Super Bowl XXXIV Super Bowl XXXIV featured the National Football Conference ( NFC ) champion St . Louis Rams and the American Football Conference ( AFC ) champion Tennessee Titans in an American football game to decide the National Football League ( NFL ) champion for the 1999 regular season . The Rams ( 16 – 3 ) defeated the Titans ( 16 – 4 ) , 23 – 16 , to capture their first Super Bowl win and first NFL championship since 1951 . The game , played on January 30 , 2000 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta , Georgia , was the fourth Super Bowl to be held a week after the conference championship games ( the previous time this happened was Super Bowl XXVIII , and coincidentally this game was also played on January 30 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta ) . The Rams entered their second Super Bowl in team history with an NFC - best 13 – 3 regular season record . It was the franchise ' s first playoff appearance in 10 years . The Titans also finished the regular season with a 13 – 3 record , but advanced to their first Super Bowl in team history after entering the playoffs as a wild - card team . Tennessee finished in second place in the AFC Central Division behind the Jacksonville Jaguars . The first two quarters of Super Bowl XXXIV were largely a defensive battle . Despite outgaining the Titans in total offensive yards in the first half , 294 – 89 , the Rams held merely a 9 – 0 halftime lead on three field goal s . St . Louis later scored their first touchdown midway through the third quarter to go up 16 – 0 . Tennessee then responded by scoring 16 unanswered point s to tie the game with 2 : 12 left in regulation . This was the largest deficit to be erased in a Super Bowl and the first greater than 10 points . On the Rams ' ensuing drive , quarterback Kurt Warner completed a 73 - yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Isaac Bruce to regain the lead . The Titans then drove to the St . Louis 10 - yard line with six seconds remaining , but on the final play of the game , Rams linebacker Mike Jones tackled Tennessee wide receiver Kevin Dyson one yard short of the goal line to prevent a potential game - tying touchdown . This went into NFL Lore as One Yard Short . The play later became known as simply " The Tackle . " Warner completed 24 out of 45 passes for 414 yards and 2 touchdowns and was named the Most Valuable Player . His 414 passing yards and 45 pass attempts without an interception were both Super Bowl records . Warner became the sixth player to win both the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and the Super Bowl MVP award during the same season . He follows Bart Starr , Terry Bradshaw , Joe Montana , Emmitt Smith and Steve Young . Background . St . Louis Rams . The Rams shocked the NFL in 1999 with an NFC - best 13 – 3 regular season record , only a year after finishing 4 - 12 . This was the Rams ' first playoff appearance in 10 years and only the second Super Bowl appearance in team history . St . Louis was led by undrafted quarterback Kurt Warner , who started the season as backup to Trent Green . Green suffered a season - ending knee injury in the preseason , making Warner the team ' s new starter . Warner previously played for the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League and the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe . In his first NFL season in 1998 , Warner played only one game and threw just 11 passes . But in 1999 , he experienced one of the most spectacular seasons ever by a quarterback , recording a passer rating of 109 . 2 , completing 65 . 1 percent of his passes for 4 , 353 yards , 41 touchdowns , and just 13 interceptions , and earning the NFL Most Valuable Player Award . Warner was not the only Ram compiling significant statistics , though . Running back Marshall Faulk , in his first year in St . Louis after spending 5 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts , won the NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award . He scored 12 touchdowns , rushed for 1 , 381 yards , and recorded a team leading 87 receptions for 1 , 048 yards . In all , Faulk gained a record 2 , 429 total yards and became just the second running back in NFL history to gain over 1 , 000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season ( Roger Craig was the first ) . . Faulk held the NFL record for yards from scrimmage in a single season until Tennessee ' s Chris Johnson broke it in 2009 . Faulk wasn ' t the only weapon at Warner ' s disposal in 1999 . Veteran receiver Isaac Bruce was the top Rams receiver with 77 receptions for 1 , 165 yards and 12 touchdowns . while breakout rookie wide receiver Torry Holt recorded 52 receptions , 788 yards , and 6 touchdowns . Even the team ' s third wide receiver , Az - Zahir Hakim , was a big contributor by catching 36 passes for 677 yards and 8 touchdowns , while also returning punts for 461 yards and another touchdown . The Rams ' offensive line was led by Pro Bowl ers Orlando Pace and Adam Timmerman . Timmerman , acquired by the Rams in 1999 , had previously won Super Bowl XXXI with the Green Bay Packers . On special teams , receiver Tony Horne returned 30 kickoffs for 892 yards and 2 touchdowns , giving him an NFL leading 29 . 7 yards per return average . Overall , St . Louis ' offense led the league in total yards gained ( 6 , 639 ) , scoring ( 526 points ) , and passing touchdowns ( 42 ) . The Rams ' defense led the league in fewest rushing yards allowed ( 1 , 189 ) and fewest rushing touchdowns allowed ( 4 ) , while giving up just 242 points . Overall , the defense ranked 4th in the league in fewest total yards allowed ( 5 , 056 ) . The line was anchored by Pro Bowl defensive end Kevin Carter and defensive end Grant Wistrom . Carter led the league with 17 sacks ; while Wistrom recorded 8 . 5 sacks and 2 interceptions , returning both for touchdowns for a combined total of 131 yards . Behind him , the Rams had 3 linebackers : London Fletcher ( 66 tackles and 3 sacks ) , Mike Jones ( 4 interceptions for 96 return yards and 2 touchdowns , and 2 fumble recoveries for 51 return yards and 1 touchdown ) , and Todd Collins ( 72 tackles , 1 sack , and 2 interceptions for 16 yards ) . The secondary was led by Pro Bowler Todd Lyght ( 6 interceptions ) , Dexter McCleon ( 4 interceptions ) , and rookie Dre ' Bly ( 3 interceptions ) . Tennessee Titans . The Titans advanced to their first Super Bowl in team history . From 1960 to 1996 , the team was known as the " Houston Oilers " , an original charter member of the American Football League ( AFL ) . Houston , Texas businessman Bud Adams owned the Oilers since its inception and guided the team through the 1970 AFL - NFL Merger . With Tennessee ' s Super Bowl appearance , every AFL team played in the Super Bowl . This includes the original eight AFL teams and the two AFL expansion teams , the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals . But by 1995 , Adams was lured to move his team from Houston to a new stadium in Nashville , Tennessee . Since this new stadium was not ready until the 1999 season , Adams decided to move his team to Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis , Tennessee in 1997 after playing before small Houston crowds in 1996 . However , the renamed " Tennessee Oilers " also played before sparse Memphis crowds , and thus spent the 1998 season playing at Nashville ' s Vanderbilt Stadium . After the new Adelphia Coliseum , now known as LP Field , was completed in 1999 , the team ' s name was changed to " Tennessee Titans " . The 1999 Titans were led by quarterback Steve McNair and running back Eddie George . McNair had missed 5 games due to injuries during the season , but he was still able to put up solid numbers , throwing for 2 , 179 yards and 12 touchdowns with only 8 interceptions . Despite his injury problems , McNair finished the season as the second leading rusher on the team with 337 yards and scoring 8 touchdowns . George also had an outstanding season , rushing for 1 , 304 yards , and catching 47 passes for 458 yards ( his receptions , receiving yards , and receiving touchdowns were all career highs ) . In all , George scored a grand total of 13 rushing and receiving touchdowns , and was selected to play in the Pro Bowl for the 3rd consecutive year . Another contributor on the Titans offense was fullback Lorenzo Neal , who frequently served as George ' s lead blocker and was widely considered one of the best blocking backs in the league . The team did not have any outstanding deep threats , but wide receivers Yancey Thigpen recorded 38 receptions for 648 yards , Kevin Dyson had 54 receptions for 658 yards , and tight end Frank Wycheck gained 69 receptions for 641 yards . Up front , their line was anchored by Pro Bowl tackle Bruce Matthews . Tennessee ' s defense was also extremely effective . Pro Bowl defensive end Jevon Kearse anchored the line recording 14 . 5 sacks to go along with 10 forced fumbles and was named Defensive Rookie of the Year . The linebacking core was led by Eddie Robinson , who recorded 64 tackles and 6 sacks . Their secondary was led by cornerback Samari Rolle , who led the team with 4 interceptions . The Titans finished the regular season with a 13 – 3 record ( including a home win over the Rams ) , but finished second behind the 14 – 2 Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Central . The Jaguars ' only two losses were to the Titans , but Tennessee ' s three losses forced them to enter the playoffs as a wild - card team . Playoffs . Playing in his first ever NFL playoff game , Warner threw for 395 yards and 5 touchdowns , with 1 interception , as the Rams defeated the Minnesota Vikings , 49 – 37 , by scoring 35 unanswered points in the second half . Bruce caught 4 passes for 133 yards and a touchdown . Faulk gained 101 combined rushing / receiving yards and scored 2 touchdowns . Although Vikings quarterback Jeff George threw for 423 yards and 4 touchdowns , 3 of his scores occurred late in the fourth quarter after the Rams had already put the game away . The Rams then narrowly defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers , 11 – 6 in a hard fought defensive struggle in the NFC Championship . The first half ended with the Rams leading 5 – 3 on a Jeff Wilkins field goal and after a bad snap by the Buccaneers went through their own end zone for a safety . Tampa Bay then scored a field goal in the third quarter to take the lead . But Warner threw a 30 - yard go - ahead touchdown pass to receiver Ricky Proehl with 4 : 14 left in the game . Meanwhile , the Titans started out their postseason by narrowly defeating the Buffalo Bills , 22 – 16 , on a famous , trick kickoff return play that became known in NFL Lore as the Music City Miracle . Tennessee jumped to a 12 – 0 first half lead with an Al Del Greco field goal , a safety by Kearse , and a McNair touchdown run . However , Buffalo came back to take the lead , 13 – 12 with Antowain Smith ' s 2 touchdown runs in the second half ( the two - point conversion after Smith ' s second touchdown failed ) . In the fourth quarter , the Titans regained the lead after Del Greco kicked his second field goal . With 16 seconds left in the game , Bills kicker Steve Christie made what seemed to be the game - winning 41 - yard field goal to give his team the lead , 16 – 15 . However , Neal received the ensuing kickoff and handed the ball off to Wycheck , who then lateraled the ball to Dyson on the other side of the field , who eventually ran 75 yards to the end zone for the game - winning touchdown . The play was reviewed to determine whether Wycheck had lateraled the ball to Dyson or made an illegal forward pass . Referee Phil Luckett upheld the original call on the field of a touchdown , giving Tennessee the win . The Titans then defeated the Indianapolis Colts 19 – 16 . After both teams exchanged field goals in the first half , George scored on a 68 - yard touchdown run to give his team a 13 – 9 lead . Del Greco then kicked 2 more field goals in the final period to put the game away . George finished the game with a franchise playoff record 162 rushing yards and a touchdown , while Del Greco made 4 field goals . The Titans then eliminated the Jacksonville Jaguars , 33 – 14 , in the AFC Championship game . The Jaguars finished the 1999 regular season with a league best 14 – 2 record , and advanced to the AFC title game after crushing the Miami Dolphins , 62 – 7 , and limiting future Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino to just 11 of 25 completions for 95 yards and 1 touchdown , with 2 interceptions . However , Tennessee ' s defense dominated the Jaguars in the AFC Championship game , forcing 6 turnovers . Jacksonville led 14 – 10 at halftime , but the Titans then scored 23 unanswered points on 2 touchdown runs by McNair , a safety , and Derrick Mason ' s 80 - yard kickoff return for a touchdown . Although McNair passed for only 112 yards and one touchdown with one interception , he rushed for 91 yards and 2 touchdowns on 9 carries . George rushed for 86 yards and caught 3 passes for 19 yards . Pre - game notes . In January 2000 , two ice storm s 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 sidewalk s 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 the 2009 Super Bowl . That bid included meteorological data showing the rarity of such storms in the area . 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 other highways to complete the route . Television and entertainment . ABC televised the game in the United States with play - by - play announcer Al Michaels and color commentator Boomer Esiason . Chris Berman from Disney - owned corporate sibling ESPN hosted all the events . Berman was joined by fellow ESPN analyst Steve Young , while ESPN ' s Mike Tirico was on hand for the post - game presentation of the Vince Lombardi Trophy . Lesley Visser and Lynn Swann served as sideline reporters . It was also the first Super Bowl to be aired in high definition and 5 . 1 Dolby Digital . ABC Sports chose to use the 720p format . Ironically , the ABC affiliate in St . Louis , KDNL - TV , has been regarded as one of the network ' s weakest affiliates since joining the network in 1995 . The previous ABC affiliate , KTVI , in contrast , was one of the strongest affiliates - it had become a Fox station in 1995 , and thus , has televised the majority of the Rams ' games in this period . Pregame ceremonies . 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 . Halftime show . The halftime show was produced by Disney and titled " Tapestry of Nations " after the Epcot parade of the same name . The show , narrated by actor Edward James Olmos , was inspired by Walt Disney World ' s millennium celebration . It featured a full symphony orchestra ; a multi - generational , 80 - person choir ; and singers Phil Collins , Christina Aguilera , Enrique Iglesias , and Toni Braxton . Commercials . This game is often referred to as the " dot - com " Super Bowl since it was held during the height of the dot - com bubble , and several internet companies purchased television commercials . Pets . com famously paid millions for an advertisement featuring a sock puppet . Game summary . 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 scoreless after defensive back Todd Lyght blocked Del Greco ' s 47 yard field goal attempt . After that , Rams quarterback Kurt Warner threw a 31 - yard strike to 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 , Titans cornerback Blaine Bishop made 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 . 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 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 . 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 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 . The 16 - point deficit was the largest deficit to be erased in a Super Bowl and the first greater than 10 points , but the Titans only tied the game and never gained the lead . It was also the first time in any Super Bowl a team down double digits in the fourth quarter had tied the game . However on the Rams ' first play of their ensuing drive , Warner threw a long pass that was caught by 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 . 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 . 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 . 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 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 six seconds left in the game , giving them a chance for one last play . This final play has gone down in NFL history as simply " The Tackle " . The final play . The Titans had just used their final timeout with six seconds remaining . With no timeouts remaining and the ball on the Rams ' 10 yard line , the Titans were trailing by a touchdown and had one last opportunity to tie the game . The plan was to use tight end Frank Wycheck as a decoy . Wycheck would run straight up the field on the right side , to lure linebacker Mike Jones away from receiver Kevin Dyson . Dyson would then slant left through the middle of the field . With Jones occupying Wycheck , quarterback Steve McNair would pass the ball to Dyson , who would be open from about five yards out for the score . As the play began , everything appeared to go as planned . Jones ran with Wycheck up the field at the beginning of the play . However , as the pass was being delivered to Dyson , Jones , who was at the goal line , glanced over his left shoulder and noticed an open Dyson catching the ball . Jones switched directions and ran towards the Titans receiver . Dyson ran directly toward the end zone , but his legs were wrapped up by Jones with about two and a half yards left to the goal line . Since Dyson was being tackled by the legs , there was still the possibility he could reach towards the end zone and get the ball above the goal line . Both players went into a rolling motion as Dyson outstretched his hand with the football towards the goal line in the hopes of scoring the touchdown . Though his reach was close , and the ball mere inches away from the end zone , it was still not enough to score . As the rolling motion came to an end , with Jones now on top of Dyson ' s legs , his shoulder had touched the ground and , therefore , the game was over . Had Dyson scored and the extra point been made , it would have been the first Super Bowl overtime period in history . Considering the magnitude of the Super Bowl , and the wild game that preceded it , " The Tackle " is considered one of the greatest and most exciting game - ending plays in modern National Football League history . The image of Dyson stretching the ball towards the goal line with Jones wrapped around him has become a staple of NFL highlights . ESPN . com ranked " The Tackle " as the 35th greatest moment of the past 25 years in sports ( as of 2007 ) and the second - greatest moment in Super Bowl history . Fox Sports ranked The Tackle as the Greatest Clutch Play in Super Bowl History ( as of 2007 ) . Like Dallas Cowboys cornerback Larry Brown , Mike Jones was included on the NFL Network ' s " Top 10 One - Hit Wonders " list ( Jones was # 10 , Brown was # 3 ) , although Jones also mirrored Brown in having a solid if unspectacular career outside of his Super Bowl heroics . After the game . 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 . " Final statistics . Overview . Bruce caught 6 passes for 162 yards ( 3rd highest ) and a touchdown , an average of 27 yards per catch . Holt had 7 receptions for 109 yards and a touchdown . Bruce and Holt became the fourth pair of teammates to each have over 100 yards receiving in a Super Bowl , joining : Super Bowl XIII , the Steelers ' John Stallworth and Lynn Swann , Super Bowl XVI , the Bengals ' Cris Collinsworth and Dan Ross , and Super Bowl XXVI , the Redskins ' Gary Clark and Art Monk . Rams starting running back Marshall Faulk was held to just 17 rushing yards , but gained 90 receiving yards on 5 receptions . McNair set a Super Bowl record for rushing yards by a quarterback , recording 64 yards on 8 carries . He also completed 22 out of 36 passes for 214 yards . George finished the game with 95 rushing yards , 35 receiving yards , and 2 touchdowns . Harris was the top receiver for Tennessee with 7 catches for 64 yards . Mason returned 5 kickoffs for 122 yards , and caught 2 passes for 18 yards .