50 Most Memorable Super Bowl Moments, No. 6: Kevin Dyson, Titans a yard short
As the NFL approaches its highly anticipated golden anniversary Super Bowl, Yahoo Sports takes a look back at some of the most memorable moments in the game’s history.
In our rankings, the moments go beyond the great scores and plays. We also take a look at entertainment performances, scandals/controversies and other events associated with corresponding Super Bowls.
Here’s a look at moment No. 6:
‘The Longest Yard’
The scene: Super Bowl XXXIV. The venue: The Georgia Dome, Atlanta. The teams: the Titans and the St. Louis Rams. The score: St. Louis 23, Tennessee 16, six seconds remaining. The Titans had the ball on the Rams’ 10-yard line. One play left. One all-or-nothing play. What do you do?
Tennessee’s offense that year was a marvel of speed and efficiency. With quarterback Steve McNair running the show and Eddie George out of the backfield, with tight end Frank Wycheck and receiver Kevin Dyson spreading the field, the Titans were merciless. And they were riding the gleam of destiny, having beaten Buffalo three weeks earlier on the famous “Music City Miracle,” a last-second lateral from Wycheck to Dyson that remains one of the greatest plays in sports history.
The Rams played under the none-too-subtle nickname “The Greatest Show on Turf,” and did everything necessary to live up to such a lofty moniker. Quarterback Kurt Warner — the bag boy turned MVP, as every media outlet dutifully mentioned — led a sling-it-and-wing-it offense (that included running back Marshall Faulk and receiver Isaac Bruce) to a 13-3 season record.
The first half of the game was an ugly defensive battle, St. Louis scoring just three field goals and Tennessee scoring zip. The Rams built the lead to 16-0, but the Titans battled back and evened the score with 2:12 remaining, marking the largest lead ever erased in a Super Bowl. The very next play, Warner found Bruce for a 73-yard touchdown strike, putting the Rams up seven points with 1:48 to play. Tennessee then marched from its own 12-yard line down to St. Louis’ 10, which is where the drama reached its climax.
As drawn up, Wycheck was supposed to run a streak route on the right side and draw away St. Louis linebacker Mike Jones, leaving Dyson free on a right-to-left slant across the middle. And it worked almost perfectly. Dyson caught the ball just steps from the end zone.
Problem was, Jones wasn’t deceived enough. He sniffed out Dyson and changed course in time to wrap him up at about the 3-yard line. Dyson dove forward, extending his arm toward the goal line, but Jones went into a barrel roll. The move pulled Dyson’s knee and shoulder to the Georgia Dome turf, ending the play, the game, and the season with the ball just inches short of the goal line.
The competing narratives at play – Jones making the stop with no margin for error, Dyson straining against overwhelming odds, the clock, and fate – combined to make the play one of the best in Super Bowl history. One more step by Dyson, one slip by Jones, and the Super Bowl might have turned out very differently.
The postscripts to this game were numerous. The game had been played after a week in which Atlanta was hit by unseasonably wintry weather, and to date the city has not hosted a Super Bowl game since.
Hours after Dyson fell just short, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis was involved in an altercation a few miles from the Georgia Dome that resulted in the deaths of two men. Lewis, who eventually accepted a plea deal for obstruction to justice, was stigmatized by the episode the rest of his career, even though he won Super Bowl MVP just one year later.
Those Titans have gone on to varying fates. Wycheck remains connected to the Titans as a broadcaster on their radio network. Dyson is now an assistant principal at a Tennessee high school, while Jones is the head coach of the Lincoln University football team in Missouri. Most tragically, McNair was killed in a murder-suicide on July 4, 2009.
They’re all still connected by that play, dubbed “The Longest Yard.” Throw, catch, run, tackle. It seems so easy – until it’s for everything.
Podcast: Running down the top 10 Super Bowl moments:
Grandstanding: A Yahoo Sports podcast
Subscribe via iTunes or via RSS feed
