Super Bowl XXXIV
Super Bowl XXXIV was an American football game played at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia, on January 30, 2000, to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1999 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion St. Louis Rams defeated the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Tennessee Titans 23–16 to claim their first Super Bowl win and first NFL championship since 1951.[5] It is the most recent NFL championship in which both teams were seeking their first Super Bowl title.
"2000 Super Bowl" redirects here. For the Super Bowl that was played at the completion of the 2000 season, see Super Bowl XXXV.
St. Louis Rams (1)
(NFC)
(13–3)
Both teams were returning to the postseason after struggles and a move between cities. Led by The Greatest Show on Turf offense, the Rams entered their second Super Bowl appearance with an NFC-best 13–3 regular-season record. It was the franchise's first playoff run since 1989 and first since moving from Los Angeles to St. Louis. The Titans also finished the regular season 13–3 and advanced to their Super Bowl debut as a wild card.[6] In their first season after retiring the Oilers name, the franchise was making their first playoff run since 1993 and first since moving from Houston to Tennessee.
The Rams scored three field goals by halftime and added a third-quarter touchdown to take a 16–0 lead. The Titans responded with 16 straight points to tie the game near the end of regulation, the first time a Super Bowl team had erased a deficit of more than 10 points. On their ensuing drive, the Rams regained the lead with wide receiver Isaac Bruce's 73-yard touchdown. Super Bowl XXXIV is best remembered for its final play, in which the Titans reached St. Louis' 10-yard line with six seconds remaining, but linebacker Mike Jones tackled wide receiver Kevin Dyson one yard short of the goal line to prevent a potential game-tying (or winning, if the Titans decided to go for a two-point conversion) touchdown. The play became known as "One Yard Short" and "The Tackle".[7] Rams quarterback Kurt Warner, the first undrafted quarterback to win a Super Bowl, was named Super Bowl MVP after setting Super Bowl records for passing yards and pass attempts without an interception.[8][9][10] Warner became the sixth player to win Super Bowl MVP and NFL MVP in a single season, a feat that would go unrepeated for 23 seasons.[11]
The game has been called the "Dot-com Super Bowl" for the large amount of advertisements purchased by dot-com companies.[12][13][14][15] Regarded as one of the greatest Super Bowls of all time, it was featured on NFL's Greatest Games as "The Longest Yard".
Background[edit]
Host selection process[edit]
NFL owners awarded Super Bowl XXXIV to Atlanta during their October 31, 1996, meeting held in New Orleans. Other cities under consideration were Miami, Tampa, and Los Angeles. Owners initially planned on selecting only two hosts (XXXIII and XXXIV) but decided to name three after strong showings by the respective delegations. Miami, Atlanta, and Tampa were selected to host XXXIII, XXXIV, and XXXV, respectively.[16][17]
Pre-game notes[edit]
In January 2000, two ice storms struck the Atlanta area within a week of each other. The second storm occurred during the week the Super Bowl was hosted. Despite the rare adverse weather conditions, city and state crews kept streets and sidewalks free of ice, and MARTA public transport kept running. The Atlanta region does not receive more ice storms than most other areas of the country, and Super Bowl XXXIV was played indoors and unaffected by the elements. But some residents believe the poor weather during Super Bowl week negatively impacted the city's chances of hosting another Super Bowl, including the bid it lost for Super Bowl XLIII.[37] That bid included meteorological data showing the rarity of such storms in the area.[38] They eventually got the bid to host Super Bowl LIII.
Nashville, home of the Titans, is also the midway point of the Atlanta-St. Louis highway corridor, which contains the entirety of Interstate 24, and uses Interstate 64 and Interstate 75 to complete the route.
It is the most recent Super Bowl in which neither team had already won a Super Bowl.
The Titans, as the designated home team, wore navy blue jerseys with white pants. The Rams wore white uniforms with yellow pants, which would be the final appearance for these uniforms before rebranding to a new Millennium Blue/New Century Gold combination the next season.
Entertainment[edit]
Pregame ceremonies[edit]
The pregame show featured a tribute to "The Great American Music of the 20th Century". Narrated by the Smothers Brothers, the show highlighted some of the unique American musical styles such as gospel, big band, classical, country and rock. Singers Tina Turner and Travis Tritt along with the Georgia Tech Marching Band and the Georgia Mass Choir performed during the show.
Country singer Faith Hill then sang the national anthem.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Super Bowl IV, the following participants of the game were featured during the coin toss ceremony: Bud Grant, Lamar Hunt, Bobby Bell, Paul Krause, Willie Lanier, Alan Page, and Jan Stenerud.[41]
Game summary[edit]
First half[edit]
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. However, 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 four 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 three 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.
Third quarter[edit]
Both teams' offenses started to get going in the second half. The Titans took the opening kickoff of the 3rd quarter and drove 43 yards to the St. Louis 29-yard line. But Tennessee remained scoreless after defensive back Todd Lyght blocked Del Greco's 47-yard field goal attempt. After that, Warner converted a third down situation with a completion to Marshall Faulk, then on the next two plays threw a 31-yard strike to wide receiver Isaac Bruce and a 16-yard completion to tight end Ernie Conwell before finishing the 68-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Torry Holt, giving St. Louis a 16–0 lead. On the completion to Conwell, Bishop combined to make the tackle, but suffered a spinal injury and had to leave the game. The game was delayed for several minutes while Bishop was being treated. Already without fellow injured starter Marcus Robertson, the Titans would have to play backup safeties Anthony Dorsett and Perry Phenix the rest of the game.
Tennessee wide receiver Derrick Mason returned the ensuing kickoff 35 yards to the 34-yard line. From there, five runs by George good for 24 yards, three completions from quarterback Steve McNair to tight end Frank Wycheck for 15 yards and a run by McNair for two advanced the ball to the St. Louis 25-yard line. Then McNair scrambled 23 yards to the 2-yard line, setting up a 1-yard touchdown run by George two 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.[44]
Fourth quarter[edit]
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 tight end Jackie Harris and wide receiver Isaac Byrd aided a 13-play, 79-yard drive that was capped by George's 2-yard touchdown run to make the score 16–13. The Tennessee defense then forced the Rams to a three-and-out, and Horan's 30-yard punt gave the Titans 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 at 16–16 with just 2:12 left in the game. The 16-point deficit was the largest deficit to be erased in a Super Bowl and the first greater than 10 points. It was also the first time in any Super Bowl a team down double digits in the 4th quarter had tied the game.
Then on the Rams' first play of their ensuing drive, Warner threw a long pass that was caught at the Titans' 38-yard line by Bruce, who then ran it all the way into the end zone for a 73-yard touchdown to give St. Louis a 23–16 lead. Likewise, in the 1951 NFL Championship Game, quarterback Norm Van Brocklin's 73-yard game-winning touchdown pass to wide receiver Tom Fears broke a 17–17 tie in the fourth quarter and gave the Rams a seven-point victory to win the NFL title.[45] Warner's touchdown pass to Bruce was his only completion of the 4th quarter.
The Titans took over the ball at their own 12-yard line with 1:48 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. After an incomplete pass, defensive back Dré Bly's 15-yard face-mask penalty while tackling McNair on a 12-yard scramble gave the Titans a 1st down at the St. Louis 45-yard line. On the next play, St. Louis was penalized 5 yards for being offside, moving the ball to the 40-yard line with 59 seconds left. McNair ran for 2 yards, then threw a 7-yard completion to wide receiver Kevin Dyson. On the next play, Tennessee nearly lost the ball when Bly stepped in front of a pass intended for Mason, only to have it go right through his arms. Two plays later, with the Titans facing 3rd down and 5, McNair was hit by two Rams defenders, but he escaped and completed a 16-yard pass to Dyson to gain a 1st down at the Rams' 10-yard line. Tennessee then used up their final timeout with just six seconds left, giving them a chance for one last play to tie the game.
Ron Botchan and Al Jury joined Tom Kelleher, Jack Fette and Bob Beeks as the only men to officiate five Super Bowls. Jury became the second African-American (after Beeks) to do so.