Rams 23, Titans 16
ATLANTA -- This was why they invented the Super Bowl.This one had long touchdowns, record-setting performances, courageous comebacks and a thrilling finish. Nobody could have asked for more than the St. Louis Rams and Tennessee Titans supplied Sunday.
That the Rams held on -- by inches -- for a 23-16 victory didn't necessarily make the Titans losers. Each team could leave the Georgia Dome with pride.
"It was a fight to the finish," said Rams receiver Isaac Bruce, who caught the 73-yard game-winning pass from Kurt Warner just 18 seconds after the Titans overcame a 16-0 deficit to tie it. "It was one of the best games I've ever played in. I am just proud to be part of this."
As were the Titans, who fell just short when Kevin Dyson was tackled by linebacker Mike Jones at the 1 as time ran out.
"To come this far and be a half-yard short is just a sick feeling," Dyson said. "But this team leaves here winners inside."
They weren't winners on the scoreboard because Jones made a classic tackle on the final play. It was the last of a Super series of second-half plays providing a scintillating finish.
"I said, 'This time, no matter who it is, I can't let him in the end zone,' " Jones said. " 'We got a chance to win this game. Get him on the ground.'
"They've got the hearts of warriors. They were down 16-0, and a lot of teams would have tucked tail."
At the end, all of these warriors were worn out. The Rams' defenders barely could stand, and the Titans' attackers were just as wobbly.
"Football is the most emotional roller coaster you can be on," Dyson said. "It leaves you with nothing left emotionally."
Tennessee could do nothing in the first half, which the Rams dominated. St. Louis gained 294 yards to 89 for the Titans. The Rams ran 44 plays to 24 for Tennessee. League MVP Kurt Warner, who also won the game's most valuable player award, already had 19 completions and 270 yards.
But it was just 9-0 on Jeff Wilkins' field goals of 27, 29 and 28 yards. Every time the Rams, whose 526 points were the third-highest in league history, got near the end zone, they couldn't get it in.
"We were getting points, but we knew we had to get the ball in the end zone," said Bruce, who would make six catches for 162 yards. "We couldn't win with just field goals."
They stopped kicking for points on their first drive of the second half, when Warner found rookie Torry Holt for a 9-yard score. The touchdown came three plays after safety Blaine Bishop was carted off the field with a neck injury. He later returned to the Dome after going to the hospital for X-rays, which were negative.
St. Louis (16-3), a city that never had a pro football champion, was up 16-0 and looking at a potential rout.
Finally, Steve McNair and Eddie George got on track for the Titans (16-4), who took the difficult wild-card route to their first Super Bowl. McNair engineered a 12-play, 66-yard drive that included 23-yard run to the St. Louis 2. George scored from the 1, but a 2-point pass went behind Frank Wycheck.
Emboldened, the Titans forced a Rams punt for the first time, and George scored on a magnificent 2-yard run on which he broke three tackles. Suddenly, it was 16-13, and when the Rams once more went 3-and-out, Tennessee was in charge.
"In the second half, the guys buckled down and made things happen," said McNair, who showed no signs of a painful toe injury that has plagued him for the past month.
They had to make things happen one more time to even things, and thanks to Mike Horan's 30-yard punt, they did. Al Del Greco made a 43-yard field goal with 2:12 to go, and the first overtime in Super Bowl history seemed likely.
Then again, the Rams don't believe in the probable. After all, this was a team that went 5-11 and 4-12 in coach Dick Vermeil's first two seasons following a 14-year hiatus. This was a team quarterbacked by a former Arena League and NFL Europe player who once stocked shelves in a supermarket.
And this was a team that has struck quickly quite frequently this season. So why not win a Super Bowl that way?
"Isaac is our go-to guy," said Warner, who set a Super Bowl record with 414 yards passing. "He's made big plays for us all year, and we knew he could make another one."
Warner came back for a deep pass that was a bit short. Cornerback Denard Walker fell as he tried to go for Bruce, leaving an alley that Bruce sped down for the winning touchdown with 1:54 remaining.
Tennessee, of course, had other ideas. And McNair got the Titans as close as possible to overtime.
He led them from their 12 to the Rams 10 with time for one play. That play was the in-cut to Dyson, who stretched and stretched but couldn't reach the goal line.
"You just want to get them down any way possible," Jones said. "First you think, 'Lock this guy up and then get him down.' I stood up and looked at the clock and time was out, and I knew we were Super Bowl champions.
"You dream of making an interception or a sack, not necessarily a tackle to win the game. . . . Without a doubt, it's the biggest play of my career. It won a Super Bowl on the last play."