Finally, A Super Bowl

Was there something strange going on or was it just me? The Tennessee Titans were playing the St.Louis Rams. A guy named Kurt Warner was starting as quarterback, and Dick Vermeil was emotionally stable. It seemed like a letdown of a Super Bowl from the very beginning. Fans are used to seeing the San Francisco and Denver powerhouses of years past slug it out. How can we look forward to a game featuring teams that recently started again after having left their respective cities?

Midway through the third quarter of the game, it seemed like our pessimism was justified. The score was 16-0 in favor of the Rams, and to make matters worse the television commercials weren't so great either (another E-Trade commercial would have driven me insane). I figured that it was just a matter of time until the Rams ran up the score to 55 points, your typical score in what is supposed to be the big dance. But that's when the tide shifted, and Tennessee Head Coach Jeff Fisher finally started to use his battering ram, Eddie George. George ran and ran, and when he was done running, he ran some more, running for a whopping 77 yards in the second half alone.

The Titans pounded the Rams defense and sent them running for the hills. Then Steve McNair sparked the team with a long run that set up their first touchdown of the game. With the Titans slowly creeping back, our interest was restored. Suddenly, we were treated to a game that rarely lives up to its bill. No longer did we moan about which teams were playing, but rather we were overly concerned about whether or not the Titans could convert a first down on third and seven.

After Al Del Greco's field goal tied the score at 16 late in the 4th quarter, a Nuclear Bomb couldn't have pried us from our seats. However, a bomb is just what occurred next. Kurt Warner, the Rams' superhuman quarterback, launched a 73 yard touchdown strike to Isaac Bruce on the very next play, sending us all into a frenzy. Is this a joke? Kurt Warner was stacking shelves at a grocery store just a few years ago. He used to use toilet paper rolls as footballs. Now, instead of throwing toilet paper rolls down aisle three, he was slinging a touchdown pass to all-pro wide receiver Isaac Bruce in the Super Bowl.

So the game ended there, right? WRONG. Steve McNair and the Titans came roaring back with one last drive. Keep in mind, this is the team that beat the Buffalo Bills on a last second miracle play that rivals the magic of the immaculate reception. The Titans began moving steadily upfield, refusing to go down. The only thing that could stop them now was time, and not the Rams' battered defense.

McNair stayed on his feet, and fought off defenders repeatedly. On one particular play, he shrugged off a freight train in the form of defensive end Kevin Carter, who just happened to lead the league with seventeen sacks in the regular season, and threw a gorgeous pass to receiver Kevin Dyson to set up the game's last play with six seconds left. The circumstances were enormous. Hollywood couldn't script a better football game. And so, with ten yards and six seconds left, McNair called Dyson's number again, and threw to him over the middle of the field. Dyson caught the ball, and was met ever so rudely at the two-yard line by Rams linebacker Mike Jones. Jones tackled Dyson and snuffed out his desperate lunge at the endzone as time ran out. All that separated the Titans from the championship was a mere three feet. Ouch.

However, It was a thrilling finish. Heck, for the first time ever, the game actually wasn't decided until the last minute. The Super Bowl hasn't been this close in ten years, when Scott Norwood's 48 yard field goal sailed wide right for the Buffalo Bills in the waning seconds against the New York Giants. So for a Super Bowl that was expected to fizzle like most others, we were finally treated to a classic, one that will be remembered for years to come.