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More than magic McNair, Titans rush into Super Bowl with win over Jags
Posted: Sunday February 06, 2000 05:14 PM
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (CNNSI.com) -- The vagabond Tennessee Titans never felt so cozy on the road. And they're not through traveling yet. Next stop: Super Bowl XXXIV in Atlanta against St. Louis. America's wandering waifs, who have played in four stadiums in three cities in four seasons, upset the Jacksonville Jaguars 33-14 behind the scrambling of Steve McNair and a defense that forced six turnovers. The Titans trailed 14-10 at the half but scored 16 points in about 4 1/2 minutes in the third quarter to pull away. It's the first Super Bowl trip ever for the franchise that began in the old AFL in 1960. "It's about time," said owner Bud Adams, who founded the franchise in Houston then moved it after the 1995 season when he couldn't get money for a new stadium. "I'm getting pretty old. I didn't want to go to the Super Bowl in a wheelchair." McNair almost had to use a wheelchair before the game. He spent much of the week wearing a boot to protect an injured toe and hid the pain as well as he could. "At one point during the week he couldn't even touch his toe without it killing him," tight end Frank Wycheck said. "For him to go out and have the day he did is just unbelievable. He's a leader who leads by example and we follow him." There was little pain in McNair's stats -- except to the Jags, who won 15 games this year and lost just three, all to the Titans. McNair ran nine times for 91 yards, including a 49-yard scramble to set up one of his two 1-yard sneaks for touchdowns. He also had a 9-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter to Yancey Thigpen, who left in the second quarter with a broken toe. The Titans also lost safety Marcus Robertson with a broken ankle. This was the third step in a long, strange trip to the Super Bowl for Tennessee. The Titans won their first playoff game on the most improbable of plays -- a lateral by Wycheck on a kickoff return that Kevin Dyson took 75 yards for the winning touchdown against Buffalo with three seconds left. Last week, Tennessee shut down Peyton Manning and the high-powered Colts and won 19-16 in Indianapolis. And this week they continued their mastery over the Jags, who had the NFL's best regular-season record at 14-2 and crushed Miami 62-7 in their first playoff game last week. Tennessee won Sunday as it has all season: a little offense, a lot of defense, and a big contribution from special teams. All of it turned during the 16-point spurt in 4 minutes, 28 seconds in the third quarter. It began with a six-play, 76-yard drive that ended on the go-ahead touchdown on a sneak by McNair. Forty-three of the yards came on penalties -- 15 on a roughing the passer call when McNair somehow ducked out of a 10-yard sack by Kevin Hardy, rolled left and completed a 15-yard pass to Eddie George. "You can't play sloppy in a game like this and win," said Jacksonville tight end Kyle Brady, who caught a touchdown pass but fumbled twice. Brady's first fumble came on the next sequence. Jason Fisk recovered at the Jaguars 35, then Wycheck returned the favor by fumbling back to the Jaguars.
Two plays later, Fisk and Josh Evans sacked Mark Brunell in the end zone for a safety, and it was 19-14. It was the sixth safety this season for Tennessee and second in the playoffs, an NFL record. It also set up seven more points: On the ensuing free kick, Derrick Mason, who earlier set up a score with a 44-yard kickoff return, went 80 yards for a TD to make it 26-14. "It seemed like everything clicked and we took over the game then," Evans said. Tennessee's trip to the Super Bowl next Sunday follows three straight 8-8 seasons, one in Houston, one in Memphis and the third and Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville. This year, in their new home at Adelphia Coliseum, they went 13-3 and qualified as a wild card, a game behind Jacksonville in the AFC Central even though they beat the Jaguars twice.
The Titans' success is especially remarkable considering how close they came to losing in the wild-card game against Buffalo. "I never thought that it would happen -- reaching the Super Bowl," said Bruce Matthews, the 17-year veteran who has played his entire career with the Oilers-Titans and holds the record for most games played by an offensive lineman (264). The win was sweet for all the veterans, who have played in empty stadiums before apathetic crowds and had played mediocre football for most of a decade. "I kind of sold myself on the idea that it wasn't that important," Matthews said. "To watch other teams playing the championships and going to the Super Bowl every year, you build up a barrier more than anything. But it's nice." The defeat was a huge disappointment for Jacksonville. While the Jaguars have made the playoffs in four straight years -- they missed them only as an expansion team in 1995 -- they now have lost twice in the AFC title game. "I didn't expect this to happen," said coach Tom Coughlin, who was especially dismayed about McNair's escape act -- several times the quarterback seemed hopelessly trapped for a sack before escaping. When someone asked Coughlin how this happened, he snapped back: "When the quarterback comes out of it when he should be on his back. That's how it happens." Jacksonville started strong, going 62 yards in five plays to score on a 7-yard pass from Brunell to Brady. But the Titans answered right back, going 51 yards in nine plays after Mason's 44-yard kickoff return to tie it on 9-yard pass to Thigpen. Both teams threw interceptions in scoring position -- Fernando Bryant picked off a McNair pass on his 23 early in the second quarter. The Jaguars then drove all the way to the Tennessee 6, but Robertson dived in front of Damon Jones to pick off a Brunell pass to end the threat. Jacksonville scored on its next possession, another quick drive that emphasized the 1-2 ground punch. One play after Taylor gained 9 yards to set up a second-and-1, Stewart raced 33 yards to the end zone. Al Del Greco capped the first half scoring with a 34-yard field goal after Reggie Barlow fumbled a punt and Steve Jackson recovered for the Titans. That made it 14-10. Then came the deluge. "They won the game and they deserve all the credit given to them," said defensive tackle Gary Walker, who joined Jacksonville as a free agent this season after wandering through Texas and Tennessee with the Titans. "To go through what they've gone through -- to finally get a home -- they just deserve a lot of credit." The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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