1999 Jaguars – Kryptonite: Thy Name Is Titan

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Welcome to another trip into the Football Attic. Today, we’re going to be talking about the 1999 Jacksonville Jaguars, a team that won every one of their regular and postseason games…except the three they played against the Tennessee Titans.

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Every Friday, host John Gidley shares interesting stories of games, players, coaches and teams that aren’t necessarily forgotten, but are not as well-known as they should be. 

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First: A Little Back Story

The Jacksonville Jaguars were one of two expansion teams that came into the NFL in 1995, along with the Carolina Panthers. Like most expansion teams, the Jags experienced some growing pains in their first season, going only 4-12.

In 1996, they started 4-7, and it looked like things would go about the same as they did in ’95. To the surprise of the NFL, however, Jacksonville won each of their final five games to sneak into the AFC playoffs…in only their second season in the league!

Not only that, in the Wild Card round, but they also went into Buffalo and beat the Bills, 30-27. Not only that, in the Divisional round, but they also went into Denver to face a Broncos team that most people thought were a shoo-in for the Super Bowl. Instead, the Jaguars shocked the world and came out with another 30-27 victory.

Their Cinderella season ended the next week, however, with a 20-6 loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game. It’s certainly surprising to see one team make it all the way to a conference championship game in just their second season of play, but would you believe the Jaguars weren’t the only team to accomplish this in 1996?

Their expansion counterparts in the NFC, the Carolina Panthers, went 12-4, earned a first-round bye, and even beat the defending champion Dallas Cowboys in the Divisional round before coming up short to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game. To think we almost had a Super Bowl between two teams that had only started their franchises the year before.

The Team Backstory

Over the next three seasons, the Jaguars proved that 1996 was no fluke. They went 11-5 in both 1997 and ’98, making the playoffs both times, but never going past the Divisional round. In 1999, they blew through the AFC by going 14-2 and embarrassing a legendary quarterback and coach in the Divisional round.

They lost the AFC Championship game, however, to the exact same team they had lost both of their regular-season games against the Tennessee Titans.

If you were with me last week when we talked about the Houston Oilers of 1972 and ’73, you’ll remember how they became the Tennessee Titans. 1999 was the franchise’s third season in Tennessee and the first in which they used the “Titans” nickname and uniforms after changing from “Oilers.”

After two mediocre seasons in 1997 and ’98, everything clicked for the Titans in ’99, as they finished the regular season with a franchise-record 13 wins, something that no Houston Oilers team ever accomplished.

Jaguars and Titans

The first time the Titans and Jaguars met in 1999 was in a week three matchup in rainy Jacksonville. Both teams came in at 2-0. In a defensive struggle, Jags quarterback Mark Brunell threw three interceptions, and a late touchdown pass from backup quarterback Neil O’Donnell to Michael Roan gave Tennessee a 20-19 victory.

Following this defeat, the Jaguars went on a tear, winning 11 consecutive games. They boasted the best defense in the NFL, allowing a league-low 13 points per game, and leading the AFC with 57 sacks. Over a dominant six-week span, the defense allowed a combined 36 points in six games.

The offense was solid as well, with running backs James Stewart and Fred Taylor combining for over 1,600 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns, and receivers Jimmy Smith and Keenan McCardell collectively totaling over 2,500 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns.

In the meantime, the Titans occasionally stumbled, losing two games they should have won against San Francisco and Baltimore, and getting shut out in Miami. Aside from these three losses, Tennessee had a great team of their own.

They were led at quarterback by the late Steve McNair, known more at this point for his running ability than his passing. McNair and running back Eddie George combined for 2,000 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns this season while being protected by a dominant offensive line, led by Hall-of-Famer Bruce Matthews.

The next time the Jaguars and Titans met, it was week 16 in Nashville, the day after Christmas. Jacksonville came in at 13-1, on an aforementioned 11-game winning streak, and Tennessee entered at 11-3. The Jaguars weren’t only defeated on this day, they were embarrassed in a way they hadn’t been all season.

The Titans’ offense exploded for 41 points, by far the most that Jacksonville had allowed all year. Eddie George ran for 102 yards, and Steve McNair threw five touchdown passes in an easy 41-14 victory. Aside from a long pass from Mark Brunell to Jimmy Smith, the Jags did nothing on offense. James Stewart didn’t play due to an injury, Fred Taylor only got 44 rushing yards, and Brunell went only 4-for-11 passing with 95 yards, 62 of which came on that pass to Smith. Brunell was benched for Jay Fiedler, who didn’t fare much better, going 8-of-22 with two interceptions.

The Jaguars were now 13-2, still leading the AFC Central division, while the Titans were 12-3. Entering week 17, Tennessee had an outside chance of winning the division, but they would need to count on the lowly Cincinnati Bengals to beat the Jaguars in Jacksonville. As you might expect, this didn’t happen. The Jags beat the Bengals, 24-7, to finish 14-2, clinching both the Central Division and home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs.

Tennessee won at Pittsburgh, 47-36, finishing 13-3 and securing the top wild-card spot in the AFC. If you’ve seen any compilation video of the greatest plays in NFL history, you probably know what happened the next week. The Titans beat the Buffalo Bills on the “Music City Miracle” play in the Wild Card round. They then went into Indianapolis and upset the Colts in the Divisional round, 19-16, in Peyton Manning’s first-ever playoff game.

The day before, the Jaguars turned in one of the most dominant performances in playoff history, beating the Miami Dolphins, 62-7, in Miami quarterback Dan Marino’s final NFL game. The Jags had a 41-0 lead in the first half!

With an outcome like that, you may have been led to believe that Jacksonville was destined for the Super Bowl. Tennessee, the only team that had beaten them all season, had other ideas.

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    A Battle For A Super Bowl Birth

    The next week, the Titans and Jaguars met for the third time in the 1999 season, this time for the AFC Championship. Despite Tennessee winning both of their regular-season meetings, the oddsmakers had Jacksonville as seven-point favorites.

    With the score tied at 7-7 late in the first quarter, James Stewart broke off a 33-yard touchdown run to give the Jags the lead. Tennessee’s Al Del Greco made a 34-yard field goal just before halftime to make the intermission score 14-10 in favor of Jacksonville. Stewart’s run would be the last time the Jaguars scored all day. In the third quarter, the Titans ambushed the Jags by scoring on all three units.

    Steve McNair scored on a one-yard touchdown run, the defense earned a safety when Josh Evans sacked Mark Brunell in the end zone, and Derrick Mason scored by taking the subsequent kickoff 80 yards to the house. McNair tacked on another one-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter, and that was it.

    Tennessee scored 16 unanswered second-half points to complete their personal hat trick, beating Jacksonville for the third time that season, 33-14, and advancing to the Super Bowl against the St. Louis Rams and “The Greatest Show on Turf.”

    In that previously-mentioned video of greatest plays in NFL history, the finish to that game would have been included as well: on the final play, with the Titans down by seven, Steve McNair completed a pass to Kevin Dyson, who was tackled by Mike Jones one yard short of the goal line, preserving a Super Bowl victory for St. Louis, while Jacksonville watched at home.

    In the 20 years since then, neither the Titans nor the Jaguars have equaled their 1999 performances. Tennessee went 13-3 again in 2000 but was upset at home by the eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional round.

    They’ve reached the AFC Championship game twice since then but lost both times. Jacksonville went 7-9 in 2000, their first of four consecutive losing seasons, and have only made the playoffs three times since then. For younger NFL fans who are accustomed to seeing these two teams play a meaningless Thursday Night Football game each year, they’d be surprised to learn that the Titans and Jaguars were once the two best teams in the AFC.

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