Super Bowl XXXIV (Rams vs. Titans): An Ultimate Recount of the Game

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Today we have Super Bowl XXXIV, which was held on January 30, 2000, at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta between the AFC champion Tennessee Titans and the NFC champion St. Louis Rams. If you’re looking for the full story of this 1999 season, pick up my Nifty Nineties book and you’ll learn more than you ever wanted to know about that year and the rest of the nineties.

As always, we have a pop quiz, and then homework at the end of the episode. The pop quiz question for today is: this Super Bowl ended with no turnovers. What was the last Super Bowl to end with no turnovers? The answer will come at the end of the podcast.

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Prelude to Super Bowl XXXIV

It is humorous that Al Michaels said during this Super Bowl that Hollywood would reject Rams quarterback Kurt Warner’s story for being too schmaltzy because his story did indeed become a Hollywood blockbuster in 2021 titled “American Underdog.”

Warner took over at starting quarterback after Trent Green suffered a season-ending injury in the preseason. Head coach Dick Vermeil said that his team would “rally around Kurt Warner,” and he was laughed at. By the end of the season, there were a lot of people laughing about how amazing the Rams offense was.

Warner threw for 4,353 yards and an NFC-record 41 touchdowns, posting a passer rating of 109.2. He was easily named MVP, having the most unexpected season perhaps of all time.

Of course, he wouldn’t have done it without his teammates. Running back Marshall Faulk, who had come over in a trade from Indianapolis, turned into the perfect weapon for offensive coordinator Mike Martz’s offense. He ran for nearly 1,400 yards and caught 87 passes for over 1,000 yards. He was named Offensive Player of the Year.

The Rams also had two brilliant wideouts in Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt. Bruce caught 77 passes for a team-high 1,165 yards and 12 touchdowns. Holt caught another 52 for 788 and six touchdowns. Then you had speedster Az-zahir Hakim, who had 677 receiving yards and eight touchdown catches.

The Rams even had Ricky Proehl, who came up big in the playoffs. The offense became known as “The Greatest Show on Turf,” as it was electrifying to watch and impossible to stop, on their way to a 13-3 record.

The Rams played a crazy divisional-round game with Minnesota where they scored 49 points but still couldn’t put the Vikings away until the very end. The Vikings missed a couple of two-point conversions which would have made it a one-score game, and the Rams held on to win, 49-37.

Then they played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who forced the Rams to play their kind of ball. The Bucs led 6-5 in the fourth quarter when Warner threw the game-winning touchdown to Proehl. If not for the “Bert Emanuel Rule” that caused a Tampa pass to be ruled incomplete, the Rams might not have made it to Atlanta. But they held on to win, 11-6, advancing to their first Super Bowl since moving to St. Louis.

The Tennessee Titans also went 13-3, but they were overshadowed by the Rams as well as other AFC teams since they finished as a wild card behind the 14-2 Jacksonville Jaguars. It was the Jags who were the class of the AFC in 1999, earning the #1 seed and home field for the AFC Championship Game.

The Titans should have been eliminated in round one when the Bills made a field goal with less than half a minute to go to take a one-point lead. That’s when the “Home Run Throwback,” a lateral on a kickoff return from tight end Frank Wycheck to receiver Kevin Dyson, turned into a miracle touchdown known as the ”Music City Miracle” in a 22-16 Tennessee win.

The Titans then barely beat the Indianapolis Colts 19-16 before going to Jacksonville and stomping the Jags for the third time this season, 33-14. That’s right, the Jaguars lost only three games in 1999 – all to Tennessee.

The Titans originally planned on going with a “Pittsburgh South” offense. Former Steelers Neil O’Donnell and Yancey Thigpen were the quarterback and top receiver. But after those two went down with injuries, Steve McNair took over at quarterback, and he was electrifying, throwing for over 2,100 yards and rushing for over 300 more and eight touchdowns.

Running back Eddie George proved to be a revelation, rushing for over 1,300 yards and nine touchdowns. The characters of the Home Run Throwback were the top two receivers on the team, with Wycheck catching 69 passes and Dyson catching 54. The Titans also had a monster defense, led by “The Freak” Jevon Kearse, who came up with 14-and-a-half sacks.

The Rams were seven-point favorites entering this Super Bowl, which ended up as a logistical disaster when a major ice storm struck Atlanta. In this early era of the Internet, dot-com companies bombarded the Super Bowl airwaves with commercials, some of which weren’t around very much longer.

And this Super Bowl was also the first one since Y2K, which was supposed to cause major problems. Needless to say, this was a new era in the NFL and the world we were entering.

Super Bowl XXXIV: First Quarter

This game got off to a very slow start. The Rams got the ball first. Warner’s first completion of the game went to offensive tackle Fred Miller for a one-yard loss after the ball was deflected at the line of scrimmage.

Warner hit Bruce for a first down at the Tennessee 49, then he found Proehl for 11 more yards. Tight end Roland Williams hauled one in at the 28, then running back Robert Holcombe ran up the middle for 11 yards and another first down. The Rams stalled there, so they sent on kicker Jeff Wilkins to try a 35-yard field goal. Holder Mike Horan dropped the snap and was tackled for a loss, so the Rams got zero points out of it.

The Titans got their first first down of the game on an offside penalty on the Rams. McNair then threw a screen to George, who picked up 32 yards into Rams territory. George got the ball inside the 30, but two incompletions sent on the kicker Al Del Greco. His 47-yard field goal attempt was wide left, and the game remained scoreless.

Warner started off the next drive by throwing over the middle to Holt for a 32-yard gain to the Tennessee 30. He then found Faulk for another first down at the 14. However, perhaps the Rams were too conservative with their next two play calls, both runs by Faulk for short gains. An incompletion sent Wilkins back on, and this time he did have the opportunity to make his 27-yard attempt to make it 3-0 at the end of one quarter.

Super Bowl XXXIV: Second Quarter

The Titans punted it back to St. Louis. On the second play of the drive, Faulk escaped on a long gain all the way down to the Tennessee 17. The Rams were in field goal range now, but Wilkins missed a 34-yard attempt wide right, and the game remained just 3-0.

George ran for a first down, and McNair followed him with a 13-yard run for another first down. A sack by defensive end Kevin Carter set the Titans back a bit, but McNair made up for it by hitting receiver Derrick Mason for a first down at the 41. The Rams almost blocked the punt, before getting an 11-yard pass to Bruce. Several plays later, they moved into field goal range, and Wilkins converted the 29-yard field goal to make it a 6-0 game.

The Titans went three-and-out. Warner threw to Holt for one first down, before being sacked right at the two-minute warning. He made up for it by going back to Holt for a first down at the 48. Bruce and Hakim each caught passes for first downs, then the Titans got called for holding, which was another first down.

Kearse then horse-collared Warner for a sack, getting part of Warner’s facemask for a 15-yard penalty. However, the Rams could not punch it in. They settled for a 28-yard Wilkins field goal and went to the half up 9-0.

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    Super Bowl XXXIV: Third Quarter

    McNair came out of the locker room with a pass to Wycheck for a first down at the 41. He then hit tight end, Jackie Harris, for another first down at the Rams 47. George took a draw for a first down at the 36, and he got a bit more yardage before the Titans had to try a field goal. Del Greco had his 47-yard field goal attempt blocked by defensive back Todd Lyght and recovered by defensive tackle D’Marco Farr.

    Faulk got a first down on third down with a catch underneath to get to the 43. Next, Warner went long for Bruce, and he found him for a first down at the 26. Next, tight end Ernie Conwell caught a pass for a first down at the 10.

    Three plays later, Warner threw over the middle to Holt, who juggled it before bringing it in for a nine-yard touchdown. It was the first touchdown of the game, and it put St. Louis up 16-0.

    George started the new drive with two runs, getting a first down at the 45. McNair then threw a few passes to Wycheck to get to the Rams 30. McNair scrambled on a second-down play and went 23 yards down to the 2. George pounded it in from one yard out, but not before the Titans used their first timeout.

    The Titans made it 16-6 with that run. In a curious move, Titans head coach Jeff Fisher decided to go for a two-point conversion here in the third quarter. McNair’s pass to Wycheck went off his hand and incomplete, and the Titans remained down by ten as the fourth quarter began.

    Super Bowl XXXIV: Fourth Quarter

    The Titans faked an onside kick, but they kicked it short instead, and the Rams got the ball at their own 37. After a St. Louis three-and-out, Tennessee had the ball back at their own 21. George started the new drive with a six-yard run, then McNair threw to Dyson for a first down.

    George ran three times to get nine yards, and on fourth down, McNair snuck across for a first down. After five more yards from George, McNair fired to receiver Isaac Byrd for a first down. With the ball in good field position, the Titans curiously called their second timeout.

    A “very critical timeout,” ABC announcer Al Michaels said. McNair then threw a backside screen to his left, and Harris rumbled for 21 yards. Two plays later, George hammered in for a touchdown, and the Titans now trailed by just three.The Rams went three-and-out again, and the Titans got the ball back at their own 48. McNair immediately scrambled up the middle for ten yards.

    George got another seven before McNair threw to Harris and got a first down despite a Harris fumble; Byrd was Johnny-on-the-spot in recovering the loose ball. The Titans got as far as the 25 before having to kick. Del Greco made the 43-yard attempt, and the game was tied 16-16 with just over two minutes to play.

    That’s when one of the most iconic moments in Super Bowl history took place. Warner went deep down the right sideline for Bruce, who hauled it in, made a move, and was gone for a 73-yard touchdown. That pass put Warner over 400 yards passing, the most in Super Bowl history. More importantly, it put the Rams up 23-16 at the two-minute warning.

    The Titans began their final drive backed up thanks to a holding call on the kickoff. They had only one timeout remaining, so time was of the essence. McNair threw to Mason in bounds, then to Wycheck, who got out of bounds with 1:20 remaining. McNair scrambled for another first down, and he got 15 extra yards thanks to a facemask penalty.

    Next, the Rams jumped offside. McNair ran out of bounds for two more yards, stopping the clock with 49 seconds to go. Next, McNair fired over the middle to Dyson, who caught it for a first down at the 32.

    Here came one of the ugliest Super Bowl moments of all time: ABC announcers Al Michaels and Boomer Esiason arguing with each other on-air over whether the Titans should have used their final timeout. Michaels said to spike it; Esiason said to call it.

    The two got noticeably angry over the situation, and it was rather cringe-worthy to listen to. Michaels was proven to be right when McNair avoided a sack and then fired downfield to Dyson for a first down in bounds with six seconds left. “Way to go, Al!” Esiason sarcastically said after Michaels’s gamble proved to be the right one.

    The Titans had one more play. To this day, I’ll never understand it. McNair threw a pass to Dyson well short of the goal line, and he was tackled by linebacker Mike A. Jones one yard short of the end zone.

    Time was up, and the Rams had won the Super Bowl. But why was the pass short of the goal line? In that situation, you have to go to the end zone even if no one’s open. It’s your only chance at victory. Expecting a receiver to make a move in that situation is folly. You’ve got to get that ball in the end zone.

    Super Bowl XXXIV Aftermath and Awards

    If it sounds like I’m a little ticked off over this, it’s because I am. We were robbed of the first overtime in Super Bowl history because McNair didn’t go for the end zone. I was rooting for the Rams, but man, could you imagine what would have happened had this game go to OT?

    Neither team turned the ball over once, the first time that happened since Super Bowl XXV, between the Bills and the Giants – and that is the answer to the pop quiz question.

    The biggest play of the game was obvious: Warner’s game-winning 73-yard touchdown pass to Bruce. But what was the biggest play no one remembers? How about not a play at all, but rather the Titans wasting two timeouts in the second half.

    If they had both of them at the end there, it would have given them so many more options on their final drive. This game was the classic example of a team misusing timeouts. Someone should have given Jeff Fisher a copy of Madden NFL 2000 before the game.

    Warner was the MVP for good reason: a Super Bowl-record of 414 passing yards. The second-best player had to be Bruce, for his six catches for 162 yards and the game-winning touchdown. Those two members of the Greatest Show on Turf really came to play.

    McNair gets credit as the MVP of the losing team for leading his team back from a 16-0 deficit and throwing for 214 yards, not to mention rushing for 64 yards, a Super Bowl record for quarterbacks.

    As for the Least Valuable Player, how about Jevon Kearse going invisible for this game? He had two tackles – that’s it. His one would-be sack was canceled out because he grabbed Warner’s facemask. He was practically invisible in the most important game of the year. Give St. Louis’s offensive line a lot of credit, of course, but Kearse just didn’t have it on this day.

    Finally, who was the best player you don’t remember? How about Jackie Harris, tight end for the Titans. He bounced around in the league from Green Bay to Tampa Bay to Tennessee, and in the biggest game of his life, he caught seven passes for 64 yards. He proved to be a reliable target for McNair.

    As for Warner, his story of going from a food-stocker at a local supermarket to Super Bowl MVP and holder of the passing yards record in the big game, well, you know it well. His story is now immortalized in the movie American Underdog.

    I liked the movie for a lot of reasons, though the shot of Lambeau Field is anachronistic; they showed 2021 Lambeau Field, not pre-renovation Lambeau Field in the nineties. I wish there had been more football action in it, but otherwise, you probably need to see it.

    Homework

    And that’s my homework for you this episode: instead of a book, a movie. Watch American Underdog and you’ll see exactly how improbable Warner’s Super Bowl MVP really was.

    Next episode in two weeks, we will go from one of the best Super Bowls of all time to one of the worst. Are you ready to see a team’s offense play so badly that they never crossed the goal line? That’s right, I’m talking about the New York Giants, who only scored on a kickoff return.

    Then the Baltimore Ravens matched them. You can find all my books at tommyaphillips.com; I specifically suggest the Great Eighties and Nifty Nineties books. Later this year, there will be a third book on NFL decades, on the seventies. You won’t want to miss it. Until next time, this is Tommy A. Phillips, signing off. So long!

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    Lombardi Memories is a show that takes you back in time, into January or February, to the greatest one-day spectacle in all of sports. This is the every-other-Tuesday podcast that looks back at each and every one of the 50-plus Super Bowls and tells the story of who won and why.  Tommy A. Phillips is your host on this Super Journey.  He’s an author of multiple NFL books.  You can purchase below.

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