NFC:  St. Louis Rams

AFC:  Tennessee Titans

Date:  January 30, 2000

Super Bowl XXXIV

 

Scoring:

Team                1          2          3          4          Final

STL                 3          6          7          7            23

TEN                 0          0          6          10          16

 

NFC playmakers:

Kevin Carter, DB Todd Lyght, WR Torry Holt, WR Isaac Bruce, LB Mike Jones

 

AFC playmakers:

S Blaine Bishop, WR Derrick Mason, RB Eddie George, QB Steve McNair

 

Network:  ABC

Announcers:  Al Michaels, Boomer Esiason

 

Pregame:  Yes – Charles Schwab Super Bowl Kickoff Show

Halftime:  Yes – not the full halftime show, but recap with Chris Berman and Steve Young

Postgame:

Commercials:  No

 

Grade:  90/100.  Great quality other than the rough commercial edits.

 

Notes:  The two teams' defenses seemed to dominate most of the first half. The Rams started the game out strong by taking the opening kickoff and marching to the Tennessee 17-yard line. But on third down, safety Blaine Bishop pressured quarterback Kurt Warner to throw an incomplete pass. Then the ensuing field goal attempt failed when punter/holder Mike Horan fumbled the snap. The Titans responded by moving the ball to the St. Louis 29-yard line, aided with running back Eddie George's 32-yard reception. But they also came up empty after kicker Al Del Greco missed a 47-yard field goal attempt.

 

For the rest of the half, the Titans were forced to punt on all of their possessions. In contrast, the Rams were able to reach inside the Tennessee 20-yard line on all 4 of their remaining drives before halftime, but on each one, the Titans defense forced St. Louis to settle for field goal attempts from kicker Jeff Wilkins, who was successful in making 3 of them, but missed one attempt from 34 yards. The Rams ended up leading at halftime, 9-0, but their scoring margin over the Titans seemed somewhat small considering they drove into scoring range on every one of their first half possessions and outgained Tennessee in total yards, 294-89.

 

Both teams' offenses started to get going in the second half. The Titans took the opening kickoff of the third period and drove 43 yards to the St. Louis 29-yard line. But Tennessee remained scroeless after defensive back Todd Lyght blocked Del Greco's 47 yard field goal attempt. With 7:20 remaining in the third quarter, the Rams drove inside the Titans 20-yard line for the sixth consecutive drive, this time scoring on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Kurt Warner to rookie receiver Torry Holt, giving St. Louis a 16-0 lead.

 

Tennessee wide receiver Derrick Mason returned the ensuing kickoff 35 yards to the 34-yard line. From there, 5 runs by George and two completions from quarterback Steve McNair to tight end Frank Wycheck advanced the ball to the St. Louis 29-yard line. Then McNair scrambled 23 yards to the 2-yard line, setting up a 1-yard touchdown run by George 2 plays later. The touchdown cut the Titans' deficit to 16-6 after McNair's pass to Wycheck on the two-point conversion attempt fell incomplete.

 

The Titans first score sparked them to rally. After forcing the Rams to punt on their ensuing possession, a pair of 21-yard completions from McNair to wide receivers Jackie Harris and Isaac Byrd aided a 13-play, 79-yard drive that was capped by George's 2-yard touchdown run to cut the score, 16-13. The Tennessee defense then forced the Rams to a three-and-out, and Horan's 30-yard punt gave them the ball back at their 47-yard line. The Titans offense then drove only 28 yards on their ensuing possession, but it was close enough for Del Greco to attempt a 43-yard field goal. This time, Del Greco's kick was good, tying the score 16-16 with just 2:12 left in the game.

 

However on the Rams' first play of their ensuing drive, Warner threw a long pass that was caught by Rams wide receiver Isaac Bruce at the Titans' 38-yard line, who then ran it all the way into the end zone for a 73-yard touchdown completion to give St. Louis a 23-16 lead.

 

 

On the final play of Super Bowl XXXIV, Rams linebacker Mike Jones performs The Tackle on Titans receiver Kevin Dyson, who fell one yard short of the goal line. The Titans took over the ball at their own 10-yard line with 1:54 left in the game after committing a holding penalty on the ensuing kickoff. McNair started out the drive with a pair of completions to Mason and Wycheck for gains of 9 and 7 yards to reach the 28-yard line. Then after throwing an incompletion, defensive back Dre' Bly's 15-yard facemask penalty while tackling McNair on a 12-yard scramble gave the Titans a first down at the St. Louis 45-yard line. On the next play, St. Louis was penalized 5 yards for being offsides, moving the ball to the 40-yard line with 59 seconds left. McNair then ran for 2 yards, followed by a 7-yard completion to wide receiver Kevin Dyson. Three plays later, with the Titans facing 3rd down and 5 to go, McNair was hit by two Rams' defenders, but he escaped and completed a 16-yard pass to Dyson to gain a first down at the Rams 10-yard line. Tennessee then used up their final timeout with just 6 seconds left in the game, giving them a chance for one last play. McNair threw a short pass to Kevin Dyson down the middle, which looked certain to tie up the game, until Rams linebacker Mike Jones tackled Dyson at the one-yard line as time expired. Dyson tried to stretch his arm and the football across the goal line, but he had already gone down, so it was too late. This final play has gone down in NFL history as simply "The Tackle".

 

Thanks Tommy!

 

Running time:  2:58 (2 discs)