Historical Thread: Irvin vs. Harper

Someone brought up these two guys to me today and our '90s battles.

It seems like Michael Irvin is considered the better receiver......more consistent in moving the chains, better career stats.

But against us, Alvin Harper averaged over 33 yards a catch which is insane. Without everything he contributed, I don't see the Cowboys denying us those SB trips in '92 and '93. And he still got a 90 yard catch against us in '94. Which led to Deion covering him instead of Irvin.

What do you guys think? It seems natural to call Harper the John Taylor of Dallas, but JT has showed up in more than just rivalry games.

And then post Dallas career Harper did very little.

The only reason Harper did anything was because he was the 5th option in the offense behind Emmitt, Irvin, Novacek, and Johnston. With so many Hall of Famers keeping the Niners defense occupied Harper essentially roamed free often in one on one coverage versus one of our lesser corners. Troy Aikman was a great QB and could exploit one on one all day.

When Harper left Dallas for lowly Tampa Bay, he was considered their #1 wideout and matched up against #1 corners, often in double coverage. Needless to say he was never heard from again.

191 career catches and 3400 recieving yards, I wouldnt say he was a great reciever, he always seemed to come up big against midget Eric Davis.

i was watching deon sanders path to primetime or whatever its called on nfln the other day and both aikman and irvin were so smug about that 94 nfc title game saying that we only won cus of deion and aikman whining about PI on a play that wasnt called

Originally posted by crabman82:
i was watching deon sanders path to primetime or whatever its called on nfln the other day and both aikman and irvin were so smug about that 94 nfc title game saying that we only won cus of deion and aikman whining about PI on a play that wasnt called

lol it happens.

I'm still whining about losing because of KW and the non fumble call. It sucks but its way to justify losing. The rest of that game, our O was garbage.

Originally posted by Young2Rice:

Originally posted by crabman82:

i was watching deon sanders path to primetime or whatever its called on nfln the other day and both aikman and irvin were so smug about that 94 nfc title game saying that we only won cus of deion and aikman whining about PI on a play that wasnt called

lol it happens.

I'm still whining about losing because of KW and the non fumble call. It sucks but its way to justify losing. The rest of that game, our O was garbage.

Regardless of how poor the offense was doing, it's unlikely we lose if Kyle Williams doesn't hand them the ball - twice.

Originally posted by Young2Rice:

Originally posted by crabman82:
i was watching deon sanders path to primetime or whatever its called on nfln the other day and both aikman and irvin were so smug about that 94 nfc title game saying that we only won cus of deion and aikman whining about PI on a play that wasnt called

lol it happens.

I'm still whining about losing because of KW and the non fumble call. It sucks but its way to justify losing. The rest of that game, our O was garbage.

Yeah, that's what made the game frustrating.

Should have been a huge blowout.

And btw, this is another prime reason why '89 49ers > '94.