Kurt Warner was unbelievable to the end. With the fairy-tale season of the supermarket quarterback and his St. Louis Rams about to come crashing down, Warner’s 73-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Bruce put a Super Bowl trophy on the top shelf.
The Tennessee Titans almost knocked it off, but fell a yard short and went home in second place, 23-16. There were no losers in this one.
Battered and stymied after a torrid start, Warner stood bold in the pocket and lofted a rainbow to a streaking Bruce one play after the Titans had tied the score at 16-16. There was 1 minute 54 seconds to play.
It was enough time for quarterback Steve McNair to drive his Titans 77 yards for another tie. They needed 78. Linebacker Mike Jones made a saving tackle on receiver Kevin Dyson as time ran out on a game for the ages.
“Championship games are supposed to be tough,” Rams coach Dick Vermeil said. “We showed America what the Super Bowl is all about.”
Warner set a Super Bowl passing record and McNair set a Super Bowl rushing record for quarterbacks in a dramatic contrast of styles that had 72,625 fans on the edge of their seats in the Georgia Dome.
The Rams turned it into the Georgia Frontiere Dome, giving the 70-something team owner her first Super Bowl trophy and the first NFL title for the franchise since the 1951 Los Angeles Rams beat the Cleveland Browns 24-17 (hellip) on a 73-yard pass from Norm Van Brocklin to Tom Fears.
Warner got the Rams into the Super Bowl with a touchdown pass to Ricky Proehl to beat Tampa Bay in the NFC Championship game last week. His 41 touchdown passes during the year earned him the league MVP award and his throw to Bruce earned him the MVP award of the Super Bowl.
“I knew that I had to have a good game for us to win this Super Bowl,” Warner said.
Warner, calmly firing darts in the face of Titan pressure, completed 24 of 45 passes for 414 yards and two touchdowns. McNair responded to Warner’s 21st Century jet-set offense with a 19th Century plow, rushing for 64 yards in eight carries and avoiding one late Ram rush with an escape that will make highlight reels forever.
There were 6 seconds left when McNair threw his slant to Dyson. Jones hit him and held on as Dyson stretched to reach the goal line.
“I thought, `Any way possible, I’ve got to get the guy down,”‘ Jones said. “I looked at the clock and time had run out and I realized we were Super Bowl champions.”
Said Dyson: “We thought we were going to get it done. They just made a great play. I stretched out, but I was just short.”
Warner’s game-winner came as Tennessee’s Jevon Kearse smashed the fearless passer to the ground. Bruce adjusted in front of cornerback Denard Walker, who stumbled. Safety Anthony Dorsett, starting only his second game in place of injured Marcus Robertson, missed Bruce on his way to the end zone.
“The Rams made those plays all year and we’ve made those plays all year and this time we didn’t,” Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher said. “Kurt had a marvelous game. He was hit and hit and hit and kept playing and made plays to win the game.”
Warner passed the Rams inside the 20-yard line six straight times, but could forge only a 16-0 lead in the first three quarters. The first five times he knocked on the door, he was stopped short, as if each drive were symbolic of the five years Warner spent knocking unsuccessfully on the door of the NFL.
Then on the sixth trip, Warner hit rookie Torry Holt on a quick slant and the Rams went up 16-0. Until the touchdown toss to Holt, Warner was 0 for 12 inside the 20 against a defense that was bending but not breaking.
“We knew we couldn’t win with just field goals,” Bruce said. “These were the two best teams in the NFL.”
The Titans were down 9-0 at the half and lost strong safety Blaine Bishop in the third quarter on a scary hit with his helmet that interrupted the game for several minutes until he was strapped to a gurney and removed. He suffered a neck sprain, but returned to the dome after a precautionary hospital trip.
Fisher gathered his team together and told them he believed Bishop was all right and they should try to win it for him. But now the Titans were playing without either regular safety. Three plays later, Warner hit Holt on a 9-yard slant inside cornerback Dainon Sidney for the 16-0 lead.
It signaled a Titan awakening. They had won three straight playoff games after trailing at the half. It was time for Eddie George to do some pounding.
The Titans drove 66 yards in 12 plays to score on a 1-yard plunge by George. It made the score 16-6 with 14 seconds left in the third quarter, at which point Fisher made a controversial decision. He went for a two-point conversion, trying to put his team down by 8. McNair’s pass failed.
For the first time all day, the Titan defense forced a Rams punt and again mounted a touchdown drive. Momentum was shifting, but time was wasting. When George muscled his way over the goal line–after his knee appeared to scrape the ground a yard short–the Titans were down 16-13, but there was only 7:21 left.
Again the Titans forced the Rams to punt on a three-and-out series and took over with 6:17 to play. Al Del Greco’s 43-yard field goal with 2:12 left made it 16-all.
“If we were going to take a shot, let’s go to Isaac,” Vermeil told offensive coordinator Mike Martz, who had gone after Fisher’s risky defense the whole game.
“I was dog tired,” Bruce said. “I knew I had to make a play on the ball. That wasn’t me. That was all God. We didn’t want to go into overtime with these guys.”
Bruce, the Rams’ best deep threat, caught six passes for 162 yards. Holt caught seven for 109 yards. Warner was so sharp that his first seven completions went to six different receivers. Oblivious to the rush, Warner constantly kept his eyes downfield and located second and third options with uncanny accuracy, his hallmark all season.
But his clinic was falling short. Punter Mike Horan, at 40 the oldest player ever in a Super Bowl, bobbled the snap on a 35-yard field-goal try after the initial drive. Place-kicker Jeff Wilkins, not often needed on the highest-scoring team in the league, made field goals from 27, 29, and 28 yards but missed a 34-yarder.
Del Greco missed a 47-yarder and had a 47-yarder blocked by Todd Lyght as the Titans struggled for three quarters. George finished with 95 yards in 28 carries and both Titan touchdowns, but the Rams controlled the ball for too much time in the first half.
“I want to congratulate the Rams,” George said. “Our team has nothing to be down about.”
The Rams never tried to establish Marshall Faulk as a run threat, but he caught five passes for 50 yards and spent considerable time helping to block Titan blitzes.
The Titans led the league in forced fumbles but got no turnovers against the Rams. In their first meeting on Oct. 31, the Titans won 24-21 after taking a 21-0 lead in the first quarter when Warner fumbled twice. Warner was sacked six times in that game, but only once this time. The Titans were in his face and hit him constantly, but he never flinched.
“Kurt Warner is Kurt Warner,” Vermeil said. “He’s a great example of persistence and believeing in himself and a deep faith.”
Vermeil, who lost the 1981 Super Bowl when he was coaching the Philadelphia Eagles, returned to the NFL after 14 years in 1997 and finished 5-11 and 4-12 in his first two seasons before this 16-3 miracle. At 63, he’s the oldest coach to win a Super Bowl.
“I’m humbled. I’m a very ordinary guy surrounded by extraordinary people,” Vermeil said.
Said Fisher: “We made up our minds at halftime we were going to win. I told our team, `Don’t ever forget this moment, because we’ll be back.”‘ (hellip) on a 73-yard pass from Norm Van Brocklin to Tom Fears.
Warner got the Rams into the Super Bowl with a touchdown pass to Ricky Proehl to beat Tampa Bay in the NFC Championship game last week. His 41 touchdown passes during the year earned him the league MVP award and his throw to Bruce earned him the MVP award of the Super Bowl.
“I knew that I had to have a good game for us to win this Super Bowl,” Warner said.
Warner, calmly firing darts in the face of Titan pressure, completed 24 of 45 passes for 414 yards and two touchdowns. McNair responded to Warner’s 21st Century jet-set offense with a 19th Century plow, rushing for 64 yards in eight carries and avoiding one late Ram rush with an escape that will make highlight reels forever.
There were 6 seconds left when McNair threw his slant to Dyson. Jones hit him and held on as Dyson stretched to reach the goal line.
“I thought, `Any way possible, I’ve got to get the guy down,”‘ Jones said. “I looked at the clock and time had run out and I realized we were Super Bowl champions.”
Said Dyson: “We thought we were going to get it done. They just made a great play. I stretched out, but I was just short.”
Warner’s game-winner came as Tennessee’s Jevon Kearse smashed the fearless passer to the ground. Bruce adjusted in front of cornerback Denard Walker, who stumbled. Safety Anthony Dorsett, starting only his second game in place of injured Marcus Robertson, missed Bruce on his way to the end zone.
“The Rams made those plays all year and we’ve made those plays all year and this time we didn’t,” Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher said. “Kurt had a marvelous game. He was hit and hit and hit and kept playing and made plays to win the game.”
Warner passed the Rams inside the 20-yard line six straight times, but could forge only a 16-0 lead in the first three quarters. The first five times he knocked on the door, he was stopped short, as if each drive were symbolic of the five years Warner spent knocking unsuccessfully on the door of the NFL.
Then on the sixth trip, Warner hit rookie Torry Holt on a quick slant and the Rams went up 16-0. Until the touchdown toss to Holt, Warner was 0 for 12 inside the 20 against a defense that was bending but not breaking.
“We knew we couldn’t win with just field goals,” Bruce said. “These were the two best teams in the NFL.”
The Titans were down 9-0 at the half and lost strong safety Blaine Bishop in the third quarter on a scary hit with his helmet that interrupted the game for several minutes until he was strapped to a gurney and removed. He suffered a neck sprain, but returned to the dome after a precautionary hospital trip.
Fisher gathered his team together and told them he believed Bishop was all right and they should try to win it for him. But now the Titans were playing without either regular safety. Three plays later, Warner hit Holt on a 9-yard slant inside cornerback Dainon Sidney for the 16-0 lead.
It signaled a Titan awakening. They had won three straight playoff games after trailing at the half. It was time for Eddie George to do some pounding.
The Titans drove 66 yards in 12 plays to score on a 1-yard plunge by George. It made the score 16-6 with 14 seconds left in the third quarter, at which point Fisher made a controversial decision. He went for a two-point conversion, trying to put his team down by 8. McNair’s pass failed.
For the first time all day, the Titan defense forced a Rams punt and again mounted a touchdown drive. Momentum was shifting, but time was wasting. When George muscled his way over the goal line–after his knee appeared to scrape the ground a yard short–the Titans were down 16-13, but there was only 7:21 left.
Again the Titans forced the Rams to punt on a three-and-out series and took over with 6:17 to play. Al Del Greco’s 43-yard field goal with 2:12 left made it 16-all.
“If we were going to take a shot, let’s go to Isaac,” Vermeil told offensive coordinator Mike Martz, who had gone after Fisher’s risky defense the whole game.
“I was dog tired,” Bruce said. “I knew I had to make a play on the ball. That wasn’t me. That was all God. We didn’t want to go into overtime with these guys.”
Bruce, the Rams’ best deep threat, caught six passes for 162 yards. Holt caught seven for 109 yards. Warner was so sharp that his first seven completions went to six different receivers. Oblivious to the rush, Warner constantly kept his eyes downfield and located second and third options with uncanny accuracy, his hallmark all season.
But his clinic was falling short. Punter Mike Horan, at 40 the oldest player ever in a Super Bowl, bobbled the snap on a 35-yard field-goal try after the initial drive. Place-kicker Jeff Wilkins, not often needed on the highest-scoring team in the league, made field goals from 27, 29, and 28 yards but missed a 34-yarder.
Del Greco missed a 47-yarder and had a 47-yarder blocked by Todd Lyght as the Titans struggled for three quarters. George finished with 95 yards in 28 carries and both Titan touchdowns, but the Rams controlled the ball for too much time in the first half.
“I want to congratulate the Rams,” George said. “Our team has nothing to be down about.”
The Rams never tried to establish Marshall Faulk as a run threat, but he caught five passes for 50 yards and spent considerable time helping to block Titan blitzes.
The Titans led the league in forced fumbles but got no turnovers against the Rams. In their first meeting on Oct. 31, the Titans won 24-21 after taking a 21-0 lead in the first quarter when Warner fumbled twice. Warner was sacked six times in that game, but only once this time. The Titans were in his face and hit him constantly, but he never flinched.
“Kurt Warner is Kurt Warner,” Vermeil said. “He’s a great example of persistence and believeing in himself and a deep faith.”
Vermeil, who lost the 1981 Super Bowl when he was coaching the Philadelphia Eagles, returned to the NFL after 14 years in 1997 and finished 5-11 and 4-12 in his first two seasons before this 16-3 miracle. At 63, he’s the oldest coach to win a Super Bowl.
“I’m humbled. I’m a very ordinary guy surrounded by extraordinary people,” Vermeil said.
Said Fisher: “We made up our minds at halftime we were going to win. I told our team, `Don’t ever forget this moment, because we’ll be back.”‘
