Music City Miracle
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The Music City Miracle is a famous play in the NFL Playoffs involving the Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills that took place on January 8, 2000 (following the 1999 regular season) in Nashville, Tennessee.
Steve Christie, the Bills' kicker, had just kicked a 41-yard field goal to put Buffalo up 16-15 with only sixteen seconds remaining in the game. The field goal capped off a swift and in fact, rather dramatic scoring drive led by quarterback Rob Johnson. On the ensuing kickoff, Christie kicked off, and Titans player Lorenzo Neal received. Neal handed the ball off to Titans tight end Frank Wycheck, who then lateraled the ball across the whole field to another Titans player, Kevin Dyson, who then ran down the sidelines for a 75-yard touchdown.
The play was named Home Run Throwback by the Titans and was developed by Special Teams Coordinator Alan Lowry. The Titans ran the play regularly in practices during the regular season.
As per the instant replay rules, the play was reviewed by referee Phil Luckett since it was uncertain if the ball had been a forward pass, which are illegal on a kickoff return. However, the call on the field was upheld as a touchdown, and the Titans won the game 22-16. After the game, however, many Bills players and fans continued to insist that it was indeed an illegal forward pass (earning it the derisive nickname "Home Run Throw Forward"). The game was later featured as Game of the Week by NFL Films on the NFL Network. NFL Films reviewed the lateral with computer assistance and concluded once and for all that it was indeed a lateral and a legal play.
The victory, in front of a franchise-record crowd at Adelphia Coliseum, allowed the Tennessee franchise to advance to the AFC Division Playoffs for the first time since 1993. Subsequent victories over the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars sent the Titans to Super Bowl XXXIV to face the St. Louis Rams, where they lost by seven points in what many regard as one of the greatest Super Bowl games ever.
It could be said that the game served as revenge for the Titans/Oilers franchise for The Comeback, where the Bills came back from a 32-point deficit to defeat the Houston Oilers, 41-38, in overtime.
[edit] Effect on the Bills
Special teams coach Bruce DeHaven was fired two days later, although later it emerged that it may have been the fault of the players on the field for not hearing the warning DeHaven shouted out when he saw who the Titans had on the field. He continued coaching with the San Francisco 49ers.
Bills' coach Wade Phillips was fired after the following season. The Bills have not made the playoffs since then, and have gone through two more head coaches as of 2006.
[edit] Radio call
The radio call of this play by Mike Keith and Pat Ryan on the Tennessee Titans Radio Network instantly became legendary across the network's listening area.
This is the transcript of the call:
Keith: "Do the Titans have a miracle left in them in what has been a magical season to this point? If they do, they need it now. Christie kicks it high and short. Gonna be fielded by Lorenzo Neal at the 25; he dishes it back to Wycheck; he throws it across the field to Dyson..."
Ryan: "He's got somethin'..."
Keith: "30, 40..."
Ryan: "He's got somethin'..."
Keith: "50, 40.."
Ryan: "He's got it! He's got it!"
Keith (voice volume increasing): "30, 20.."
Ryan: "He's got it!"
Keith: "10, 5, endzone...touchdown, Titans! There are no flags on the field! It's a miracle! Tennessee has pulled a miracle! A miracle for the Titans!"
Ryan: "Frank Wycheck threw another pass."
Keith: "Three seconds remaining on the clock!"
But then a question of whether or not Wycheck's lateral to Dyson was actually a lateral arose. Referee Phil Luckett reviewed the play, and once Luckett had decided on what the call would be and came back onto the field, Keith said this.
Keith: "Here comes Luckett, with the call of the new millennium."
When he announced his ruling, Keith and Ryan had another historic exchange.
Luckett: "After reviewing the play, the ruling on the field stands. It was a lateral..."
Keith: "We did it!"
Ryan: "Yes! Titans win!" (This drowned out Luckett saying, "Touchdown.")
Keith: "Three seconds to go, and Tennessee is on the verge of a miracle finish!"
Ryan: "Wow, what a game!"
