The Super Bowl is an occasion never shy of razzmatazz anyway, but the 2000 edition – the first of the new Millennium – had the necessary little extra touches to make it even more special.
From the iconic host stadium, the sadly now-demolished Georgia Dome, to the diverse half-time show that saw Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, and Phil Collins share the stage, Super Bowl XXXIV had all the bells and whistles.
And that’s before we even get onto the game itself. The St. Louis Rams, who have since gone back to their Los Angeles origins, and the Tennessee Titans were both seeking their first-ever Super Bowl victory – whoever prevailed, there would be a new name on the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
A fascinating encounter, witnessed by 72,265 inside the stadium and an estimated 88.5 million on TV courtesy of ABC, saw the ‘Greatest Show on Turf’ – the nickname for St Louis’s fluid offensive playbook – prevail, with an undrafted quarterback being named MVP, and, in their final play that could have stolen the game, the Titans falling just shy in a moment known today as ‘One Yard Short’.
Super Bowl XXXIV is often considered one of the best versions of the showpiece event in the modern era. And here’s exactly how it played out…

The Underdog Story
Normally, the preseason Super Bowl odds provided by sportsbooks like Betway can be used as an excellent indicator of who will make it to Super Sunday. The Chiefs, 49ers, and Eagles have all delivered as betting favorites in recent seasons, while the 2024 campaign was dominated by the expected likes of the Detroit Lions, as well as Kansas City and Philadelphia once more.
But what made Super Bowl XXXIV so fascinating was that neither of the protagonists was expected to make it. The Titans were available at odds of +3000 before the season started, which was perhaps on the generous side given that they had never even played in the Super Bowl game before.
As for the Rams, they were priced at +15000… making them one of the biggest underdog winners of any of North America’s major sporting competitions in history.
To offer further context to how unexpected their Cinderella rise was, the sportsbooks had made St Louis’ seasonal win line just 5.5. They went on to crush that at 13-3, before dazzling their way through the playoffs.
The Greatest Show on Turf
It was a season in which the Rams became a lot of football fans’ ‘second team’, such was the electrifying entertainment of their offensive play.
Offensive coordinator Mike Martz, who would later become the franchise’s head coach, devised the playbook using the teachings of Sid Gillman and Don Coryell, the latter deploying his ‘Air Coryell’ schemes during three NCAA title wins and a stellar stint at the San Diego Chargers, who finished as passing yard leaders in six consecutive seasons.
During the 2000 season that would follow Super Bowl XXXIV, Martz and the Rams would break the NFL record for total offensive yards gained in a single season (7,335), with 5,492 of them in the shape of passing yards, which was also a competition record.
The Titans did a pretty good job of stifling the Rams’ offense during the Super Bowl game, with a trio of field goals from Jeff Wilkins handing St Louis a 9-0 half-time lead.
After Christina and co had done their thing, the action resumed with Tennessee now looking far more formidable in their own attacking play. They ran in 16 points in the third and fourth quarters… but touchdowns from Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce – the latter via an arrowed pass from undrafted MVP quarterback Kurt Warner, secured a 23-16 victory for St Louis.
The Longest Yard
Although it was the Rams that had their name etched onto the Vince Lombardi Trophy in 2000, it could so easily have been the Titans celebrating long into the Georgia night had their very last play of the game gone differently.
With just six seconds left on the clock, Tennessee was at St Louis’s 10-yard line. They were destined for glory, with quarterback Steve McNair thrusting the ball into the hands of wide receiver Kevin Dyson.
He was within touching distance of the end zone when Rams linebacker Mike Jones hurtled into the tackle, bringing Dyson down just one-yard shy of a game-changing TD.
From the first play to the last, Super Bowl XXXIV is rightly regarded as one of the best football games of any era… and totally befitting of the year 2000 celebrations.