49ers: Billy Joe Tolliver found Michael Haynes for 44 yards with one second left to beat the 49ers, 17–14, in a key NFC West battle. The Falcons would go on to qualify for the playoffs, with this victory and a stunning road win at Candlestick Park earning them a tiebreaker edge over the playoff-missing 49ers
• 1991 — Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins: The Dallas Cowboys were playing the then undefeated Washington Redskins in 1991. With the Cowboys leading 10–7 in second quarter with time running out and a 4th down from Redskin 34 yard line, the Cowboys decided to go for it. Then Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman threw the Hail Mary in the right corner of the endzone where Alvin Harper cleanly caught the ball for a touchdown putting the Cowboys up 17–7. The Cowboys would end up winning 24–21 and giving the dominant Redskins their 1st loss after an 11-0 start
• 1996 — Jacksonville Jaguars vs. New England Patriots: On September 22, Mark Brunell threw a 51-yard Hail Mary pass to Jimmy Smith to score a touchdown at the end of the first half, closing the gap with New England to 22–7. In the second half, Brunell also threw scoring strikes of 41 and 61 yards. The Patriots eventually won in overtime, 28–25. Amazingly, Brunell's Hail Mary attempt at the end of the second half was also completed, but the receiver was ruled down at the 1 yard line with no time left (see more about the second Hail Mary attempt below).
• 1999 — New York Giants vs. New Orleans Saints: Just before halftime, Kent Graham of the Giants completed a 53-yard Hail Mary pass to Joe Jurevicius that had been tipped by teammate Amani Toomer and the Saints' Sammy Knight. The touchdown gave Jurevicius his first NFL touchdown and the Giants a 24–3 halftime lead. New York won the game, 31–3. The Saints gave up another Hail Mary the following week (see more about the second Hail Mary attempt below).
• 1999 — Cleveland Browns vs. New Orleans Saints: On Halloween, and only a week after the Giants had completed a similar pass play against the Saints before halftime, the Browns won their first game since coming back to the NFL against New Orleans as Tim Couch completed a 56-yard Hail Mary pass to Kevin Johnson as time expired for the stunning 21–16 victory. As in the week before, the Saints' Sammy Knight also batted this pass before it was caught (see more about the first Hail Mary attempt above).
• 2001 — Chicago Bears vs. Cleveland Browns: Chicago tied the game on a 34-yard deflected Hail Mary from Shane Matthews where running back James Allen made a remarkable diving catch. The play capped off a 14-point comeback in the final 28 seconds of a game that Chicago won in overtime, 27–21, on an interception return by Mike Brown (which was remarkable in and of itself, because it was the 2nd game that the Bears had won in OT due to a Mike Brown interception return for a touchdown).
• 2002 — Cleveland Browns vs. Jacksonville Jaguars: Cleveland won on a 50 yard Hail Mary pass from Tim Couch to Quincy Morgan against Jacksonville for a 21–20 shocker. It was Couch's second Hail Mary victory. Many fans refer to this as the "Hail Morgan" catch.
• 2006 — New Orleans Saints vs. Atlanta Falcons: Drew Brees completed a Hail Mary pass to Terrance Cooper before halftime that helped the Saints cruise to a 31–13 victory over the team that had beat them twice in 1978 by using the "Big Ben" play.
• 2007 — Arizona Cardinals vs. San Francisco 49ers: Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner threw up a 48-yard toss to Larry Fitzgerald at the end of the first half of the game to take the lead against the shocked 49ers, 21–17. San Francisco, however, would win 37–31 in overtime at the end of the game on a Warner fumble recovered for a touchdown.
• 2010 — Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Houston Texans: With the score tied 24–24 and 3 seconds left on the clock, the Jaguars had possession of the football on the 50 yard line. Jacksonville quarterback David Garrard attempted a Hail Mary pass to wide receiver Mike Sims-Walker. Houston safety Glover Quin slammed the ball out of the endzone with both hands, only to watch in horror as it bounced right to Mike Thomas at the 1-yard line, who stepped into the endzone with no time left to ensure a 31-24 Jacksonville victory.
• 2011 — Kansas City Chiefs vs. Chicago Bears: With 2 seconds left in the first half, the Bears leading 3–0, Kansas City had the ball on Chicago's 38 yard line. Tyler Palko threw a Hail Mary into the end zone that was batted down by Chicago's Brian Urlacher and Chris Conte only to be caught after the deflection by Kansas City's Dexter McCluster. The pass was Tyler Palko's first career touchdown pass and Dexter McCluster's first career touchdown reception. The Chiefs went on to win the game 10–3.
• 2011 (Playoffs) — New York Giants vs. Green Bay Packers: With 15 seconds left in the half, the underdog Giants had a 3rd and one at their own 40. Ahead by 13-10 and with no time outs, the Giants were apparently content to run out clock, calling a running play to Ahmad Bradshaw. Bradshaw however broke the run for 23 yards, getting out of bounds at the Green Bay 37 with 6 seconds left. Eli Manning then threw 37 yards to Hakeem Nicks for a TD, with Nicks jumping high, catching the ball against his helmet between two defenders, which was reminiscent of Manning's pass to David Tyree in Super Bowl XLII. The touchdown put the Giants up 20-10 and they won the game 37-20.
• 2012 — Green Bay Packers vs. Seattle Seahawks: Playing with replacement officials on a Monday night, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson threw a last-second Hail Mary attempt to Golden Tate, who was surrounded by three Green Bay defenders in the end zone. Tate pushed one of the defenders out of the way as the ball approached. M.D. Jennings of the Packers seemed to have intercepted the pass, but Tate was able to get his hands on the ball as well before Jennings landed on the ground. The replacement officials eventually ruled a touchdown on the field based upon the simultaneous catch rule. A booth replay review followed and the touchdown ruling stood, resulting in a 14-12 Seattle victory. This play caused significant controversy regarding the replacement officials; as the play came down, one official signaled that a touchdown was scored while another signaled for the clock to stop. NFL Commentator Gregg Rosenthal claimed that this event brought about the "replacement official apocalypse". Within days the contract issues with the union officials were resolved.
• 2013 - Baltimore Ravens vs. Denver Broncos : Baltimore Quarterback Joe Flacco launches a 70 yard Hail Mary to Jacoby Jones with 31 seconds remaining in the AFC divisional playoff game which ties up the score and forces overtime. Baltimore then went on to kick a game winning field goal in double overtime to send them to the AFC championship.