NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Times Square at midnight 2000 had nothing on Adelphia Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. If this is what the NFL has in store for the new millennium, bring it on.
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| Kevin Dyson's touchdown return gave the Titans a miracle win over the Bills. |
Pro football's storied playoff history is filled with shocking endings, controversial calls and, some insist, heavenly intervention. All three, it could be argued, were involved in the Music City Miracle.
"There's something higher at work here," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said after Kevin Dyson's 75-yard kickoff return off a
lateral with three seconds left lifted Tennessee past Buffalo 22-16.
"Think about what you just saw," general manager Floyd Reese added. "It certainly makes you sit back and say, 'Maybe there is such a thing as fate.' "
Dyson's TD run after Frank Wycheck's cross-field lateral had all the elements that make for a classic shocker.
The setting: a playoff game before a loud sellout crowd.
The unlikely hero: Dyson, a receiver selected before Randy Moss in the 1998 draft, had done little in his two pro seasons. He
wasn't even supposed to be on the return team, but he replaced an injured Derrick Mason and a cramping Anthony Dorsett.
The controversy: Was it a lateral or forward pass?
The drama: The wait for the instant replay review in which referee Phil Luckett confirmed the on-field call of a touchdown.
So the Music City Miracle that rocked Nashville -- and the football-viewing nation -- takes it place alongside the greatest of NFL playoff memories:
The Immaculate Reception. Still the most famous single play in NFL annals. Franco Harris made a shoestring catch of a desperation fourth-down pass in the dying seconds at Pittsburgh in 1972. The ball was deflected by Oakland safety Jack Tatum, and Harris reached down to pluck it and sped 42 yards for a 13-7 victory.
The Catch. San Francisco's Super Bowl dynasty got its biggest impetus from Dwight Clark's reception in the back corner of the end zone against Dallas in 1981. Clark extended his arms as he leaped to grab Joe Montana's 6-yard pass for a 28-27 win in the NFC Championship Game.
The Drive. John Elway's first great comeback, and perhaps the best of all. With the Broncos in the deepest of holes -- the ball at their own 2-yard line in the final minutes at Cleveland -- Elway guided Denver 98 yards. Mark Jackson's 5-yard touchdown catch with 37 seconds left
forced overtime, and Denver won on Rich Karlis' field goal.
The Sneak. The "Ice Bowl" was played in minus-13 degrees at Green Bay. Quarterback Bart Starr, not wanting to chance a handoff,
sneaked behind Jerry Kramer's block for the winning touchdown on the Packers' final play. The 21-17 victory over Dallas lifted the
Packers into their second Super Bowl.
The Fumble. Cleveland's Earnest Byner was heading into the end zone at Denver with 1:05 left. But he lost the ball at the 3 and
the Broncos held on for a 38-33 win in the 1987 AFC title game.
The Overtime. Alan Ameche ended the NFL's first overtime game when he ran into the Yankee Stadium end zone from the 1, giving the Baltimore Colts the championship 23-17 over the Giants.
The Hail Mary. Roger Staubach, the king of comebacks before Elway came along, hit Drew Pearson with a 50-yard desperation pass
that Pearson actually caught with one hand holding the ball against his hip. Dallas won at Minnesota 17-14.
And, of course, there was The Comeback, staged by the Bills against the Titans' predecessors, the Houston Oilers, in January
1993. Buffalo trailed visiting Houston 35-3 and had lost quarterback Jim Kelly. But behind Frank Reich, the Bills made the
biggest comeback in NFL postseason history, winning on Steve Christie's 32-yard field goal in overtime.
"This was postseason justice," Titans safety Steve Jackson said. "This was for all the guys who went through all of the stuff
for seven years, who had to live with the stigma of that loss."
It's the Bills who have to live with this crushing loss. Their sense of history -- and fair play -- was offended by the way they lost.
"I want to hear about old-school football," Bills defensive end Marcellus Wiley said. "We win or we lose. This is the worst
feeling, except for death."
