NFL Old School Game of the Week: Titans Hold Off Rams Rally in Super Bowl Preview

Titans quarterback Steve McNair would throw two touchdown passes while running it for another touchdown in Tennessee's victory over the Rams.

On October 31, 1999, the St. Louis Rams traveled to Nashville, Tennessee to take on the Tennessee Titans in a Week 8 showdown that would end by a preview of the Super Bowl XXXIV.

The Rams were the biggest story going on in the NFL at that time as they had jumped out to a 6-0 start behind head coach Dick Vermeil, who was in his third season as the St. Louis head coach following a 14-year hiatus after a seven-year stint with the Philadelphia Eagles which included an appearance in Super Bowl XV and quarterback Kurt Warner who just a few years earlier was bagging groceries at a Hy-Vee store in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Following an ninth straight losing season, the Rams made some changes in the offseason as they signed quarterback Trent Green to become St. Louis' new starter while acquiring running back Marshall Faulk from the Indianapolis Colts and using their first round pick to select wide receiver Torry Holt who was to be paired up with all-pro wide receiver Isaac Bruce.

With all these pieces on offense and a new play caller in offensive coordinator Mike Martz, the Rams felt confident they could be a dark horse to make the playoffs for the 1999 season.

However in the third game of the preseason, Green tore the ACL in his left knee following a low hit by San Diego Chargers strong safety Rodney Harrison, knocking him out for the season as many experts believed that the Rams were destined for a 10th straight losing season.

But like what Vermeil said in his press conference following Green's injury the Rams rallied around Warner and played good football as they won their first six games by average of almost 25 points per game as Warner throwing for 1,531 yards and 18 touchdowns to direct an offense which averaged 36 points per game, coining the offense to be known as the "Greatest Show on Turf".

While the Rams were dominating their competition, the Titans were finding ways to win in their 5-1 start to the season, which was seen as a rebirth for their franchise in more ways than one.

Prior to the 1996 season, Houston Oilers owner Bud Adams announced he was moving the franchise to Tennessee with the goal of having a new stadium ready to go in the city of Nashville by the start of the 1999 NFL season.

The Oilers spent the 1997 season in Memphis(To read about their first game, click on the link which is highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/09/nfl-old-school-game-of-week.html)but after low attendance, the team played their games for the 1998 stadium at Vanderbilt University in Nashville before moving into their brand new stadium on the east bank of the Cumberland River for the 1999 season.

That wasn't the only change for the franchise as the team changed its nickname from Oilers to Titans as new uniforms and colors were also introduced for the 1999 season.

The first official game as the Tennessee Titans was a 36-35 comeback win over the Cincinnati Bengals,  before a sellout crowd at the 69,213 seas Adelphia Coliseum as quarterback Steve McNair threw for 341 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Titans to victory.

But after the win over the Bengals, the Titans would lose McNair for several weeks as he underwent surgery to repair an inflamed disk in his back.

Neil O'Donnell would fill in for McNair and with the help of running back Eddie George, the Titans would go 4-1 over the next six weeks which included narrow wins over the Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints.

As the Titans prepared for their showdown against the Rams, head coach Jeff Fisher kept a tight lip on whether or not McNair would get the start at quarterback as it was not revealed until a hour before kickoff that McNair would get the nod.

Rams running back Marshall Faulk would run for 90 yards on 16 carries while catching six passes for 94 yards and a touchdown.

The Titans would get the ball to start the game as McNair would complete a 15-yard-pass to Yancey Thigpen on the first play from scrimmage, then run for 13 yards on a 3rd & 7 to give Tennessee a 1st down at the Rams' 49-yard-line.

Two plays later, McNair would find tight end Frank Wycheck for a 13-yard completion and another Tennessee 1st down at the St. Louis 35-yard-line as runs by George for 19 yards and McNair for 11 yards would lead to a 1st & goal at the Rams' one-yard-line.

That is when McNair threw an one-yard touchdown pass to fullback Lorenzo Neal to cap off the 11-play, 80-yard drive to give the Titans an early 7-0 lead.

After both teams punted on their ensuing possessions, the Rams had the ball at their 28-yard-line when Warner was sacked by Titans linebacker Joe Bowden, who stripped Warner of the ball, as fellow linebacker Baron Wortham would recover the fumble and return it 8 yards to give Tennessee the ball at the St. Louis 18-yard-line.

On the next play from scrimmage, McNair would complete a screen pass to George, who would run into the end zone for the 17-yard touchdown that would increase Tennessee's lead to 14-0 with 2:41 to go in the opening quarter.

It would go from bad to worse for the Rams on their next possession when Warner collided with fullback Jeff Robinson which led to another fumble recovery by Wortham to give the Titans the ball back at the Rams' 26-yard-line.

This time it would take Tennessee two plays to get into the end zone as McNair completed a 16-yard -pass to Kevin Dyson then ran it up the middle for the 10-yard touchdown to give the Titans a shocking 21-0 lead with 1:24 left in the first quarter.

Following the Titans' two touchdowns in a span of 77 seconds, the game turned into a defensive stalemate as both teams traded punts until there was 1:07 left before halftime when Warner scrambled for 22 yards to give the Rams a 1st down at the Tennessee 33-yard-line as St. Louis was hoping to get on the scoreboard before the end of the first half.

The drive would stall however as the Rams would be forced to settle for a 54-yard field goal attempt by Jeff Wilkins, which fell short of the uprights and no good to keep the score at 21-0 in favor of the Titans after the first 30 minutes of play.

St. Louis would get the ball to start the second half as Ron Carpenter returned the opening kickoff of the second half 37 yards to the Rams' 43-yard-line where Warner and the offense would begin their next possession.

After throwing an incomplete pass on 1st down, Warner connected with Faulk on a swing pass for a 57-yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 21-7 just 27 seconds into the third quarter.

Following a Titans punt, the Rams got the ball back at their 41-yard-line as Faulk would run for two yards to begin the drive, which was followed by a roughing the passer penalty on Tennessee defensive tackle Josh Evans to give St. Louis a 1st down at the Titans' 42-yard-line.

Warner would then hit Az-Zhair Hakim for 11 yards then Bruce for 21 yards to give the Rams a 1st & goal at the Titans' 10-yard-line as an incomplete pass and a seven-yard run by Faulk would set up 3rd & goal from the three-yard-line when Warner found Bruce in the end zone for the touchdown to make it a 21-14 game with 7:55 remaining in the third quarter.

Rams quarterback Kurt Warner would complete 29 of 46 passes for 328 yards and throw three touchdown passes.

The Titans would respond with a nine-play, 65-yard drive that took four minutes off the clock as McNair would complete passes of 17 yards to George and 34 yards to Thigpen to help set up a 27-yard field goal by Al Del Greco which pushed Tennessee's lead back to double digits at 24-14.

After an exchange of punts, the Rams took over at their 32-yard-line as the fourth quarter began with Warner completing an eight-yard pass to Faulk which was followed by Marshall running for three yards and a 1st down at the St. Louis 43-yard-line.

However, the drive would end with another St. Louis fumble as Faulk would be stripped of the ball by Titans defensive back Steve Jackson as Bowden would fall on the loose football to give Tennessee the back at the Rams' 46-yard-line.

The Rams' defense would force the Titans to go three-and-out as both teams would again trade punts until the 7:15 mark of the fourth quarter when St. Louis took over at its 20-yard-line, needing two scores.

The drive would begin with a 14-yard pass from Warner to Holt for a 1st down at the Rams' 34-yard-line as a quarterback sack by Evans would force a 2nd & 16 when Warner hit Ricky Proehl for 18 yards and a 1st down at the St. Louis 46-yard-line.

A six-yard pass to Hakim followed by a seven-yard run by Faulk would give the Rams a 1st down at the Titans' 41-yard-line when another quarterback sack and a holding penalty would bring up a 3rd & 21 situation when Warner connected with Hakim again, this time for 25 yards to give St. Louis a fresh set of downs at the Tennessee 27-yard-line.

After an incomplete pass, Warner would complete a 12-yard pass to Faulk to give the Rams a 1st down at the Titans' 15-yard-line when Warner found running back Amp Lee for the 15-yard touchdown that with Wilkins' extra point cut the lead to 24-21 with 2:14 left in regulation.

Having spent all of their timeouts, the Rams had no choice but go for the onside kick in hopes that they could recover it and drive down for at least a potential game-tying field goal.

It worked as linebacker Lorenzo Styles would fall on the football to give the Rams the ball at their 42-yard-line with 2:09 remaining for them to keep their undefeated season going.

Following a false start that pushed the Rams back five yards, Warner would complete a four-yard pass to Faulk followed by a 15-yard pass to Holt to give St. Louis a 1st down at the Tennessee 44-yard-line.

Three plays later, the Rams were faced with a do-or-die 4th & 10 when Warner found Hakim for 15 yards and a 1st down at the Titans' 29-yard-line as Warner would then spike the ball to stop the clock with 59 seconds remaining.

Warner would then complete passes of five yards to Hakim and four yards to Proehl to bring up a 4th & 1 at the Titans' 20-yard-line when Vermeil sent in the field goal unit to try and tie the game to send it into overtime.

However, Wilkins' 38-yard kick would sail wide right and no good, allowing the Titans to take a knee to run out the clock on their 24-21 victory to hand the Rams their first loss of the season while Tennessee improved to a 6-1 record.

Titans running back Eddie George had 17 carries for 68 yards while catching three passes for 35 yards and a touchdown.

The Rams would recover from the loss to finish the season with a 13-3 record which not only clinched the team's first playoff berth in 10 years but also earned them the #1 seed in the NFC playoffs thanks in large part to Warner's MVP season while the Titans would also finish the season with a 13-3 record but had to play in the Wild Card round of the AFC playoffs as they finished one game behind the Jacksonville Jaguars for the top seed in the AFC.

In the playoffs, the Titans stunned the Buffalo Bills 22-16 in their Wild Card game with a game-winning kickoff return by Kevin Dyson in the final seconds that would become known as the "Music City Miracle" as Tennessee would then knock off the Indianapolis Colts 19-16 in the Divisional Round and then beat the Jacksonville Jaguars for the third time in the 1999 season as the Titans' 33-14 victory clinched their trip to the Super Bowl in team history.

Meanwhile, the Rams knocked off the Minnesota Vikings 49-37 in a Divisional Round shootout behind Warner's six touchdown passes then won a 11-6 slugfest over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Championship Game to send the Rams to the Super Bowl for the first time in 20 years.

In Super Bowl XXXIV, the Rams would jump out to a 16-0 lead, only to have the Titans rally and tied the game with 2:12 to go in regulation to which St. Louis responded with a 73-yard touchdown pass from Warner to Bruce to put the Rams back on top at 23-16 with 1:48 to play.

The Titans would drive from their 12-yard-line to the St. Louis10-yard-line where on the final play of regulation, McNair completed a slant pass to Kevin Dyson, who was tackled at the one-yard-line by Rams linebacker Mike Jones as time expired with the Rams claiming their first Lombardi trophy with the 23-16 win.