Music City Miracle The Music City Miracle is the name commonly given to a play that took place on January 8 , 2000 during the National Football League ' s 1999 – 2000 playoffs . It occurred at the end of the Wild Card Playoff game between the Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills at Adelphia Coliseum ( now known as LP Field ) in Nashville , Tennessee . Game details . 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 had led the team to the playoffs . First half . After a scoreless 1st quarter , the Titans opened up the scoring when Jevon Kearse sacked Buffalo quarterback Rob Johnson in the end zone for a safety . Johnson completed just 10 of 22 passes while being sacked 6 times , including twice by Kearse . Wide receiver Derrick Mason returned the free kick 42 yards to the Bills ' 28 - yard line ; five plays later , Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair scored on a 1 - yard touchdown run . After forcing a punt , the Titans drove 56 yards in 11 plays . Kicker Al Del Greco initially missed a 45 - yard field goal attempt , but the Bills were penalized for defensive holding on the play and Del Greco ' s second attempt was good from 40 yards on the last play of the half . At the end of the half , the Bills were trailing 12 - 0 and had managed to gain only 64 yards , while also losing 44 yards on 9 penalties . Second half . In the second half , the Bills managed to rally back . On Buffalo ' s first play of the third quarter , Antowain Smith broke off a 44 - yard run , sparking a 62 - yard drive that ended with his 4 - yard touchdown run 4 plays later . Later on , the Bills drove 65 yards , featuring a 37 - yard completion from Johnson to Eric Moulds , with a roughing the passer penalty on Kearse adding another 15 . Smith finished the drive with another 4 - yard touchdown run , giving the Bills a 13 - 12 lead after receiver Kevin Williams dropped a pass from Johnson on the two - point conversion attempt . Conclusion . Late in the 4th 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 Al Del Greco . The Titans took a 15 - 13 lead with 1 : 48 to go . On the ensuing drive , with no timeouts remaining , Bills quarterback Rob Johnson led the Bills on a 5 - play , 37 - yard drive to the Titans ' 24 yard line . On the last play from scrimmage , Johnson played with only one shoe on . He had lost the shoe in a scramble , and with the clock running , he had no time to put it back on . 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 threw a lateral 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 . The Titans ran the play regularly in practices during the regular season , though the practices usually involved Derrick Mason , who had been injured earlier in the game and was unavailable for the situation . Dyson , as one of the team ' s lead wide receivers , rarely practiced with the special teams unit and was largely unfamiliar with the layout of the play . Nevertheless , his execution of Lowry ' s vision was flawless . Official review . Per the instant replay rules , a booth review was called . The play was reviewed by referee Phil Luckett because it was uncertain if the ball had been a forward pass , which is illegal on a kickoff return . After a long official review , video was inconclusive to overturn , and the ruling on the field was upheld as a touchdown . The Titans made one final kickoff , and the clock expired during the Bills ' return . The Titans held on to win by a score of 22 - 16 . Analysis . As Titans ' coach Jeff Fisher pointed out , the original objective of the play was not to achieve a direct score ( a touchdown ) ; it was to have the receiver ( Dyson ) advance the ball into the range of Del Greco , the Titans ’ placekicker . To do this , Dyson would have to advance the ball to a down - field spot well within the kicker ’ s range . Fisher later stated that as the play continued with Dyson getting closer to the Bills ’ end zone , he was concerned that Dyson would be tackled without scoring with no time remaining . As the play was drawn up , the receiver of the kickoff was also supposed to execute the lateral . The Titans ' tight end , Frank Wycheck , was supposed to receive the ball and throw the lateral . However , Wycheck was completely out of position to receive the kickoff . Wycheck was between Dyson ( on the left side facing downfield ) and Neal ( on the right side ) , with Wycheck closer to Neal . Lorenzo Neal then met Wycheck on the run and handed the ball to him . Wycheck , who had been running laterally toward Neal ( to the right side of the field ) , knew that the play required him to execute a lateral to Dyson , who was on the left side of the field . Wycheck continued his lateral run to the right so it appeared to be a developing single reverse ( by Neal and Wycheck ) end - around run to the right ( by Wycheck ) . Wycheck then abruptly stopped , by planting his passing foot and pivoting to his left . Once he ' d aligned himself to throw the lateral ( i . e . , a pass which does not advance in yardage down field ) , he threw a low pass to Dyson . Dyson scooped the pass up ankle - high , turned to his left and began running straight down field . Dyson himself later commented that the only Bills player who was in position to have a chance of a play on him was the kicker . And as Dyson stated , if he ( Dyson ) a starting NFL wide receiver , could not outrun a place kicker , he ( Dyson ) didn ’ t belong in the NFL . Aftermath . 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 , when they were still in Houston . 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 in another game that went down to the final seconds , known as " One yard short " or " The Tackle . " It could be said that the game served as revenge for the Titans / Oilers franchise for The Comeback in the 1992 - 93 playoffs , 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 of special teams coach Bruce DeHaven , who had been with the team for thirteen seasons . ( DeHaven has since been re - hired by the Bills in the same position in 2010 . ) 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 . The Music City Miracle was added to the list of infamous moments in Buffalo sports history , joining Wide Right and No Goal . It was Buffalo ' s last postseason game to date . NFL Films hired a computer analyst to determine if Luckett had made the correct call . They determined that the ball had in fact , not traveled forward and that Luckett had made the correct ruling . Radio call . The following is a transcript of the radio call of this play by Mike Keith and Pat Ryan on the Tennessee Titans Radio Network : But then a question of whether or not Wycheck ' s lateral to Dyson was actually a lateral arose . Luckett reviewed the play , and once Luckett had decided that the call would stand , Keith said this : When he announced his ruling , Keith and Ryan had another exchange : AFC Wild Card Playoff Game ( 2000 , January 8 ) . In Tennessee Titans Official Website .