1999 Tennessee Titans season The 1999 Tennessee Titans season was the Titans ' 40th season and their 30th in the National Football League . It was the first season for the club under the moniker " Titans , " while the nickname " Oilers " was retired by the NFL . The Titans became the seventh Wild Card to qualify for the Super Bowl . In the team ' s inaugural game as the Titans , Steve McNair threw two touchdowns and ran in a third for a 26 – 15 lead with 2 : 55 left in the first half , but a Jeff Blake touchdown left the halftime score 26 – 21 Titans . The Bengals stormed to a 35 – 26 lead in the fourth before McNair connected with Eddie George for a 17 - yard touchdown with 4 : 30 left in the fourth , then Al Del Greco kicked the game - winning 33 - yard field goal of a 36 – 35 Titans final . Neil O ' Donnell was forced to start , and he threw a third - quarter touchdown to Eddie George , but an Aaron Beasley interception became a 35 - yard Jaguars score and a 17 – 7 Jacksonville lead . O ' Donnell rebounded with a fourth - quarter score to Michael Roan and a 20 – 19 Titans win as Tennessee surrendered a safety on the game ' s final play . Tennessee suffered its first loss of the year as Jeff Garcia ran in a one - yard touchdown , then connected with Terrell Owens in the fourth quarter . The Titans trailed 24 – 16 when O ' Donnell hit Yancey Thigpen in the endzone with 2 : 48 left in regulation ; the two - point try was stopped , however , and the Niners ran out the clock for a 24 – 22 Titans loss . The Titans committed the highest penalty yardage in league history with fifteen fouls eating up 212 yards ; the Ravens , under first - year coach Brian Billick , didn ' t fare much better with nine penalties for 81 yards . Titans starter Neil O ' Donnell completed 24 of 35 passes for 216 yards and a 27 - yard score to Yancey Thigpen while Eddie George was limited to just 55 rushing yards . In a Super Bowl XXXIV precursor , Steve McNair threw two touchdowns and ran in a third in the first quarter , then the Titans sweated out three Kurt Warner touchdown throws for a 24 – 21 win . The Rams coughed up three fumbles to the Titans . The Jaguars had beaten every team on their 1999 slate except the Titans , and the Titans finished a season sweep with a 41 – 14 rout . Steve McNair exploded to five touchdowns and 328 passing yards while Eddie George ran wild with 102 rushing yards . The Titans defense limited Jaguars quarterbacks Mark Brunell and jay Fiedler to 196 combined yards and three interceptions . The Titans erupted to six touchdowns , a 42 - yard Al Del Greco field goal , and a safety after sacking Mike Tomczak in the Pittsburgh endzone for a 47 – 36 triumph . Jevon Kearse and Denard Walker scored off Steeler fumbles while Steve McNair and former Steeler Neil O ' Donnell combined for 203 passing yards and three touchdowns . Tomczak had two touchdown throws while Jerome Bettis and Richard Huntley each ran in a Pittsburgh touchdown . Playoffs . AFC Wild Card . Music City Miracle . The Music City Miracle is a famous play in the NFL Wild Card Playoffs involving the Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills that took place on January 8 , 2000 ( following the 1999 regular season ) at Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville , Tennessee . Going into the game , Bills coach Wade Phillips created a stir by starting quarterback Rob Johnson , rather than Doug Flutie , who had started 15 games , and who had led the team to the playoffs . Late in the fourth quarter , the stage was set for an exciting finish . Tennessee received the ball with 6 : 15 remaining . Titans receiver Isaac Byrd ' s 16 - yard punt return and five carries from Eddie George for 17 yards set up a wobbly 36 - yard field goal by Del Greco . The Titans took a 15 – 13 lead with 1 : 48 to go . On the ensuing drive , with no timeouts remaining , Bills quarterback Johnson led the Bills on a five - play , 37 - yard drive to the Titans ' 24 yard line . On the last two plays from scrimmage , Johnson played with only one shoe on , as he had lost one and had no time to put it back on , with the clock running out . With only 16 seconds remaining in the game , Steve Christie , the Bills ' kicker , made a 41 - yard field goal to put Buffalo in the lead , 16 – 15 . Moments later , Christie kicked off , and Titans player Lorenzo Neal received . Neal handed the ball off to Titans tight end Frank Wycheck , who then lateraled the ball across the field to another Titans player , Kevin Dyson , who then ran down the sidelines for a 75 - yard touchdown . The play was named Home Run Throwback by the Titans and was developed by Special Teams Coordinator Alan Lowry . Per the instant replay rules , the play was reviewed by referee Phil Luckett since it was uncertain if the ball had been a forward pass , which is illegal on a kickoff return . However , the call on the field was upheld as a touchdown , and the Titans won the game 22 – 16 . After the game , however , many Bills players and fans continued to insist that it was indeed an illegal forward pass . The victory , in front of a franchise - record crowd at Adelphia Coliseum , allowed the Tennessee franchise to advance to the divisional round of the AFC playoffs for the first time since 1993 . Subsequent victories over the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars sent the Titans to Super Bowl XXXIV to face the St . Louis Rams , where they lost by a touchdown . It could be said that the game served as revenge for the Titans / Oilers franchise for The Comeback , where the Bills came back from a 32 - point deficit to defeat the Houston Oilers , 41 – 38 , in overtime . For the Bills , it led to the firing after 13 seasons of special teams coach Bruce DeHaven . One year later , Phillips was fired ( partly due to his failure to lead the Bills past the first round of the playoffs during his tenure ) and replaced by Titans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams . It was added to the list of infamous moments in Buffalo sports history , joining Wide Right and No Goal . The Bills did not reach the playoffs in the ten seasons that followed , posting seven losing seasons . AFC Divisional Playoff . Although the Indianapolis Colts , behind second year quarterback Peyton Manning , had posted some gaudy numbers en route to a sterling 13 – 3 regular season record , the upstart Tennessee Titans paid them little respect . Running back Eddie George rushed for a team playoff - record 162 yards , including a 68 - yard touchdown , to help lead the Titans to victory . Manning completed only 19 of 43 passes in the loss for the Colts . AFC Championship Game . The Jacksonville Jaguars had been one of the NFL ' s best teams in the 1999 season , pacing the AFC with a 14 – 2 record . However , both of those losses came at the hands of their opponents in the AFC Championship game , the Tennessee Titans . The Titans would prove up to the task of beating their division rival once again as the Titans scored a resounding 33 – 14 victory . The Titans advanced to their first Super Bowl in team history by forcing six turnovers and a safety . Super Bowl XXXIV . 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 " . After the game , many sports writers commented on Warner ' s rise from an unknown backup to a Super Bowl MVP , but Warner himself wasn ' t impressed by it . " How can you be in awe of something that you expect yourself to do ? " Warner pointed out . " People think this season is the first time I touched a football ; they don ' t realize I ' ve been doing this for years – just not on this level , because I never got the chance . Sure , I had my tough times , but you don ' t sit there and say , ' Wow , I was stocking groceries five years ago , and look at me now . ' You don ' t think about it , and when you do achieve something , you know luck has nothing to do with it . "