Neo Zeed, mad props on this thread!

This was my first time dealing with heartbreak in the NFL. I always loved Eddie George and was heartbroken when they lost the Super Bowl by 1 fucking yard! I remember jumping up and down screaming 'TOUCHDOWN' even though I knew damn well he was down. Then watching a smiling Dick Vermeil take his headset off and throw his arms in the air was hard for young me.

The Titans had no business being in the Super Bowl because of that Buffalo game, but they felt destined. The Rams were this unstoppable force and it seemed like Tennessee had solved them, but unfortunately they came up just short.

This thread is EPIC though.

I already covered how the NFC was set up in definitive tiers in 1999, with the Rams as the clear cut dominators of the conference, then a 3 way dance between Washington, Minnesota, and Tampa Bay underneath them. Below that tier was just a bunch of teams that didn't stand a chance come playoff time, including a 5 team log jam of .500 teams fighting for those last 2 Wild Card spots. We already covered 4 of those teams, Dallas, New York Giants, Green Bay, and Carolina, but the 5th team was the Detroit Lions, who began a new era that year playing without Barry Sanders after he shocked the world and retired in late July.

Barry announced his retirement on July 27th 1999 at age 30, after playing for 10 years for the Lions. His final season in 1998 he ran for 1,491 yards but the Lions finished 5-11. His retirement came as a huge shock to Lions fans and ownership, he pretty much waited until the last minute and left Detroit without enough time to prepare for his absence. I personally have a somewhat controversial opinion of Barry Sanders. I do believe he is fucking amazing but I don't agree with everyone painting this picture like he was the football god of running backs. I personally don't rate him on the same tier as Walter Payton, Jim Brown, or even Emmitt Smith, and that opinion seems to ruffle a lot of feathers. But make no mistake about it, I always did love watching him play and I still think he's one of the all time greats, I just don't look back on him with glasses quite as rose tinted as everyone else does.

One of the things I'm not a fan of about Barry Sanders was the way he retired. I mean don't get me wrong the man took a lot of physical abuse playing running back for a decade, what more did you really want from him. But I am just not a fan of his reasoning for retiring or the way he did it at the last minute, pretty much shitting on his team in the process. Barry always and still to this day has said that his main reason for retiring was because he didn't want to play on a losing team. Well, that doesn't really make a lot of sense considering that the Lions actually made the playoffs without him in 1999.

Detroit's 1999 season gets way overlooked I think. I don't think this team gets nearly enough credit for being able to pull themselves together after the way Barry left them hanging at the end of training camp. They came out and started the season 2-0 with wins over the Packers and Seahawks. After that they lost to Kansas City and San Diego to fall to 2-2. Then they put together a pretty remarkable 4 game win streak where they took down the Vikings, Panthers, Buccaneers, and Rams. In those 4 games they had 18 sacks and held the Buccaneers and Panthers without a single touchdown. The big one is where they beat The Greatest Show On Turf... on turf(in Pontiac) by the score of 31-27. The Rams were 6-1 coming into that game. Kurt Warner's third touchdown pass of the game followed by a 2 point conversion pass to Isaac Bruce put the Rams up 27-24 with 2:42 left to play. Gus Frerrotte led the Lions on an 88 yard drive in the final minutes, throwing the game winning 12 yard touchdown with :33 seconds left on the clock for the 31-27 victory.

With that win over the Rams the Lions were sitting at the top of the NFC with a 6-2 record. The Lions victory knocked the Rams to 6-2 so at the halfway point of the 1999 season the Detroit Lions were the best team in the NFC.

Their time at the top of the NFC was short lived however since they would lose both of their next 2 games on the road, a 23-19 loss to the Cardinals(where they had a grand total of 42 total rushing yards) and a 26-17 loss to the Packers in Lambeau. They got back on track with back to back victories over the Bears and Redskins to get their record to 8-4. Detroit was in 1st place in the NFC Central division all the way up to week 13 of the 1999 season and they had the 2nd best record in the NFC up to that point. They also had head to head victories over the top 4 teams in the NFC, the Rams, Buccaneers, Vikings, and the Redskins.

Then the bottom fell out. The Lions lost all 4 of their last 4 games(with 3 of those on the road) to back into the playoffs with an 8-8 record. In those last 4 games the Lions had a total of 206 rushing yards combined. In their last 2 games they had a grand total of 48 combined rushing yards.

So here is where the "What If's" come into play. What if Barry had played 1 last season? Don't you think this 1999 NFL season was wide open enough to where this really could have been a great chance for Barry to make a run at a title? There was no clear cut dominating super team like Dallas, Green Bay, or San Francisco in 1999. The Rams dominated, sure, but they were beatable, as proven by the Lions in the regular season. This Lions team was at the top of the NFC at the halfway point of the 1999 season and they defeated all 4 of the best teams in the NFC WITHOUT Barry Sanders and WITHOUT a running game to speak of. So what if they had one of the all time greats? Is it too far fetched to say that this Lions team wins at least 2-3 more games with a 1,000+ yard season from Barry Sanders? I think it's realistic to think that this Lions team could have won the NFC Central and got the #2 seed with Barry, and then you got to think that they took down the Rams WITHOUT him so what if?

Either way it's pretty crazy and my controversial opinion is that Barry Sanders walked away at a legitimate shot at a Championship in 1999 when he ditched the Lions. Sure you can say it is a stretch to imagine a Bobby Ross coached team with Gus Frerrotte/Charlie Batch making it to a Super Bowl but I guess it's easy to forget the 1994 Chargers made it with Bobby Ross and Stan Fucking Humphries. And the ironic part is he still to this day Barry claims that he walked away because the Lions were losers, but yet they defeated all 4 of the top NFC teams and made the playoffs with an 8-8 record despite playing the 2nd toughest schedule in the NFC that year(they had THE toughest schedule of all NFC teams that made the playoffs in 1999).

But this 1999 Lions team really doesn't get nearly the credit they deserve. They ended up getting beat soundly by the Redskins in the NFC Wild Card 27-13 in a game where they had a grand total of 45 rushing yards. The two backs that carries the Lions run game in Barry's absence were Greg Hill(542 yards) and Ron Rivers(295 yards). They did have 2 very good receivers in 1999, both Germane Crowell and Johnnie Morton. Crowell had 1,338 and Morton had 1,129 receiving yards. The Lions defense was really good at times during the 1999 season. Robert Porcher had 15 sacks, Luther Ellis and Stephen Boyd made the Pro Bowl and they also had a really good veteran safety in Mark Carrier.

So I don't hate on Barry for retiring before the 1999 season, I get it if he wanted to retire because he was worn down from 10 years of playing running back in the NFL, I get it if he didn't want to play a season where he looked like a shell of himself. But the thing is he claims he retired because the Lions didn't have a chance to win and that's actually quite the opposite, with Barry they had probably their best shot at a Championship in the entire 90's decade. With Green Bay on the decline and Minnesota suffering a hang over from the 98 NFC Championship Game, Chicago being a huge mess and Tampa trying to make chicken salad out of Trent Dilfer, the Lions division was up for grabs in 1999, and with it the #2 seed in the NFC.  

Just popping in to brag about being at Barry Sanders' last game....again. Twas a meaningless Week 17 game between two losing teams in Baltimore.

Then we arrive at the top 3 dogs of the AFC East. If I had to come up with a cute name for this chapter of the 1999 season I'd call it "One and Done... And One Last Run". The AFC East was the toughest division in the NFL in 1999 with 3 teams making the playoffs, and the 2 last place teams that got left out were the 8-8 Parcells/Belichick Jets and the 8-8 Pete Carroll Patriots. You could make a strong case that the two top teams of this division, the Colts(13-3) and Bills(11-5) were among the elite of the NFL in 1999. Both teams would end up going one and done in the playoffs while Miami would get destroyed in historic fashion in the second round after barely getting by a limp Seahawks squad in the Wild Card round.

For the Miami Dolphins this 1999 season would end up being Dan Marino's swan song, which played out more akin to an ugly duckling. He was the last of the dying breed of that legendary 1983 draft class(where a record 6 quarterbacks were taken in the first round; John Elway, Todd Blackledge, Jim Kelly, Tony Eason, Ken O'Brien, and Dan Marino). Dan rewrote the record books in 1984 and made it to Super Bowl XIX(where they were crushed by the 49ers). Marino was thought to be the next messiah of the NFL after that '84 season but he never got back to the Super Bowl, losing AFC Championship Games at home in 1985 and 1992, then blowing a big halftime lead to the Chargers in the second round of the 1994 playoffs. In 1995 the Dolphins were bounced from the playoffs by the Bills in the Wild Card round and this would be the final game for the legend Don Shula as head coach. The next season the Dolphins lured former Cowboys(and Miami Hurricanes) head coach Jimmy Johnson out of retirement. The Dolphins improved every year with Jimmy Johnson, from an 8-8 finish in 1996 to a 9-7 finish in 1997 to a 10-6 finish and a playoff win in 1998(they defeated Buffalo in the Wild Card and lost to Denver in the second round). Jimmy Johnson was actually ready to retire following the 1998 season but the Dolphins management/ownership talked him into returning for one more season.

With Dan Marino in 1999 you have the quintessential example of an aging legend that held on just a little too long. The other big name quarterback from that 1983 draft class was John Elway, who retired following winning his 2nd Super Bowl title after the 1998 season. As the Broncos had Atlanta blown out late in the 4th quarter of Super Bowl XXXIII they pulled Elway from the game and he walked off the field for the final time to a standing ovation as a back to back Champion. Dan Marino held on for one more season in 1999 in hopes to have a similar walk off but his turned out to be the polar opposite...

The Dolphins started the season off with a victory over the Brian Griese Broncos on Monday Night Football in a rematch from the 1998 playoff game that ended their season. Marino threw 215 yards and 2 touchdowns while Miami's defense held Terrell Davis to just 61 yards rushing in a 38-21 blowout. Dan would end up throwing 2 touchdowns and 4 interceptions over Miami's next 2 games, a 19-16 win over the Cardinals and a 23-18 loss to the Doug Flutie Buffalo Bills.

One of the best and most interesting games of the 1999 season took place in week 5 when the NFL's past met it's future in a duel between Peyton Manning vs Dan Marino. Both the Colts and Dolphins went into the game with 2-1 records. Peyton Manning threw 2 touchdown passes to set up a 17-9 lead for Indy going into the 4th quarter. Marino cut the score to 17-15 early in the fourth quarter with a 28 yard touchdown pass but Indy would fire right back by running the ensuing kickoff back for a 97 yard touchdown to go up 24-15. Marino would put together a 68 yard scoring drive to trim the deficit to 24-22 with 9:45 left to play. Edgerin James broke 2 big runs on Indy's next possession to set up Manning's 3rd touchdown pass and put the Colts up 31-22 with 8:14 left to play. Miami would drive deep into Colts territory on their next drive but Indy would hold them to a field goal to keep a 31-25 lead. The Colts were backed up to their own 12 yard line on their next possession and would decide to yield an intentional safety in order to back the Dolphins up in field position on their next drive. The safety gave Miami 2 points to trim the deficit to 31-27. Marino just would not go down without a fight, he would move the Dolphins 64 yards down the field with 4 passes in the final minutes, hitting Oronde Gadsden for a huge 48 yard gain on 4th and 10 with a minute left to play. Dan the Man would win the game with a 2 yard touchdown pass to Gadsden just two plays later for the 34-31 victory.

The duel with Manning in week 5 of the 1999 season would really be Dan Marino's last great performance of his career. Marino threw for 393 yards and 2 touhdowns in a throwback to his prime days in the 1980's while the young rising star Peyton Manning would throw for 274 yards and 3 touchdowns. The very next week against the Patriots Marino went down with a shoulder injury that sidelined him for 5 games. Backup quarterback Damn Huard filled in nicely for the injured Dan Marino and they would win 3 in a row. One of the Dolphins biggest wins of the season happened with Huard as the starter when they took down the Titans in a clash between two 6-1 teams in week 9. The Dolphins would shut out the Titans 17-0 to move to 7-1 at the midway point of the 1999 season, tied with Jacksonville with the best record in the NFL.

The Dolphins would get swept by the Bills after a 23-3 loss in week 10, dropping them to 7-2. A win over the Patriots the next week set them up at 8-2 for Dan Marino's return against Jimmy Johnson's old team the Cowboys in week 11. Jerry Jones must have been smiling from ear to ear when Dallas shut out the Dolphins 20-0 in Johnson's homecoming to Texas Stadium. Marino had one of his worst games with 0 touchdown passes and 5 interceptions and it was clear that his shoulder injury had killed his arm strength. Marino rebounded and looked good the next week in the rematch against Peyton Manning and the Colts but Miami would lose 37-34 via last second field goal to drop to 8-4. The Dolphins would end up backing into the final AFC Wild Card spot by losing 5 of their last 6 games to finish 9-7(they went 3-5 against division opponents). After Marino returned from his shoulder injury he threw for 6 touchdowns and 12 interceptions with a passer rating of 58. He ended up going 5-6 as a starter in all of his games in 1999 with 2,448 passing yards with 12 touchdowns and 17 interceptions and a dismal rating of 67.4.

The Dolphins meeting with the Seahawks in the AFC Wild Card playoff was an interesting matchup between 2 teams that backed into the playoffs and had collapsed big time in the second half of the season. Both teams were 8-2 at one point and both teams lost 5 of their last 6 games to finish 9-7. In the game it was an 85 yard kickoff return for a touchdown that gave Seattle a 17-13 lead going into the 4th quarter. Dan Marino put together his last great drive when he led Miami 85 yards down the field for the go-ahead score, completing big clutch passes on two critical 3rd and long plays to keep the drive alive. A 2 yard rushing touchdown by JJ Johnson put Miami on top 20-17 and the defense would hold on to win it. The next week in Jacksonville the Jaguars crushed the Dolphins 62-7 in what has to be the most brutal and embarrassing ending of a career there has ever been. The Jaguars were up 24-0 in the first quarter and led 41-0 at one point late in the second quarter. Marino put together a scoring drive in the final minutes of the second quarter to close the chasm to 41-7 but he was pulled from the game early in the second half. Marino was sacked twice and threw 2 interceptions in his final NFL game, his walk off the field in the middle of the biggest blowout in NFL playoff history was a stark contrast to Elway's walk off the field in the 4th quarter of Super Bowl XXXIII a year earlier.

When you look at Marino's final season it was really doomed to end this way due to the lack of talent they had around him. They really couldn't expect much from the 38 year old with a rookie backfield that was massively ineffective all year and their biggest offensive weapon being the 34 year old Tony Martin at receiver. Martin did catch 67 passes for 1,037 yards but there was just not much else there for Marino to throw to. Karim Abdul Jabbar was a valuable runner in their offense that they lost to injury after just 3 games but even with him they still didn't have much of a run game. In the end it is odd how the pairing of Dan Marino and Jimmy Johnson just did not work at all. The two personalities just did not mix and there were rumors throughout Jimmy Johnson's run with Miami that the 2 clashed. 

On the other side of the ball Miami had a lot of talent on defense. They brought in Jimmy Johnson's former defensive coordinator from the Cowboys 1992 Super Bowl run in Dave Wannstedt. They had Jason Taylor but he was still young and wasn't quite there yet as a pass rusher(only had 2.5 sacks). But Zach Thomas was a beast and made All Pro, as did Sam Madison who led a secondary that also starred Terrell Buckley and Brock Marion. Something interesting about this Dolphins defense is that they faced Hall of Fame running backs in 6 games. They held Terrell Davis to 61 yards, they held Curtis Martin to 75 yards, and they held Edgerrin James to 81 yards in the first game against the Colts. They also held Eddie George to 65 yards in the win over the Titans(though he's not in the Hall Of Fame yet). But they did get burned by Emmitt Smith for 103 in the loss to Dallas and Edgerrin James put up 130 on them in the Colts rematch.

It's ironic that the Jaguars brought an end to Dan Marino's career in such spectacular fashion with that 62-7 thrashing in the 1999 playoffs because 3 years earlier they did the same to one of Marino's other peers from that 1983 Draft Class, Bills quarterback Jim Kelly. The Jaguars defeated the Buffalo Bills in the 1996 playoffs at home in Buffalo(something that seemed impossible at the time since Buffalo seemed invincible at home in the playoffs in the 90's) in what turned out to be Jim Kelly's final game of his career. After a 6-10 finish in 1997 head coach Marv Levy also retired and they brought in Wade Phillips in 1998. Wade took the Bills back to the playoffs in 1998 with an unlikely hero filling in at quarterback, the 5'10" 180 pound Doug Flutie. Flutie had bounced as a backup from Chicago to New England from 1986 to 1989 but he was never taken seriously as a starting quarterback because he was considered to be too small to play the position at the pro level. After leaving the NFL to play in the CFL in Canada for 8 years Flutie returned to play as a backup quarterback for the Bills in 1998. After starter Rob Johnson went down with an injury after a 2-3 start Doug Flutie came in and rallied to win 7 out of 10 games to lead Buffalo back to the playoffs(they were defeated by the Dolphins 24-17 in Miami in the Wild Card round).

Going into 1999 the Bills went all in on Flutie as their starting quarterback. I feel like Wade Phillips deserves much more credit as a head coach for what he was able to do with this late 90's Bills team that was in a major transition, particularly in 1999 with a 37 year old 5'10" quarterback that couldn't see over the line of scrimmage, no real running game to speak of(Thurman Thomas was way past his prime and only started 3 games due to injuries), and the lack of any 1,000 yard receivers(Andre Reed had also lost a step at 35 years old, he only had 536 yards all year). Their biggest weapon on offense was a young Eric Moulds, who caught 65 passes for 994 yards. Buffalo did have a solid offensive line in 1999 though, especially on the left side with John Fina as the anchor at left tackle and pro bowl left guard Ruben Brown.

The Bills strength in 1999 was their defense, and it was one of the best in the entire NFL that year. Even though none of the Bills starters made the Pro Bowl or All Pro teams, they finished 2nd in the NFL in fewest points allowed(229), 1st in the NFL in fewest total yards allowed, 1st in the NFL in fewest passing yards allowed, and 4th in the NFL in fewest rushing yards allowed. Buffalo thrived under Wade Phillips' trademark 3-4 scheme in 1999. Big 365 pound Ted Washington was always a great nose tackle in the middle while the aging Bruce Smith played his final season with Buffalo that year(had 7 sacks). Other than those two there weren't really any big star names on that defense and nobody really put up any noteworthy statistics, it was just an outstanding team defense, which further highlights how underrated Wade Phillips really was as a football mind. Considering the talent he had to work with and what he was able to get out of them Wade Phillips probably should have been NFL Coach Of The Year in 1999, its crazy that he didn't even get a single vote for the award.

The Bills finished 11-5 and went 6-2 in the toughest division in the league in 1999. Buffalo's defense held 7 opponents to 10 points or less and they had 4 games where they didn't allow a single touchdown. The Bills didn't really come out and run the table at any point in the season, at one point they were 4-3 after losses to the Colts on opening day along back to back losses to the Raiders and Seahawks. They pulled out a 13-10 hard fought defensive battle against the Ravens in Baltimore to get to 5-3 followed by a big 34-17 win in Washington over the Redskins. After an overtime victory over the Patriots in week 16 sealed their playoff spot with a 10-5 record the Bills benched Doug Flutie to start Rob Johnson in a meaningless game against the Colts in the season finale. Johnson threw for 287 yards and 2 touchdowns with a passer rating of 122.8.

The next week in the Wild Card game against the Titans the Bills owner Ralph Wilson stepped in and mandated that head coach Wade Phillips start Rob Johnson over Doug Flutie. Phillips followed Wilson's orders and Johnson struggled against the Titans defense, holding onto the ball enough to get sacked 6 times. After a scoreless defensive stand off in the first quarter the Titans sacked Johnson in the end zone for a safety early in the 2nd, then followed up with a Steve Mcnair touchdown run to take a quick 9-0 lead. A field goal before the half put Tennessee up 12-0 going into halftime. Buffalo fought back with a pair of rushing touchdowns but a missed 2 point attempt gave them a slim 13-12 lead early in the 4th quarter. The Titans would end up retaking the lead with another field goal with 1:48 left to play go up 15-13. Rob Johnson drove Buffalo into field goal range for the go ahead kick for a 16-15 lead with just :20 seconds left on the clock. The ensuing kickoff would end up going down as one of the most insane and controversial moments in NFL playoff history when Frank Wycheck took the return and lobbed the ball across the field to Kevin Dyson, who ran 75 yards for the game winning touchdown. The play would earn the nickname "The Music City Miracle" and would give the Titans the 22-16 victory over the Bills to end their season.

The Music City Miracle

The Music City Miracle is still a play that many debate to this day. Some say it was a perfectly legal lateral, others(especially Bills fans) say it was an illegal forward pass that should have been called back, and that Buffalo was robbed of a victory. In the game the referees viewed the play on instant replay and made the call that it was a lateral. Me personally I feel like the ball did drift forward just enough that it should have been called as an illegal forward pass and that Buffalo should have won the game. You can see Wycheck clearly standing behind the 25 yard line and he throws the ball while it's hovering directly over the line, but Dyson clearly catches it over the line. But I'm a biased Titans hater from Houston Texas so what do I know? I do think it was clear enough in the replay that it was a forward pass but that crowd in Tennessee was going completely ape shit when it happened, and if those referees would have called that play back after the replay it would have started a near riot similar to the Cleveland Browns "Bottle Gate" incident.

I do believe that hostile Tennessee crowd weighed heavily on the referee's call and they just wanted to get out of there without any trouble. Either way it goes the Music City Miracle was one of those defining moments of the 1999 season that will live on in NFL lore forever. And with all of the "What If's" asked in this project so far one has to wonder what if Bills ownership had stayed out of Wade Phillips' way and let him start Flutie over Rob Johnson? What if the lateral/forward pass call went Buffalo's way? How would this Bills team have done against the Colts and Jaguars(or Rams) in the rest of that playoff tournament? Were the Bills robbed of a chance to finish the 90's decade with a storybook redemption for their 4 consecutive Super Bowl losses they started out the decade with? We will never know.

Then we have the Indianapolis Colts, the 1999 AFC Eastern Division Champs. The big theme with the 1999 NFL season was the big turnover from the year before. So many of the top teams from 1998 finished at the bottom in 1999, while so many of the bottom teams from 1998 surprised everyone by ascending to the top of the league in 1999. The biggest example of the latter is the Indianapolis Colts team, who set an NFL record for the biggest turnaround, going from 3-13 in 1998 to 13-3 in 1999. The Colts fell apart hard and fast after their surprise run to the 1995 AFC Championship Game. They were blown out in the Wild Card round of the 1996 playoffs, then finished dead last with a 3-13 finish in 1997. That last place finish brought the Colts the first round pick in the 1998 draft, which they used to take quarterback Peyton Manning. They also hired new head coach Jim Mora, who had made winners out of the New Orleans Saints after that team spent their first 2 decades as cellar dwellers.

Jim Mora and rookie Peyton Manning struggled in 1998. Manning threw 28 interceptions his rookie year and the Colts finished 3-13 for the second consecutive year. In the offseason prior to 1999 the Colts traded away running back Marshall Faulk to the Rams and then passed over Ricky Williams to draft Edgerin James. Another big change that I think made all the difference for the Colts historic turnaround from 1998 to 1999 was the change at defensive coordinator. The Colts fired Rusty Tillman as DC after they ranked 29th in 1998, then they hired Vic Fangio going into 1999. Fangio worked under Mora with the Saints during their "Dome Patrol" glory days, and he turned around one of the worst defenses in 1998 and they would average 20.8 points allowed in 1999. Another notable name on this 1999 Colts coaching staff was quarterbacks coach Bruce Arians, who led Tom Brady and the Buccaneers to the Super Bowl victory as head coach this past season.

The Colts week 5 loss to Miami in the shoot out between Manning vs Marino would drop them to a 2-2 start but they would go on an 11 game win streak following that loss and were 13-2 going into a meaningless season finale against Buffalo. The Colts best victory of the season would be one of the best games of the entire 1999 NFL season in the rematch against Marino and the Dolphins in December. The Colts went into the game at 9-2 while Miami was 8-3 at the time so critical positioning in the battle for the division was at stake. Colts safety Chad Cota returned a fumble for a touchdown to put the Colts up 17-3 at the end of the first quarter. Both teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter with Indy taking a 24-10 lead into halftime. The Dolphins ran back an interception for a score to cut the lead to 24-17 but Peyton Manning would answer with a 74 yard drive where he completed 6 out of 6 passes, the last of which a 5 yard touchdown that put Indy up 31-17. Dan Marino fought back with back to back touchdown passes to tie the game up at 31-31 early in the 4th quarter. Indy would retake the lead 34-31 after a 48 yard field goal with 4:24 left to play.

Dan Marino led the Dolphins on a 66 yard drive in the final minutes to get into scoring range but Indy would hold them to a field goal that tied the game up at 34-34 with just :40 left on the clock. The Colts got the ball back with seconds remaining but it took Peyton Manning just 2 passes to move them into range for the game winning 53 yard field goal, giving the Colts the win 37-34 and giving Manning his revenge over Marino in an epic rematch from week 5. Manning went 23 of 29 for 260 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. Edgerin James ran for 130 yards while Marvin Harrison had 8 catches for 125 yards. Dan Marino threw for 313 yards and 3 touchdowns with 1 interception. Both of the Marino vs Manning showdowns are among the best games of the 1999 NFL season and I can't think of a more definitive "Passing of the torch" series that ever took place in a single season like this one between the Dolphins vs Colts.

The Colts had the #2 seed and the first round bye in the playoffs locked up going into the season finale against the Bills so they played it safe and lost the game to finish 13-3. Indianapolis looked like clear cut Super Bowl contenders during their 11 game win streak. Peyton Manning at 23 years old had his breakout season in 1999, he threw for 4,135 yards with 26 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions. Edgerin James ran for 1,553 yards and 13 touchdowns while Marvin Harrison had 115 receptions for 1,663 yards and 12 touchdowns. The Colts had the 3rd highest scoring offense in the NFL in 1999. On defense the Colts finished 17th and had solid performances from notable veterans Cornelius Bennett, Tyrone Poole, and Chad Cota.

The Colts were heavy favorites to win the AFC in 1999. I even get the sense that they were favored over the Jaguars to be the team to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl despite Jacksonville having a better record at 14-2. This was one of those teams though that the week off from the first round bye seemed to be a detriment to them, they phoned it in against Buffalo in the season finale and then when they finally faced the Titans in the AFC Divisional playoffs they were very flat and out of sync due to having 2 weeks to fall out of rhythm. The Titans defense just completely manhandled Marvin Harrison and the Colts receivers. Tennessee's defense held the Colts out of the end zone in the entire first half but Indy held on to a 9-6 lead at halftime after 3 field goals. The play that broke the game open was a 68 yard touchdown run by Eddie George early in the third quarter, putting the Titans up 13-9. Tennessee continued to batter Indy's receivers and shut down the Colts offense while adding two field goals to go up 19-9. Manning finally found the end zone in the final minutes to cut the deficit to 19-16 but there wasn't enough time for the Colts to get the ball back. The Titans held Edgering James to just 56 rushing yards and pulled off the upset to defeat the Colts at home in Indianapolis to end their season.

The Colts were thought to be the future of the NFL going into the 1999 playoffs but the upset loss to the Titans sent the team reeling back to their corner. They would go one and done again in 2000 before missing the playoffs altogether in 2001, then Manning and company would get destroyed by the Jets in the 2002 AFC Wild Card to start him off with an 0-3 playoff record. Its remarkable that Jim Mora could never win a playoff game despite being a phenomenal regular season head coach, altogether he would go 0-6 in the playoffs in his career(0-4 with the Saints, 0-2 with Manning and the Colts).

A Tale Of Two Seasons

The 1999 season featured some pretty major collapses. In fact, Id say there was an abnormal amount of major collapses for an NFL season. Some of them have to be among the most spectacular single season collapses in recent(somewhat) NFL history. The big ones are Marino's falling apart after his injury, the Patriots and Drew Bledsoe's abysmal second half of the season, the Steelers giving up and losing games to the Bengals and Browns(at home). I figured I would put together a chart showcasing some of the big collapses that took place in 1999 now that we have covered all of these teams.

And All That Could Have Been...

Team	Start	Collapse	Finish
Miami Dolphins	7-1	Lost 6 of last 8	9-7
New England Patriots	6-2(4-0)	Lost 6 of last 8	8-8
Pittsburgh Steelers	5-3	Lost 7 of last 8	6-10
Seattle Seahawks	8-2	Lost 5 of last 6	9-7
Kansas City Chiefs	5-2	Lost 5 of last 9	9-7
New York Giants	5-3	Lost 6 of last 8	7-9
Detroit Lions	6-2	Lost 6 of last 8	8-8

Sept 18, 2021 21:00:49 GMT Neo Zeed said:

Then we arrive at the top 3 dogs of the AFC East. If I had to come up with a cute name for this chapter of the 1999 season I'd call it "One and Done... And One Last Run". The AFC East was the toughest division in the NFL in 1999 with 3 teams making the playoffs, and the 2 last place teams that got left out were the 8-8 Parcells/Belichick Jets and the 8-8 Pete Carroll Patriots. You could make a strong case that the two top teams of this division, the Colts(13-3) and Bills(11-5) were among the elite of the NFL in 1999. Both teams would end up going one and done in the playoffs while Miami would get destroyed in historic fashion in the second round after barely getting by a limp Seahawks squad in the Wild Card round.

For the Miami Dolphins this 1999 season would end up being Dan Marino's swan song, which played out more akin to an ugly duckling. He was the last of the dying breed of that legendary 1983 draft class(where a record 6 quarterbacks were taken in the first round; John Elway, Todd Blackledge, Jim Kelly, Tony Eason, Ken O'Brien, and Dan Marino). Dan rewrote the record books in 1984 and made it to Super Bowl XIX(where they were crushed by the 49ers). Marino was thought to be the next messiah of the NFL after that '84 season but he never got back to the Super Bowl, losing AFC Championship Games at home in 1985 and 1992, then blowing a big halftime lead to the Chargers in the second round of the 1994 playoffs. In 1995 the Dolphins were bounced from the playoffs by the Bills in the Wild Card round and this would be the final game for the legend Don Shula as head coach. The next season the Dolphins lured former Cowboys(and Miami Hurricanes) head coach Jimmy Johnson out of retirement. The Dolphins improved every year with Jimmy Johnson, from an 8-8 finish in 1996 to a 9-7 finish in 1997 to a 10-6 finish and a playoff win in 1998(they defeated Buffalo in the Wild Card and lost to Denver in the second round). Jimmy Johnson was actually ready to retire following the 1998 season but the Dolphins management/ownership talked him into returning for one more season.

With Dan Marino in 1999 you have the quintessential example of an aging legend that held on just a little too long. The other big name quarterback from that 1983 draft class was John Elway, who retired following winning his 2nd Super Bowl title after the 1998 season. As the Broncos had Atlanta blown out late in the 4th quarter of Super Bowl XXXIII they pulled Elway from the game and he walked off the field for the final time to a standing ovation as a back to back Champion. Dan Marino held on for one more season in 1999 in hopes to have a similar walk off but his turned out to be the polar opposite...

The Dolphins started the season off with a victory over the Brian Griese Broncos on Monday Night Football in a rematch from the 1998 playoff game that ended their season. Marino threw 215 yards and 2 touchdowns while Miami's defense held Terrell Davis to just 61 yards rushing in a 38-21 blowout. Dan would end up throwing 2 touchdowns and 4 interceptions over Miami's next 2 games, a 19-16 win over the Cardinals and a 23-18 loss to the Doug Flutie Buffalo Bills.

One of the best and most interesting games of the 1999 season took place in week 5 when the NFL's past met it's future in a duel between Peyton Manning vs Dan Marino. Both the Colts and Dolphins went into the game with 2-1 records. Peyton Manning threw 2 touchdown passes to set up a 17-9 lead for Indy going into the 4th quarter. Marino cut the score to 17-15 early in the fourth quarter with a 28 yard touchdown pass but Indy would fire right back by running the ensuing kickoff back for a 97 yard touchdown to go up 24-15. Marino would put together a 68 yard scoring drive to trim the deficit to 24-22 with 9:45 left to play. Edgerin James broke 2 big runs on Indy's next possession to set up Manning's 3rd touchdown pass and put the Colts up 31-22 with 8:14 left to play. Miami would drive deep into Colts territory on their next drive but Indy would hold them to a field goal to keep a 31-25 lead. The Colts were backed up to their own 12 yard line on their next possession and would decide to yield an intentional safety in order to back the Dolphins up in field position on their next drive. The safety gave Miami 2 points to trim the deficit to 31-27. Marino just would not go down without a fight, he would move the Dolphins 64 yards down the field with 4 passes in the final minutes, hitting Oronde Gadsden for a huge 48 yard gain on 4th and 10 with a minute left to play. Dan the Man would win the game with a 2 yard touchdown pass to Gadsden just two plays later for the 34-31 victory.

The duel with Manning in week 5 of the 1999 season would really be Dan Marino's last great performance of his career. Marino threw for 393 yards and 2 touhdowns in a throwback to his prime days in the 1980's while the young rising star Peyton Manning would throw for 274 yards and 3 touchdowns. The very next week against the Patriots Marino went down with a shoulder injury that sidelined him for 5 games. Backup quarterback Damn Huard filled in nicely for the injured Dan Marino and they would win 3 in a row. One of the Dolphins biggest wins of the season happened with Huard as the starter when they took down the Titans in a clash between two 6-1 teams in week 9. The Dolphins would shut out the Titans 17-0 to move to 7-1 at the midway point of the 1999 season, tied with Jacksonville with the best record in the NFL.

The Dolphins would get swept by the Bills after a 23-3 loss in week 10, dropping them to 7-2. A win over the Patriots the next week set them up at 8-2 for Dan Marino's return against Jimmy Johnson's old team the Cowboys in week 11. Jerry Jones must have been smiling from ear to ear when Dallas shut out the Dolphins 20-0 in Johnson's homecoming to Texas Stadium. Marino had one of his worst games with 0 touchdown passes and 5 interceptions and it was clear that his shoulder injury had killed his arm strength. Marino rebounded and looked good the next week in the rematch against Peyton Manning and the Colts but Miami would lose 37-34 via last second field goal to drop to 8-4. The Dolphins would end up backing into the final AFC Wild Card spot by losing 5 of their last 6 games to finish 9-7(they went 3-5 against division opponents). After Marino returned from his shoulder injury he threw for 6 touchdowns and 12 interceptions with a passer rating of 58. He ended up going 5-6 as a starter in all of his games in 1999 with 2,448 passing yards with 12 touchdowns and 17 interceptions and a dismal rating of 67.4.

The Dolphins meeting with the Seahawks in the AFC Wild Card playoff was an interesting matchup between 2 teams that backed into the playoffs and had collapsed big time in the second half of the season. Both teams were 8-2 at one point and both teams lost 5 of their last 6 games to finish 9-7. In the game it was an 85 yard kickoff return for a touchdown that gave Seattle a 17-13 lead going into the 4th quarter. Dan Marino put together his last great drive when he led Miami 85 yards down the field for the go-ahead score, completing big clutch passes on two critical 3rd and long plays to keep the drive alive. A 2 yard rushing touchdown by JJ Johnson put Miami on top 20-17 and the defense would hold on to win it. The next week in Jacksonville the Jaguars crushed the Dolphins 62-7 in what has to be the most brutal and embarrassing ending of a career there has ever been. The Jaguars were up 24-0 in the first quarter and led 41-0 at one point late in the second quarter. Marino put together a scoring drive in the final minutes of the second quarter to close the chasm to 41-7 but he was pulled from the game early in the second half. Marino was sacked twice and threw 2 interceptions in his final NFL game, his walk off the field in the middle of the biggest blowout in NFL playoff history was a stark contrast to Elway's walk off the field in the 4th quarter of Super Bowl XXXIII a year earlier.

When you look at Marino's final season it was really doomed to end this way due to the lack of talent they had around him. They really couldn't expect much from the 38 year old with a rookie backfield that was massively ineffective all year and their biggest offensive weapon being the 34 year old Tony Martin at receiver. Martin did catch 67 passes for 1,037 yards but there was just not much else there for Marino to throw to. Karim Abdul Jabbar was a valuable runner in their offense that they lost to injury after just 3 games but even with him they still didn't have much of a run game. In the end it is odd how the pairing of Dan Marino and Jimmy Johnson just did not work at all. The two personalities just did not mix and there were rumors throughout Jimmy Johnson's run with Miami that the 2 clashed. 

On the other side of the ball Miami had a lot of talent on defense. They brought in Jimmy Johnson's former defensive coordinator from the Cowboys 1992 Super Bowl run in Dave Wannstedt. They had Jason Taylor but he was still young and wasn't quite there yet as a pass rusher(only had 2.5 sacks). But Zach Thomas was a beast and made All Pro, as did Sam Madison who led a secondary that also starred Terrell Buckley and Brock Marion. Something interesting about this Dolphins defense is that they faced Hall of Fame running backs in 6 games. They held Terrell Davis to 61 yards, they held Curtis Martin to 75 yards, and they held Edgerrin James to 81 yards in the first game against the Colts. They also held Eddie George to 65 yards in the win over the Titans(though he's not in the Hall Of Fame yet). But they did get burned by Emmitt Smith for 103 in the loss to Dallas and Edgerrin James put up 130 on them in the Colts rematch.

It's ironic that the Jaguars brought an end to Dan Marino's career in such spectacular fashion with that 62-7 thrashing in the 1999 playoffs because 3 years earlier they did the same to one of Marino's other peers from that 1983 Draft Class, Bills quarterback Jim Kelly. The Jaguars defeated the Buffalo Bills in the 1996 playoffs at home in Buffalo(something that seemed impossible at the time since Buffalo seemed invincible at home in the playoffs in the 90's) in what turned out to be Jim Kelly's final game of his career. After a 6-10 finish in 1997 head coach Marv Levy also retired and they brought in Wade Phillips in 1998. Wade took the Bills back to the playoffs in 1998 with an unlikely hero filling in at quarterback, the 5'10" 180 pound Doug Flutie. Flutie had bounced as a backup from Chicago to New England from 1986 to 1989 but he was never taken seriously as a starting quarterback because he was considered to be too small to play the position at the pro level. After leaving the NFL to play in the CFL in Canada for 8 years Flutie returned to play as a backup quarterback for the Bills in 1998. After starter Rob Johnson went down with an injury after a 2-3 start Doug Flutie came in and rallied to win 7 out of 10 games to lead Buffalo back to the playoffs(they were defeated by the Dolphins 24-17 in Miami in the Wild Card round).

Going into 1999 the Bills went all in on Flutie as their starting quarterback. I feel like Wade Phillips deserves much more credit as a head coach for what he was able to do with this late 90's Bills team that was in a major transition, particularly in 1999 with a 37 year old 5'10" quarterback that couldn't see over the line of scrimmage, no real running game to speak of(Thurman Thomas was way past his prime and only started 3 games due to injuries), and the lack of any 1,000 yard receivers(Andre Reed had also lost a step at 35 years old, he only had 536 yards all year). Their biggest weapon on offense was a young Eric Moulds, who caught 65 passes for 994 yards. Buffalo did have a solid offensive line in 1999 though, especially on the left side with John Fina as the anchor at left tackle and pro bowl left guard Ruben Brown.

The Bills strength in 1999 was their defense, and it was one of the best in the entire NFL that year. Even though none of the Bills starters made the Pro Bowl or All Pro teams, they finished 2nd in the NFL in fewest points allowed(229), 1st in the NFL in fewest total yards allowed, 1st in the NFL in fewest passing yards allowed, and 4th in the NFL in fewest rushing yards allowed. Buffalo thrived under Wade Phillips' trademark 3-4 scheme in 1999. Big 365 pound Ted Washington was always a great nose tackle in the middle while the aging Bruce Smith played his final season with Buffalo that year(had 7 sacks). Other than those two there weren't really any big star names on that defense and nobody really put up any noteworthy statistics, it was just an outstanding team defense, which further highlights how underrated Wade Phillips really was as a football mind. Considering the talent he had to work with and what he was able to get out of them Wade Phillips probably should have been NFL Coach Of The Year in 1999, its crazy that he didn't even get a single vote for the award.

The Bills finished 11-5 and went 6-2 in the toughest division in the league in 1999. Buffalo's defense held 7 opponents to 10 points or less and they had 4 games where they didn't allow a single touchdown. The Bills didn't really come out and run the table at any point in the season, at one point they were 4-3 after losses to the Colts on opening day along back to back losses to the Raiders and Seahawks. They pulled out a 13-10 hard fought defensive battle against the Ravens in Baltimore to get to 5-3 followed by a big 34-17 win in Washington over the Redskins. After an overtime victory over the Patriots in week 16 sealed their playoff spot with a 10-5 record the Bills benched Doug Flutie to start Rob Johnson in a meaningless game against the Colts in the season finale. Johnson threw for 287 yards and 2 touchdowns with a passer rating of 122.8.

The next week in the Wild Card game against the Titans the Bills owner Ralph Wilson stepped in and mandated that head coach Wade Phillips start Rob Johnson over Doug Flutie. Phillips followed Wilson's orders and Johnson struggled against the Titans defense, holding onto the ball enough to get sacked 6 times. After a scoreless defensive stand off in the first quarter the Titans sacked Johnson in the end zone for a safety early in the 2nd, then followed up with a Steve Mcnair touchdown run to take a quick 9-0 lead. A field goal before the half put Tennessee up 12-0 going into halftime. Buffalo fought back with a pair of rushing touchdowns but a missed 2 point attempt gave them a slim 13-12 lead early in the 4th quarter. The Titans would end up retaking the lead with another field goal with 1:48 left to play go up 15-13. Rob Johnson drove Buffalo into field goal range for the go ahead kick for a 16-15 lead with just :20 seconds left on the clock. The ensuing kickoff would end up going down as one of the most insane and controversial moments in NFL playoff history when Frank Wycheck took the return and lobbed the ball across the field to Kevin Dyson, who ran 75 yards for the game winning touchdown. The play would earn the nickname "The Music City Miracle" and would give the Titans the 22-16 victory over the Bills to end their season.

The Music City Miracle

The Music City Miracle is still a play that many debate to this day. Some say it was a perfectly legal lateral, others(especially Bills fans) say it was an illegal forward pass that should have been called back, and that Buffalo was robbed of a victory. In the game the referees viewed the play on instant replay and made the call that it was a lateral. Me personally I feel like the ball did drift forward just enough that it should have been called as an illegal forward pass and that Buffalo should have won the game. You can see Wycheck clearly standing behind the 25 yard line and he throws the ball while it's hovering directly over the line, but Dyson clearly catches it over the line. But I'm a biased Titans hater from Houston Texas so what do I know? I do think it was clear enough in the replay that it was a forward pass but that crowd in Tennessee was going completely ape shit when it happened, and if those referees would have called that play back after the replay it would have started a near riot similar to the Cleveland Browns "Bottle Gate" incident.

I do believe that hostile Tennessee crowd weighed heavily on the referee's call and they just wanted to get out of there without any trouble. Either way it goes the Music City Miracle was one of those defining moments of the 1999 season that will live on in NFL lore forever. And with all of the "What If's" asked in this project so far one has to wonder what if Bills ownership had stayed out of Wade Phillips' way and let him start Flutie over Rob Johnson? What if the lateral/forward pass call went Buffalo's way? How would this Bills team have done against the Colts and Jaguars(or Rams) in the rest of that playoff tournament? Were the Bills robbed of a chance to finish the 90's decade with a storybook redemption for their 4 consecutive Super Bowl losses they started out the decade with? We will never know.

Then we have the Indianapolis Colts, the 1999 AFC Eastern Division Champs. The big theme with the 1999 NFL season was the big turnover from the year before. So many of the top teams from 1998 finished at the bottom in 1999, while so many of the bottom teams from 1998 surprised everyone by ascending to the top of the league in 1999. The biggest example of the latter is the Indianapolis Colts team, who set an NFL record for the biggest turnaround, going from 3-13 in 1998 to 13-3 in 1999. The Colts fell apart hard and fast after their surprise run to the 1995 AFC Championship Game. They were blown out in the Wild Card round of the 1996 playoffs, then finished dead last with a 3-13 finish in 1997. That last place finish brought the Colts the first round pick in the 1998 draft, which they used to take quarterback Peyton Manning. They also hired new head coach Jim Mora, who had made winners out of the New Orleans Saints after that team spent their first 2 decades as cellar dwellers.

Jim Mora and rookie Peyton Manning struggled in 1998. Manning threw 28 interceptions his rookie year and the Colts finished 3-13 for the second consecutive year. In the offseason prior to 1999 the Colts traded away running back Marshall Faulk to the Rams and then passed over Ricky Williams to draft Edgerin James. Another big change that I think made all the difference for the Colts historic turnaround from 1998 to 1999 was the change at defensive coordinator. The Colts fired Rusty Tillman as DC after they ranked 29th in 1998, then they hired Vic Fangio going into 1999. Fangio worked under Mora with the Saints during their "Dome Patrol" glory days, and he turned around one of the worst defenses in 1998 and they would average 20.8 points allowed in 1999. Another notable name on this 1999 Colts coaching staff was quarterbacks coach Bruce Arians, who led Tom Brady and the Buccaneers to the Super Bowl victory as head coach this past season.

The Colts week 5 loss to Miami in the shoot out between Manning vs Marino would drop them to a 2-2 start but they would go on an 11 game win streak following that loss and were 13-2 going into a meaningless season finale against Buffalo. The Colts best victory of the season would be one of the best games of the entire 1999 NFL season in the rematch against Marino and the Dolphins in December. The Colts went into the game at 9-2 while Miami was 8-3 at the time so critical positioning in the battle for the division was at stake. Colts safety Chad Cota returned a fumble for a touchdown to put the Colts up 17-3 at the end of the first quarter. Both teams traded touchdowns in the second quarter with Indy taking a 24-10 lead into halftime. The Dolphins ran back an interception for a score to cut the lead to 24-17 but Peyton Manning would answer with a 74 yard drive where he completed 6 out of 6 passes, the last of which a 5 yard touchdown that put Indy up 31-17. Dan Marino fought back with back to back touchdown passes to tie the game up at 31-31 early in the 4th quarter. Indy would retake the lead 34-31 after a 48 yard field goal with 4:24 left to play.

Dan Marino led the Dolphins on a 66 yard drive in the final minutes to get into scoring range but Indy would hold them to a field goal that tied the game up at 34-34 with just :40 left on the clock. The Colts got the ball back with seconds remaining but it took Peyton Manning just 2 passes to move them into range for the game winning 53 yard field goal, giving the Colts the win 37-34 and giving Manning his revenge over Marino in an epic rematch from week 5. Manning went 23 of 29 for 260 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. Edgerin James ran for 130 yards while Marvin Harrison had 8 catches for 125 yards. Dan Marino threw for 313 yards and 3 touchdowns with 1 interception. Both of the Marino vs Manning showdowns are among the best games of the 1999 NFL season and I can't think of a more definitive "Passing of the torch" series that ever took place in a single season like this one between the Dolphins vs Colts.

The Colts had the #2 seed and the first round bye in the playoffs locked up going into the season finale against the Bills so they played it safe and lost the game to finish 13-3. Indianapolis looked like clear cut Super Bowl contenders during their 11 game win streak. Peyton Manning at 23 years old had his breakout season in 1999, he threw for 4,135 yards with 26 touchdown passes and 15 interceptions. Edgerin James ran for 1,553 yards and 13 touchdowns while Marvin Harrison had 115 receptions for 1,663 yards and 12 touchdowns. The Colts had the 3rd highest scoring offense in the NFL in 1999. On defense the Colts finished 17th and had solid performances from notable veterans Cornelius Bennett, Tyrone Poole, and Chad Cota.

The Colts were heavy favorites to win the AFC in 1999. I even get the sense that they were favored over the Jaguars to be the team to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl despite Jacksonville having a better record at 14-2. This was one of those teams though that the week off from the first round bye seemed to be a detriment to them, they phoned it in against Buffalo in the season finale and then when they finally faced the Titans in the AFC Divisional playoffs they were very flat and out of sync due to having 2 weeks to fall out of rhythm. The Titans defense just completely manhandled Marvin Harrison and the Colts receivers. Tennessee's defense held the Colts out of the end zone in the entire first half but Indy held on to a 9-6 lead at halftime after 3 field goals. The play that broke the game open was a 68 yard touchdown run by Eddie George early in the third quarter, putting the Titans up 13-9. Tennessee continued to batter Indy's receivers and shut down the Colts offense while adding two field goals to go up 19-9. Manning finally found the end zone in the final minutes to cut the deficit to 19-16 but there wasn't enough time for the Colts to get the ball back. The Titans held Edgering James to just 56 rushing yards and pulled off the upset to defeat the Colts at home in Indianapolis to end their season.

The Colts were thought to be the future of the NFL going into the 1999 playoffs but the upset loss to the Titans sent the team reeling back to their corner. They would go one and done again in 2000 before missing the playoffs altogether in 2001, then Manning and company would get destroyed by the Jets in the 2002 AFC Wild Card to start him off with an 0-3 playoff record. Its remarkable that Jim Mora could never win a playoff game despite being a phenomenal regular season head coach, altogether he would go 0-6 in the playoffs in his career(0-4 with the Saints, 0-2 with Manning and the Colts).

LOL So what SI jinx

Just watched the full Music City Miracle game from start to finish. That was such a fucking high pressure high stakes game of football it was amazing. Regardless of all the rules changes for player safety and everything it just doesn't feel like modern day football games have that same feel anymore even in the playoffs, just can't really put into words how high the pressure was for this one. I guess it was all that was on Jeff Fischer for that team in their first home playoff game and with the Bills making the last second quarterback switch, the way both defenses wouldn't give anything up just made for a fantastic game. There wasn't a roof on that stadium but if there was one it would have been blown the fuck off by that touchdown run in the end. Jesus.

But man Buffalo was royally screwed. I've seen NFL films use computer animation to legitimize the Music City Miracle but I call bullshit on it all, Wycheck was standing behind the line and no way his arm was stretching over 2 yards for the throw, that ball drifted forward a good yard, it was a forward pass for sure.

But Ralph Wilson deserved it for pulling Flutie for Rob Johnson. The guy was horrid in the first half, he fumbled the snap and tripped on that first safety, then the Titans ran back the free kick to set up the next touchdown. That was really where they lost this game. Flutie couldn't see over the line of scrimmage but he was for sure much more mobile than this sitting duck that was Rob Johnson, he was garbage. 

So with that we are down to the top of the NFL with these 6 teams that are left. You had Tennessee and Jacksonville as the last teams standing over on the AFC side, then on the NFC side it was an interesting dynamic in that there was like a "Fatal Four Way" between the Rams, Buccaneers, Vikings, and Redskins. It came down to these 4 teams in the final four of the Divisional round of the NFC playoffs. The Rams were seemingly on another level than the other 3 teams in this four way so lets take a look at the triple threat for second best between Minnesota, Tampa Bay, and Washington...

Lets start it off with a team that I always had a soft spot for going back to my very first NFL game that I can remember consciously watching from start to finish, Super Bowl XXVI. This was the game where the Redskins took down the Buffalo Bills with quarterback Mark Rypien winning MVP honors, becoming the third quarterback that head coach Joe Gibbs had won a Super Bowl with in 4 appearances from 1982-1991. The following 1992 season would end up being Joe Gibbs final season as Redskins head coach. Mark Rypien held out for a new contract and missed all of the Redskins 1992 training camp, when he finally joined the team for the season opener something was way off about him. I don't know if he lost the respect of his team mates due to the hold out, or if the Super Bowl MVP award got to his head, or just his rhythm being off from missing training camp(or a combination of all 3) but Rypien was terrible in 1992. Washington's offense got slow and old during the course of the season but their defense was still one of the best in the NFL, pushing the team to a 9-7 record and a Wild Card playoff win over Minnesota in the same dome where they won the Super Bowl the year before. The Skins got beat in the second round against the 49ers and Joe Gibbs called it a career shortly after.

Washington fell apart hard and fast in 1993. Mark Rypien played like Brock Osweiler and eventually lost his starting job for good. The Redskins drafted one of the all time biggest draft busts in quarterback Heath Shuler and hired former Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator from their 1992-93 Super Bowl runs in Norv Turner.

The Norv Turner Redskins days are interesting to look back on for me because as the Houston Oilers began to decline in 1994 I became a bigger and bigger Redskins fan. Norv Turner's Redskins were one of the worst teams in the NFL his rookie season in 1994 but they improved in 1995(they swept his former team, that year's eventual Super Bowl Champs the Cowboys). In 1996 it looked like Washington was going to be one of the top teams in the NFC when they got off to a 7-1 start but they collapsed hard and missed the playoffs with a 9-7 finish. The 1997 season they were in the hunt for a playoff birth all the way to the season finale but they were left out on tie breakers(and a self inflicted concussion suffered by Gus Frerrotte after headbutting a brick wall) after an 8-7-1. In 1998 the bottom fell out for the Redskins and they got off to an 0-7 start. The team rallied in the end to save Turner's job by winning 6 of their last 9 games to finish 6-10.

The pressure was on for Norv Turner going into the 1999 season. 1999 was the beginning of a new era for Washington because this was the year that Daniel Snyder bought the team. Snyder to me has always been one of the worst owners in the NFL, he's like a wannabe Jerry Jones who thinks he can buy a Championship and insert himself into the GM operations even though he knows about as much about football as your average 12 year old playing Madden franchise mode.

Going into the 1999 season though Washington made some good moves, including the drafting of future Hall Of Famer Champ Bailey, who was solid right at the start. They brought in fullback Larry Centers from the Cardinals, Centers was always a phenomenal receiving back in the short range passing game. They also let Trent Green go to St. Louis(where he would be lost for the year due to a preseason injury that paved the way for Kurt Warner's dream season) and went out and got Brad Johnson from the Vikings to take over at quarterback. This was also the year they got a phenomenal right tackle in Jon Jansen in the draft, probably the best player they got out of the picks they got from the Saints when they gave up their spot in the Ricky Williams trade.

With all the improvements to the roster they started the season off with a crushing loss to the Cowboys in the season opener in what has always been one of my favorite games of the 1999 NFL season. This was an amazing game between 2 old rivals, the Cowboys still had "The Triplets" and this might have been their last great game together. Dallas jumped out to a 14-3 lead after a pair of Troy Aikman touchdown passes early on but Washington exploded with 32 unanswered points to take a 35-14 lead going into the 4th quarter. Aikman, Emmitt, and Irving combined for 21 points in the 4th quarter to tie the game up at 35-35 and send it into overtime, where Aikman iced Washington with a walk off 76 yard deep bomb to Rocket Ismail for the 41-35 win. This was a game that had just about everything, dramatic comeback lead changes, a lot of action, and a plethora of all time legends on the field including Aikman, Emmitt, Irving, "Moose" Johnson, Darren Woodson, Larry Allen(this was the game where he launched a Skins defender about 20 yards down the field), Darrell Green, and Champ Bailey(in his NFL debut).

After the devastating overtime loss to arch rival Dallas on opening day the Redskins went on to win 4 in a row. They dropped 50 points on the Giants in week 2. Stephen Davis ran for 3 touchdowns in the first quarter of the game and ended up with 126 yards rushing. Brad Johnson went 20 of 28 for 231 yards and 3 touchdowns. Two weeks later they won the shoot out with the Panthers 38-36 in a duel between 2 of the top offenses in the league that season. They overcame a 21-0 deficit and were down 24-7 at one point in the second quarter until Brad Johnson threw 3 touchdown passes in the final 8 minutes of the half to put Washington up 28-24. Johnson threw his 4th touchdown of the game early in the third quarter to put Washington up 35-24 but the Panthers fought back to take a 36-35 lead after some late game heroics by Steve Beuerlien. The Skins would have the last laugh after a game winning field goal as time expired to take it 38-36 and move to 4-1.

The stage was set for the rematch against the Cowboys in Dallas in week 7 with first place in the NFC East on the line. This time Dallas jumped out to a 17-0 lead and never looked back, eventually sealing a 38-20 victory after a 70 yard punt return for a touchdown by Deion Sanders capped Dallas' scoring in the 4th quarter for the season sweep. The loss dropped Washington to 4-2 but they responded in a big way by dropping 48 points on the Bears the following week. Stephen Davis set the tone with a 76 yard touchdown run on the 2nd play of the game. Then Dan Wilkinson ran an interception back 88 yards on Chicago's very next possession to put Washington up 14-0 quick. The Skins led 45-0 at one point before giving up 3 garbage time touchdown passes from Cade McNown for a 48-22 final. Stephen Davis ran the ball 12 times for 143 yards and 2 touchdowns.

The blowout over Chicago put Washington at 5-2 but it looked like a repeat of their 1996 collapse when they dropped 4 of their next 7 games, including an embarrassing loss on the road against a really bad Eagles team in Philly. Philadelphia took Washington into overtime in the rematch 2 weeks later but the Skins were able to pull out a 20-17 victory. After a 5-2 start the Skins found themselves at 8-6 with the final 2 games left, they had a great opportunity to get the #2 seed in the NFC and the home field advantage/first round bye that comes with it. They fumbled it away though with the loss to Philly, as well as losses to Detroit, Buffalo, and Indianapolis. A weak 49ers team took them into overtime in week 16 but they were able to hold on for the 26-20 win, then they defeated the Dolphins in the finale to finish 10-6 and win the 1999 NFC Eastern Division title.

The Redskins of 1999 are an interesting case. They had the 2nd best offense in the league behind the Rams, they ranked behind only St. Louis in total points and total yards. Brad Johnson seemed to have really clicked with Norv Turner's offense in 1999, he ended up having his best season of his 16 year career by throwing for 4,005 yards with 24 touchdowns and 13 interceptions(along with 3 fourth quarter comebacks and 4 game winning drives).

The driving force for Washington's 2nd ranked offense in 1999 though was running back Stephen Davis. According to the ESPN.com preview for the Skins and what all I've read I get the sense that nobody really seen Stephen Davis' success coming. I have to admit I followed the Redskins very closely in 1996-1997 and I always thought he was going to be a phenomenal back. Him and Terry Allen were really good together those years but Davis just rarely got the ball though. The small doses that we did see Stephen Davis in 1996-1997 he looked really really good. He was one of those guys in 1996 that I didn't understand why he didn't get the ball more because when he did get it he would always break big runs. There was an early season game against the Giants that year where he only ran the ball 6 times but he averaged almost 10 yards a carry. It seemed like every time they handed off to him he would get no less than 5+ yards every time he got it. In 1997 they used him a lot more, I remember the win over the Cowboys that year he had 94 yards and 2 touchdowns. Later that year against the Cardinals he had 92 yards and averaged 4.6 yards per carry. I'm not sure what happened to him in 1998 but Washington essentially stopped giving him the ball, he never had more than 1-2 carries a game that season. Going into 1999 the Skins let go of Terry Allen and focused on Stephen Davis and the rest is history. He ranked 3rd in the NFL with 1,405 rushing yards but he had a league leading 17 rushing touchdowns and he had a higher average yards per carry(4.8) and yards per game(100.4) than the 2 running backs that finished with more yards than he had(Edgerin James and Curtis Martin).

So this Redskins team finished with the #3 spot going into the NFC playoffs and I got to believe they should have done better, it was kind of typical of this Norv Turner team to squander and underachieve like this. They folded up when they played tough teams like Indy and Buffalo, got beat in critical games against struggling teams like Philadelphia and Detroit, got swept by the Cowboys, and struggled in overtime wins over bad teams in San Francisco and the rematch with Philly.

They would end up hosting the Lions in the NFC Wild Card round. This time Washington held Detroit's running backs to just 29 yards rushing while sacking their former quarterback Gus Frerrotte 5 times and intercepting him twice. Stephen Davis had 119 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns while the Redskins defense shut down Detroit all the way until the last 10 minutes of the 4th quarter. At one point Washington led 27-0. Detroit put some touchdowns on the board in garbage time but Washington would easily take the game 27-13. The next week in the NFC Divisional playoff in Tampa Washington would give up a lead and lose the game by botching the snap of a potential game clinching field goal to fall to the Tampa Bay Bucs.

This would be 1 of only 2 playoff wins the Redskins(now Washington Football Team) have had since Daniel Snyder took over ownership of the team in 1999. The next season Snyder would begin to assert his influence over the team by bringing in big money free agents like Jeff George, Deion Sanders, and Bruce Smith. Norv Turner would get fired late in the 2000 season and they would end up going through some odd coaching changes before eventually bringing back Joe Gibbs in 2004(he would lead them to their only other playoff win in 2005). From there it was just a giant train wreck that you could probably write an entire book about. This 1999 Redskins team did have a great opportunity though and I always felt like the Norv Turner Skins team should have did way better than they ever did. 

My last post I planned for it to be a triple header covering the Redskins, Vikings, and Buccaneers all at once. I got so caught up in the Redskins because it's crazy to think about the trajectory of that franchise ever since Dan Snyder bought it in 1999 to where they are today.

Since I got carried away on Washington I will make this one a double header covering the NFC Central Division rivals, 2 of the 4 top teams in the NFC that year in Minnesota and Tampa Bay. You have to start off with the Minnesota Vikings and you have to put their expectations going into 1999 into context by taking a closer look at their magical 15-1 season in 1998. The 1998 Vikings dominated the regular season and broke the NFL record for points scored in a single season with 556. Randall Cunningham at 35 years old came in from out of nowhere after being out of the league and lit it up for the Vikings, going 13-1 as a starter with 3,704 yards 34 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Randy Moss also came from out of nowhere in his rookie season in 1998 with 1,313 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns.

Minnesota got off to a 7-0 start in 1998 before losing to Tampa Bay 27-24 in week 9. The Vikings rebounded from their first loss and won out the rest of the season with an 8 game win streak. The Vikings locked up the #1 seed in the NFC going into the 1998 playoffs and crushed the Arizona Cardinals in the Divisional Round to advance to the NFC Championship Game. In the infamous clash with the "Dirty Bird" Falcons in that fateful NFC title game the Vikings collapsed at home to give up a 20-7 second quarter lead. At one point in the fourth quarter the Vikings led 27-17. Atlanta closed the gap to 27-20 with a Morten Anderson field goal on their ensuing possession. The Vikings record breaking offense stalled out on their next 2 drives and lost a fumble. Minnesota's defense fought to hold Atlanta off and hold on to their 27-20 lead. Minnesota abandoned the pass game that got them to the dance and ran the ball 8 of the 10 plays on their drive that set up the infamous Gary Anderson kick. The Vikings got all the way down to Atlanta's 21 yard line and stayed conservative with runs on 1st and 2nd downs, setting up an incomplete pass on 3rd and 7 to set up the 38 yard field goal attempt by Gary Anderson with just over 2 minutes left to play. Anderson's kick missed, his only miss of the entire 1998 season.

Over the years I've noticed a lot how Gary Anderson is a true scapegoat for the Vikings in that 1998 NFC Championship. There was just so much more to his missed field goal. The conservative playcalling on such a critical drive where they could have sealed the win was a big factor. Then history always kind of leaves out the fact that the Vikings were still winning 27-20 with a little over 2 minutes left to play when he missed that kick. So it was on the Vikings defense to hold Atlanta out of the end zone on their final drive. They couldn't, Atlanta scored on a 16 yard touchdown pass from Chris Chandler to Terrance Mathis to tie it up 27-27. Then you also have to look at how the Vikings actually got the ball back with :49 seconds left on the clock. Minnesota had the offensive firepower to make something happen there, at the bare minimum setting up another shot for Gary Anderson to potentially win the game. Instead the Vikings pissed away the last minute and played for overtime. Add onto that the Vikings actually got the ball twice in overtime and could never get past mid-field. The Falcons would end up taking it on their second possession of overtime with a 38 yard field goal for the 30-27 victory.

I am led to believe that expectations were very high for the Vikings going into 1999. This team had a lot of hype coming off that 1998 season and I get the impression that the Vikings were the popular pick to win the NFC in 1999. Randy Moss was this big superstar now to the point where he was on the cover of Sega Dreamcast games. 

But going into the 1999 season the Vikings flopped hard. I have to wonder how much of a hangover the team had from that 1998 NFC Championship Game collapse? The Vikings defeated the Falcons 17-14 on opening day to avenge their infamous loss in the NFC title game but they would end up losing 4 of their next 5 games to sputter out to a 2-4 record. Cunningham was sacked 6 times and threw 2 interceptions in the Vikings 22-17 loss to the Raiders in week 2. Brett Favre iced the Vikings with a last second touchdown pass to give the Packers a 23-20 victory in week 3. Cunningham appeared to be getting back in form in Minnesota's victory over Tampa in week 4, throwing 3 touchdown passes in the first quarter to give the Vikings a 21-14 victory. 

I think the point where the Vikings were obviously not going to have as big of an impact as everyone thought in 1999 was their home loss to the Chicago Bears in week 5. Randall Cunningham was sacked 4 times and threw 3 interceptions as Chicago held Minnesota out of the end zone until the final 2 seconds of the game. Chicago would beat Minnesota 23-22 to send the Vikings to 2-3. The next week against the Lions head coach Dennis Green pulled the plug on Randall Cunningham at halftime and put in Jeff George at quarterback. The Lions led 19-0 at the half and Minnesota was going on 2 weeks of struggling to find the end zone, just a year after shattering the NFL record for points in a single season. One has to wonder how much of it was that the NFL had just figured out what Minnesota was doing? Or had Randall Cunningham just declined that much in a year? Jeff George was coming off of a miserable stint with the Oakland Raiders after being exiled from Atlanta. He came in and immediately made a difference for the Vikings offense in 1999, throwing 2 touchdowns shortly after entering the game and leading Minnesota on a go ahead scoring drive where they took a 20-19 lead early in the 4th. The Lions would end up fighting back into it and winning with a pair of late field goals to take a 25-23 victory, sending Minnesota to a 2-4 start on the season. 

With Jeff George in as starting quarterback the Vikings would go on to win 5 games in a row. The Vikings offense seemingly returned to prime 1998 form as Jeff George threw 15 touchdown passes to only 5 interceptions in those 5 consecutive wins. Minnesota dropped 40 points on San Francisco in a week 7 thrashing. Jeff George threw 4 touchdown passes in a 35-27 victory over the Chargers in week 11. Minnesota's win streak set them up for a showdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week 12 in one of the most critical NFC games of the 1999 season. Both teams came into the game tied for 1st place in the NFC Central with identical 7-4 records. Tampa Bay's defense set the tone for the game with a 55 yard interception returned for a touchdown right on Minnesota's opening drive of the game. A field goal early in the 2nd quarter put Tampa up 10-0 but Minnesota finally got their offense going with back to back touchdown drives late in the second quarter to take a 14-10 lead at the half. Tampa's defense shut Minnesota out in the second half, with the Bucs turning up a heavy dose of Mike Alstott to control the ball and the clock for a 24-17 victory. Tampa's win put them at 8-4 and in control of the NFC Central division(and the #2 seed in the NFC that came with it). The loss put Minnesota at 7-5 and the race for the NFC Wild Card spots. 

The very next week the Vikings played the Chiefs at Arrowhead in a game that I have never heard anything about, but looking at the box score it really sticks out as a hidden gem that I need to get my hands on. Both teams were 7-5 and playing with their playoff lives on the line. Kansas City jumped out to a quick 21-0 lead after a pair of Tony Gonzalez touchdowns. Minnesota ran a kickoff return back all the way to get on the boards at 21-7. Then Jeff George hit 2 touchdown passes to tie the game up at 21-21 in the 3rd quarter. Kansas City ran back a fumble 44 yards to take a 28-21 lead but the Vikings tied it back up after Randy Moss returned a punt 64 yard for the game tying touchdown with 1:38 left to play. Elvis Grbac led the Chiefs down the field in the final minute for the game winning field goal to give KC the win 31-28, sending the Vikings to 7-6 and in jeopardy of missing the playoffs altogether. 

The Vikings salvaged their season with a big win over the Packers on Monday Night Football the next week. A dominant 34-17 victory over the Giants the next week secured Minnesota a playoff spot and they would wrap up their season with a victory over the Lions to finish 10-6. Jeff George ended up going 8-2 as a starter with 23 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. The Vikings offense seemed to struggle at times in 1999 but they still finished 5th in the NFL. Robert Smith had over 1,000 yards rushing while Leroy Hoard had 10 touchdowns. Randy Moss caught 80 passes for 1,413 yards and 11 touchdowns. Chris Carter was named All Pro with 90 receptions for 1,241 and 13 touchdowns. The Vikings defense finished 18th in the NFL and seemed to struggle to defend the pass. John Randle had 10 sacks. Something interesting about the 99 Vikings roster is that they brought Chris Doleman back that year. Doleman(one of the all time great pass rushers of the 80's-90's) played for the Vikings from 1985 to 1993 before bouncing around from Atlanta to San Francisco as a free agent from 1994 to 1998. Doleman had 8 sacks in 12 starts for the Vikings in what turned out to be his final season in 1999. 

In the playoffs the Vikings made quick work of the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Wild Card round with a dominant 27-10 victory at home. The next week they were no match for "The Greatest Show On Turf" in St. Louis. The showdown between the Vikings and Rams in the second round of the 1999 NFC playoffs was an interesting matchup between 2 of the greatest offensive units in NFL history up to that point. For a while the Vikings appeared to be able to hang with the Rams, even leading them 17-14 going into the half. The Rams exploded in the second half with 35 unanswered points. St. Louis led Minnesota 49-17 at one point in the 4th quarter before the Vikings added 3 touchdowns in garbage time for a misleading 49-37 final score. 

The 1999 Minnesota Vikings and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are linked through Bucs head coach Tony Dungy. Dungy was the defensive coordinator for Dennis Green's coaching staff for the Vikings from 1992 to 1995 before taking the job as Buccaneers head coach in 1996. Dungy turned around an abysmal Buccaneers franchise that dwelled in the cellar of the NFL for 14 years before he took over the reigns. A new stadium, new uniforms, new colors, and a new logo seemingly gave the Buccaneers franchise new life in 1997 in Dungy's second season as head coach. The Bucs in 1997 finished with their first winning record(10-6) since 1981 and won their first playoff game(a Wild Card round win over Detroit) since 1979. In 1998 the Bucs regressed to an 8-8 finish and missed the playoffs but they did take down the Vikings to give them their only defeat all regular season. Dungy used his insider info on the Vikings defense to exploit their weakness, their undersized interior defensive line. The Bucs ran the ball up the gut to ground their offense and wear their defense down for a 27-24 upset victory, giving Minnesota the "1" in their 15-1.

Going into the 1999 season it feels like the Bucs were at a crossroads with quarterback Trent Dilfer. Dilfer was going into his 6th season with Tampa in 1999 and had not quite lived up to the hype they had for him when he was drafted in 1994. Even though Tampa was 7-3 when Dilfer went down with a concussion their offense was struggling and he in particular was just not getting it done. Dilfer had thrown 11 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in his 10 starts with a quarterback rating of 75.8. Tampa's offense was at it's lowest in the first part of the season when the Bucs got off to a 3-4 start. Even though the defense was dominating, the offense could not score to save their lives. Tampa's offense was held without a touchdown for 2 weeks in week 7 and 8.

After the 3-4 start the Buccaneers defense carried them to a 6 game win streak with stifling performances from Warren Sapp, Hardy Nickerson, Derrick Brooks, and John Lynch. Across those 6 consecutive victories Tampa never allowed more than 17 points. In fact, all season long Tampa held 8 opponents to 10 points or less, including 4 games where they didn't allow a single touchdown. Derrick Brooks had 4 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles, and led the team in tackles. Warren Sapp won NFL Defensive Player Of The Year with 12.5 sacks. The Bucs ranked 3rd in the NFL in fewest points allowed.

After Trent Dilfer was lost to concussion the Bucs put in Tampa native Shaun King, a young and mobile scrambling quarterback that seemed to breathe new life into Tampa's struggling offense. King went 4-1 as a starter when he took over and threw for 7 touchdowns and 4 interceptions in his 5 starts. The heart and soul of the Bucs offense was power back Mike Alstott, one of my personal favorite players in NFL history. Alstott is listed as a fullback but he played a lot as just a regular feature back in 1999. Alstott ran over the Vikings in the critical week 12 meeting with the division on the line, running the ball 23 times for 95 yards to help the Vikings win 24-17. Alstott had his best season as a runner in 1999 with 949 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns on the ground with another 239 yards receiving and another 2 touchdowns through the air.

The Buccaneers finished with an 11-5 record to take the NFC Central crown and the #2 seed in the NFC. Their clash with the Redskins in the second round of the playoffs was a defensive stand off. The Redskins held on to a 3-0 lead going into the half and appeared to be running away with the victory after going up 13-0 late in the third quarter. Tampa fought back with a Mike Alstott touchdown run followed by a Shaun King touchdown pass to take a 14-13 lead in the 4th quarter. Washington drove down into range for the game winning field goal in the final seconds but the snap and hold was botched and the kick never got off the ground. Tampa would hold on to win it to advance to the NFC Championship. Tampa's defense sacked Redskins quarterback Brad Johnson 4 times and held Stephen Davis to just 37 yards rushing.

The Buccaneers defense put on a valiant effort in holding the Rams offense to just 11 points in the 1999 NFC Championship Game but their offense struggled to do anything. Martin Gramatica's 2nd field goal of the game put Tampa up 6-5 in the fourth quarter but the Rams would ice it with a 30 yard touchdown pass from Kurt Warner to Ricky Proehl in the final 5 minutes for the 11-6 victory. Shaun King was sacked 5 times and threw 2 interceptions. The Buccaneers of 1999 are an interesting team to look back on. It was freaky how good their defense was that season despite having such an inept offense. The next season in 2000 Tampa let Trent Dilfer go to Baltimore and went with Shaun King as their starter. Its a lot like a lyric out of an Alanis Morrisette song that Trent Dilfer went on to win the Super Bowl in Tampa Bay playing for the Baltimore Ravens that next season. It makes you wonder if maybe that 1999 Bucs team could have made it further with Dilfer's experience in that NFC Championship Game against the Rams in 99. Tony Dungy's Bucs would fall flat in the playoffs in 2000 and 2001 before Tampa would end up making a change and going after Raiders head coach John Gruden in 2002. Gruden took over Tony Dungy's squad and got Tampa back to the NFC Championship in 2002 where he was able to get over the hump that Dungy failed to, taking the Bucs to a Super Bowl victory.

Then we have the curious case of the 1999 Jacksonville Jaguars...

The Jaguars are one of the only good teams from 1998 that stayed good going into 1999. They are the only 1998 division winner to repeat as division champs in 1999. When you look across the NFL in 1999 the Jaguars are one of the only consistent teams that wasn't in a period of transition that year.

When you trace Jacksonville back to their expansion in 1994-1995 it's really striking how they were one of the best put together expansion teams in NFL history. The Jaguars had unrestricted free agency to build a much stronger expansion team than those that came before them(Buccaneers and Seahawks in 1976). When you compare how well put together Jacksonville was compared to the expansion teams that came after them(Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans) and even their counterparts in Carolina its really striking. The Panthers shared the same free agent pool and the same expansion draft, and they were the better team at the start(1995-1996) but they weren't built to last the rest of the 90's decade like Jacksonville was. Both teams made it to their Conference Championship Games in 1996 but by 1997 the Panthers had fallen apart. Jacksonville on the other hand returned to the playoffs in 1997 and 1998 with back to back 11-5 finishes(they had the 3rd best offense in the NFL in 1997, and won the AFC Central Division title in 1998).

Former Panthers head coach Dom Capers took over the Jaguars defense in 1999 after losing his job in Carolina following their collapse in 1998. Capers was an assistant on the New Orleans Saints' "Dome Patrol" defensive staff as well as a defensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers mid-90's success and he made an immediate impact on Jacksonville his first year. Capers took the 18th ranked defense in the NFL in 1998 and put together a unit that led the NFL in fewest points allowed in 1999, averaging just 13.6 points per game. Capers' defense starred pro bowlers Carnell Lake(who played for Capers in Pittsburgh), Tony Brackens(12 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, 2 interceptions), All Pro linebacker Kevin Hardy, veteran Bryce Paup, as well as future Houston Texans Gary Walker and Seth Payne. The Jaguars 1999 defense was awesome, with 8 games where they only gave up single digit points(5 games without a touchdown allowed).

On the offensive side the Jaguars ranked 6th in the NFL in 1999. Mark Brunell threw for 3,060 yards with 14 touchdown passes and 9 interceptions in his 15 starts, with 3 game winning drives and 2 fourth quarter comeback victories in 1999. Running back Fred Taylor was in his 2nd season and missed 6 games due to nagging hamstring injuries. Taylor was a major impact when he was active, running for 128 yards and a touchdown in the Jags 41-10 victory over the Bengals in week 7, then 124 yards against Atlanta in a 30-7 victory the following week. Taylor also ran for 136 yards and a score in Jacksonville's 24-14 win over Cleveland in week 14. Power back James Stewart filled in for Taylor nicely with 931 rushing yards and 13 touchdown on the year. The real star of Jacksonville's offense was wide receiver Jimmy Smith, who finished 1st in the NFL in receptions with 116 and 2nd in the NFL in receiving yards with 1,636.

This 1999 Jaguars team is a curious case for sure. They finished with the best record in the NFL at 14-2 but they lost both games to their division rival Tennessee Titans. After smashing the Dolphins in the second round of the playoffs they got beat for the 3rd time by the Titans, at home in the AFC Championship Game. So with this Jaguars team they only lost 3 games all year and all 3 were to the same team(the Titans). That's pretty wild right? Well when you start looking closer at this Jaguars team I'm starting to think maybe it isn't?

If you look closer at this Jaguars schedule for the 1999 season it is eye popping how easy it was. In fact I'd say this 1999 Jaguars had a historically easy schedule for any modern day playoff contender of their kind. There are a few circumstances that allowed for this. For starters the Jaguars played in a 6 team division in the AFC Central in 1999. This was before the realignment into what we have today so that means this 1999 Jaguars team played 10 games against division opponents that season. When you start to look at those teams they played twice each from the AFC Central it gets interesting. For starters you had the expansion Cleveland Browns and one of the worst Bengals teams of the decade(which is saying something). So right off the bat there you have 1/4 of the Jaguars schedule against 2 of the worst teams in NFL history. Then they had 2 games against a weak collapsing Pittsburgh Steelers squad that was also in transition. The Baltimore Ravens gave Jacksonville their toughest games(that they won) in 1999 but this Ravens team was not what they would become in 2000(with the addition of Shannon Sharpe and Jamaal Lewis). So with their division opponents alone the Jaguars had half of their schedule against 2 of the worst teams in NFL history and 2 teams that were in major transition and struggling. 

The Jaguars finished 1st in 1998 and managed to stay good while the NFL around them was all in periods of transition. With the NFL scheduling format at the time the Jaguars were set to face the top 4 teams from the NFC West division in 1998. This meant further padding their 1999 record with easy opponents like San Francisco, Atlanta, and the worst team in the NFL in 1999 in New Orleans. The Panthers gave Jacksonville a tough test early in the season but their offense at that point was nowhere near what it would become in the last few weeks of the season when they got hot. So with the turnover in the NFC West from 1998 to 1999 the Jaguars conveniently missed out on facing the St. Louis Rams, who went from worst to first in the West from 98 to 99. That leaves 2 AFC opponents from the East and West divisions, the first place teams from 1998 in the Jets and Broncos, two of the top teams from 1998 that had completely fallen apart in 1999 due to injuries or retirements or both.

So it really paints a picture of how easy of a schedule this 14-2 Jaguars team really had. It's widely accepted that this 1999 Jaguars team was one of the best teams in NFL history to not win a Super Bowl. They lost only 3 games all to the same team but the reality of it is they lost all 3 games that they played against the only legitimately competitive team they played all year. All we are left is wondering how this team would have done against the top dogs of the NFL that year, how would they have done against the Rams in the Super Bowl? How would they have played against Indy or Buffalo? The Bucs? The Vikings? Redskins? To me this team is very good but noteworthy because of some weird times with the scheduling format that allowed them to dodge every legit team in the league that year, except for the one that beat them all 3 times they played.

Another awesome thread here Shin. I hardly remember '99 compared to the other seasons before it.

The thing I remember most about 1999-00 is getting upset that I missed the SB cause my folks took us to Red Lobsters instead lol. Those cheddar bay biscuits were delicious as always but I only ended up missing out on one of the greatest Superbowls ever. Thank god for Youtube.

EDIT: Also, seeing my grandpa and uncle get a twinkle in their eyes when they heard the Browns were coming back. It's a shame they only got to see 1 more winning season, no playoff wins and experienced even more heartbreak, but I guess their team being back instead of not at all was better than nothing.

Our 1999 football odyssey has taken us from the very bottom of the NFL that season up to where we are now, Super Bowl XXXIV. The 13-3 St. Louis Rams would represent the NFC against the 13-3 Tennessee Titans, the AFC Champions. What an interesting matchup this was looking at it now and what a classic game it turned out to be. 

The 1999 AFC Champion Tennessee Titans are an interesting team to examine when you consider where this team was at as the Houston Oilers just 5-6 seasons earlier. Even though this team captured the hearts of America with an all new name, colors, logo, and everything in 1999 there was actually still a lot of connections to their Houston Oilers roots in that Super Bowl run. It all kinda goes back to 1993 when the Oilers signed Buddy Ryan. Ryan brought over the 4-6 defense and talked Houston into signing free agent Wilber Marshall, one of the key elements to Ryan's dominant 1985 Chicago Bears defense that won Super Bowl XX. After a 1-4 start the Oilers defense rallied to carry the team to an 11 game win streak to finish 12-4 and take the #2 seed in the AFC playoffs(where they were bounced at home in the second round by Joe Montana's Chiefs). Buddy Ryan's 1993 Oilers defense averaged only 14.6 points per game and was loaded with talent at every position, from Sean Jones, Ray Childress, William Fuller, Lamar Lathon, Wilber Marshall, Cris Dishman, and All Pro safety Marcus Robertson(7 interceptions, 3 fumble recoveries, 1 touchdown).

Despite dominating the NFL during the regular season the 1993 Oilers would fall to the Kansas City Chiefs in their home playoff game in the divisional round, giving up a 4th quarter lead to lose to Joe Montana and Marcus Allen in a crushing 28-20 defeat. The next season Buddy Ryan left Houston to take the head coaching job for the Arizona Cardinals. The Oilers hired Buddy Ryan's replacement by signing Jeff Fisher to take over as defensive coordinator for the 1994 season. Fisher played defensive back for Buddy Ryan for the Chicago Bears from 1981 to 1984 and got his start as a coach when Ryan brought him on to his coaching staff as defensive backs coach with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1986. After 3 years as defensive backs coach Fisher was promoted to defensive coordinator of the Eagles in 1989, where he kept the job until Buddy Ryan was fired as Eagles head coach after the 1990 season. Fisher was defensive coordinator for the Rams in 1991 and then coached defensive backs on George Seifert's coaching staff for the 49ers in 1992 and 93 before taking the Oilers DC job in 94.

All of that sour negativity from those playoff losses in 1991(the Drive II vs the Broncos), 1992(The Comeback vs Buffalo), and 1993(the home loss to the Joe Montana Chiefs) lingered over into that 1994 season. Warren Moon the face of the franchise was gone after being traded to the Vikings for late round draft picks. Even though the team didn't leave Houston for another 2 years the whole franchise already felt like a dead man walking at the start of the 1994 season. Some extra context/backstory that I don't know was ever really highlighted in the build up or the aftermath of Super Bowl XXXIV is that Jeff Fisher coached his very first game as Houston Oilers defensive coordinator on opening day in 1994 against the Indianapolis Colts, who had a debuting rookie Marshall Faulk playing his first NFL game. The Oilers got blown out by the Colts 45-21 that day as Faulk burned Jeff Fisher's Oilers defense for 143 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns. I remember quite vividly watching that game and thinking about it now it's something fascinating to me that I never fully realized until writing this that Faulk won his Super Bowl five years later playing against the same team, same coach, and even some of the same players(Eddie Robinson, Blaine Bishop) that he burned in his NFL debut in 1994.

After getting destroyed by debuting rookie Marshall Faulk on opening day the Oilers would go on to have a dismal season in 1994. Oilers head coach Jack Pardee was fired after the 1-9 start and Jeff Fisher would be promoted to interim head coach, going 1-5 the rest of the year. The Oilers would finish a dismal 2-14 and are one of the worst teams I can remember ever seeing in all my years of watching NFL football. Fisher took over as full time head coach in 1995 and was immediately tasked with rebuilding this franchise on the field while it was embroiled in controversy and turmoil off the field.

Fisher improved one of the worst teams in the NFL from that 2-14 squad to a 7-9 finish in his first full year as Oilers head coach in Houston in 1995. Over the next 3 years Fisher would have to rebuild a team that would go on to play in 3 different cities in 3 different home stadiums. In 1996 the Oilers played their final season in the Houston Astrodome and finished an impressive 8-8 with a young roster that played most of their home games in front of empty seats that year. Oilers/Titans owner Bud Adams planned to play the 1997 season in Houston but the fans and the city turned their backs on him and the Oilers so thoroughly that it forced Bud Adams to set up a temporary home in Memphis in 1997 while their new stadium was being built in Nashville. The Tennessee Oilers completed the move to Memphis in 1997 and played their games at The Liberty Bowl with little to no fan support from the city. The city of Memphis had a rivalry with Nashville in Tennessee similar to what Houston has with Dallas in Texas. So the Oilers playing in Memphis while their new stadium was being built in Nashville didn't go over well with the city of Memphis, who wanted absolutely nothing to do with the franchise.

The Oilers went from empty seats in Houston at the Astrodome in 1996 to playing to empty seats at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis in 1997 to playing for a half empty Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville in 1998. Bud Adams hoped that Nashville fans would make the 3 hour trip to see the Oilers in Memphis in 1997 but it just didn't happen. Fan support didn't improve much at all after the move from Memphis to Nashville in 1998 as most of the Oilers home games at Vanderbilt seen crowds in the 30,000's. If you ever look back at those beautiful Houston Oilers uniforms and wonder what the hell happened to them and why they went extinct, it was because of how poorly this relocation was handled. With the Houston Oilers and Bud Adams the NFL essentially allowed one of it's owners to kill one of it's most iconic brands. Adams turned the city of Houston against the Oilers and them moved them to Memphis in a way that alienated the team, the name, the colors, the logo of the Oilers from the city of Memphis(and really the state of Tennessee) right from the start.

The Oilers were finally set to move into their new permanent home at Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville in 1999 and the franchise repackaged itself as the Tennessee Titans prior to the season. The Oilers name, logo, and colors were all "retired" in 1999 and the Titans were presented as something fresh that the city of Nashville and the state of Tennessee could start over with. With an all new look and an all new name for their all new stadium the pressure was on Titans head coach Jeff Fisher to break this team into the playoffs in 1999.

The Titans launched on opening day 1999 with a sold out crowd in their new stadium witnessing them blow a 26-7 lead to the Bengals. Cincinnati exploded for 28 unanswered points and took a 35-26 lead in the 4th quarter. Steve Mcnair led the Titans on a 70 yard scoring drive to cut the deficit to 35-33 with 8 minutes left in the game. A big penalty called back a 34 yard run by Bengals running back Corey Dillon and backed Cincinnati up at their own 6 yard line on their ensuing possession. The Titans forced Cincinnati to punt and took the ball at midfield with 2:24 left to play. Tennessee would take the game with a field goal with :12 left on the clock to win 36-35 in their debut.

Steve Mcnair would end up missing the next 5 games after leading Tennessee to victory on opening day. Backup Neil O'Donnell threw for over 300 yards and the Titans defense sacked Tim Couch 7 times in Tennessee's victory over the expansion Browns in week 2. The Titans defeated the Jaguars for the first time of the season in a week 3 showdown where both teams came in at 2-0. The Jaguars returned an intercepted O'Donnell pass for a touchdown to take a 17-7 lead into the 4th quarter. Back to back field goals cut the Jaguars lead to 17-13 with 9:44 left to play. The Titans defense intercepted Mark Brunell to set up O'Donnell's game winning touchdown pass for the 20-19 victory. 

The next week the Titans suffered their first defeat of the season in a 24-22 loss to the 49ers in San Francisco. A failed 2 point conversion attempt in the final minutes would have tied the game and sent it into overtime. Neal O'Donnell threw for over 350 passing yards but a critical interception in the 4th quarter killed the Titans chance to stay undefeated. The next week the rivalry with the Baltimore Ravens was born in their first official meeting in a hard hitting defensive stand off. Baltimore's third field goal gave them a 9-7 lead in the third quarter but Neal O'Donnell connected with Yancy Thigpen for the go ahead touchdown that would seal a 14-11 victory to move Tennessee to 4-1. In week 6 Jeff Fisher took on his former head coach Mike Ditka when the Titans took out the Saints 24-21 to move to 5-1.  

The 5-1 Titans squared off against the undefeated 6-0 St. Louis Rams to give everyone a preview of Super Bowl XXXIV on Halloween day. The Titans dominated the Rams and took a 21-0 lead in the first quarter in Steve Mcnair's return to the starting lineup. The Rams finally got their offense going with back to back touchdown drives in the third quarter to cut the Titans lead to 21-14. Tennessee added a field goal and held on to win it at home 24-21. The Rams turned the ball over 3 times and had 15 penalties for 97 lost yards in the game. The Titans defense sacked Kurt Warner 6 times. The next week the Titans suffered a 17-0 shut out loss on the road to the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins played without Dan Marino but their defense held Eddie George to 65 yards rushing and intercepted Steve Mcnair 3 times to drop Tennessee to 6-2. 

Eddie George ran for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns to carry the Titans to victory over the Bengals in Cincinnati in week 10. Back to back victories over the Steelers and Browns put the Titans record at 9-2 before they ran into a brick wall against the Ravens in week 13. The Titans hung with Baltimore in the first half, going into the intermission trailing 17-14. The Ravens defense shut Tennessee down in the 2nd half and scored 24 unanswered points. A 47 yard interception return for a touchdown by Rod Woodson sealed a 41-14 win for the Ravens. The loss would be the last for the Titans in the 1999 regular season. The Ravens would become a beast that next season and their rivalry with the Titans in that 2000 season was really something awesome. Those Titans vs Ravens games in 2000 were great games between what I still believe to be the 2 best teams in the NFL that year. The seeds for that series in 2000 between these two teams were planted in these two games they played in the 1999 season. I get the sense from looking at these 1999 Titans vs Ravens games that these two teams had an "Iron Sharpens Iron" effect on one another. The Ravens were the only division rival to challenge the Titans in 1999 and they loaded up in 2000 with Shannon Sharpe and Jamaal Lewis to really put them on their heels. 

After the loss on the road to the Ravens the Titans would enjoy a 3 game home stretch in December where I really believe the momentum was built for their playoff run. They destroyed the Raiders and Falcons in the first 2 games before taking on the Jaguars in the rematch on the day after Christmas. The Jaguars went into Tennessee with a 13-1 record and would get destroyed 41-14. Steve Mcnair threw for 291 yards and 5 touchdown passes in the victory to move the Titans to a 12-3 record and a season sweep over the Jaguars. The Titans would go into Pittsburgh to beat the Steelers in the season finale to finish 13-3 while the Jaguars would win their last game to finish 14-2 and take the AFC Central Division title(along with homefield advantage with the #1 seed in the AFC). 

The Titans would go undefeated at 8-0 in their new home at Adephia Coliseum in 1999. They finished 9-1 against their division opponents(with their lone loss being to the Ravens). Tennessee's season almost came to an end at home against Buffalo in the Wild Card round of the playoffs but they pulled off "The Music City Miracle" with the last second kickoff return touchdown that gave them a 22-16 victory. The next week the Titans defense pulled off a major upset in shutting down the Peyton Manning/Marvin Harrison/Edgerin James Colts in Indianapolis in the AFC Divisional Playoff. Tennessee's defense manhandled and rattled Indianapolis' receiver corps and held Edgerin James to just 56 yards rushing. Eddie George ran over the Colts defense for 162 rushing yards and a touchdown while the Titans defense held Indianapolis out of the end zone until the final 2 minutes, holding on for the 19-16 upset victory.

In the AFC Championship the Titans dominated the Jaguars for the 3rd time in 1999. The Jaguars jumped out to a 14-7 lead in the second quarter. The Titans scored a field goal before the half and then struck first in the second half with a 1 yard touchdown run by Steve Mcnair to go up 17-14. A safety late in the 3rd quarter killed the Jaguars, while Derrick Mason returned the ensuing free kick 80 yards to put the Jaguars away. The Titans would go on to be the only team to beat the 1999 Jacksonville Jaguars in all 3 of their losses that year, defeating them soundly 33-14 in the AFC Championship Game.

What is interesting when you look at the starters of this 1999 Titans defense is that the core of it still had players that were on that 1993 Buddy Ryan 4-6 squad that dominated the NFL that year. Free Safety Marcus Robertson was an All Pro playing for Buddy Ryan that 1993 season. Linebackers Eddie Robinson and Joe Bowden were a part of the Oilers 1992 draft class while Safety Blaine Bishop was drafted by Buddy Ryan in 1993. So with Robertson, Bishop, Bowden, and Robinson these were core starters on that 1999 Titans team that played for Buddy Ryan's 4-6 defense in that 1993 season. These were the guys that made the transition into Jeff Fisher's defense in 1994 that he built this unit around during those 5 years where he rebuilt this unit.

Those 4 players along with guys Fisher drafted in that 1994 draft like defensive tackle Henry Ford and linebacker Barron Wortham, those were Jeff Fisher's guys. Those 6 players comprise over half of that 1999 Tennessee Titans defensive starters. Other key components to that '99 Titans defense were added later such as defensive tackle Josh Evans in 1995, then cornerback Samari Rolle in 1998. So they had this core, then they added two great pieces to this defense going into 1999 with the signing of free agent defensive tackle Jason Fisk and the drafting of rookie defensive end Jevon Kearse.

Jevon Kearse's numbers for 1999 are pretty amazing as a rookie. He finished with 8 forced fumbles, 9 passes defended, 15 tackles for loss, along with 14.5 sacks. Kearse played well for the next 2-3 years but he never put up these kind of numbers again for the rest of his 11 year career. He really came from out of nowhere and dominated the NFL as a rookie in 1999. Kearse had perhaps his best game in the "Music City Miracle" AFC Wild Card Game against Buffalo, where he had 2 sacks, a safety, and 2 forced fumbles.

While Fisher's defense was rooted in those 1993-1994 Houston Oilers seasons, his offense for this 1999 Titans Super Bowl run was a unit that was younger. Of course you had the anchor in offensive lineman Bruce Matthews, the last of the classic Oilers legends that had been playing since 1983. Also offensive lineman Brad Hopkins had been a starter since 1993. The rest of the 1999 Titans offensive starters were a young unit that had been built starting with the drafting of Steve Mcnair and Frank Wycheck in 1995. The Oilers drafted running back Eddie George and offensive lineman John Runyan the following year in 1996 in their final year in Houston. The receiving corps and the offensive line for these 1999 Titans were mostly put into place in 1998 when they drafted receiver Kevin Dyson, center Kevin Long, and guard Benji Olson and signed free agent receiver Yancy Thigpin. The biggest addition to the offense going into 1999 was the signing of veteran full back Lorenzo Neal, one of the greatest pure fullbacks to ever play the game and possibly one of the most underrated players in NFL history.

Steve Mcnair went 9-2 as a starter in 1999 with 2,179 passing yards with 12 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. Mcnair's numbers are even less impressive when you look at what he put up in their 4 post season games, he threw only 1 touchdown pass. Backup Neil O'Donnell filled in for 5 games and went 4-1 during that stretch with 10 touchdown passes and 5 interceptions with 2 fourth quarter comeback victories. The Titans didn't have any 1,000 yard receivers in 1999 instead their offense was really carried by Eddie George, who ran for 1,304 rushing yards with another 458 receiving yards for a total of 1,762 total yards from scrimmage. 

So it was always bittersweet to me that this team would rise out of those Houston Oilers ashes and finally kick that door in to win an AFC Championship in 1999. I always was a biased Titans hater and still am to this day so before researching and writing this I never fully realized how this team was still so connected to it's Oilers roots in Houston. Perhaps somewhere in the multiverse there is an alternate timeline where the Oilers get a new stadium in Houston and this 1999 team is even better since they didn't have to transition from 4 different home fields in 3 different cities over the course of the 4 years when they were building and developing this squad. Perhaps somewhere in some alternate universe we get to see the Houston Oilers in Super Bowl XXXIV in 1999 but what isn't meant to be just isn't meant to be. I've learned to live with it and enjoyed looking at this 1999 Titans team through a different perspective in writing this, removing those biased hatred blinders and appreciating this team for what it really was. 

And with that we are left with the 1999 NFL Champions, the St. Louis Rams. Going into the 1999 season the Rams were the worst team of the 1990's decade. I find that hard to believe that the Rams somehow lost even more games than the Bengals but yet they somehow did, they were 45-99 overall in the 90's decade going into the 1999 season.

The Rams were a strong team in the late 80's when they still played in Los Angeles(well technically Anaheim). They had lost Eric Dickerson by the end of the decade but they had a good defense, a solid quarterback in Jim Everett and some awesome receivers in Flipper Anderson and Henry Ellard. The LA Rams made it to the NFC Championship Game in 1989 but they were thrashed by the 49ers and that was the end of any success this team would have for the next decade. The Rams finished 5-11 in 1990, then after a 3-3 start to the 1991 season they lost all 10 of their last 10 games to drop to 3-13(Jeff Fisher was defensive coordinator that year and his defense finished 27th out of 28). In 1992 they brought back the aging old dinosaur from the Rams' 1970's heyday in head coach Chuck Knox. Knox coached the Rams in their final 3 years in LA and each year they got worse, going from 6-10 in 1992 to 5-11 in 1993 to 4-12 in 1994. The lone bright spot in those final years in Los Angeles/Anaheim was the drafting of Jerome Bettis, who was one of the best running backs in the NFL those years when he played for the Rams(he led the NFL in rushing his rookie year in 1993).

The Rams packed up and left Anaheim for the city of St. Louis in 1995. They moved on from Chuck Knox and hired Rich Brooks as new head coach in 1995. After a promising 5-1 start in their inaugural season in St. Louis in 1995 they would collapse to a 7-9 finish. Jerome Bettis didn't fit into the direction that Rich Brooks was taking the Rams offense so they let him go to Pittsburgh in 1996 and drafted the infamous Lawrence Phillips to take his place. After a 6-10 finish in 1996 the Rams released Rich Brooks and dug up another old dinosaur when they hired Dick Vermiel as new head coach in 1997. At the time the Rams hired Vermiel he had been retired for 15 years.

Dick Vermiel's claim to fame as a head coach was his tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1976 to 1982. Vermiel took over one of the worst teams in the NFL in the 1970's decade and led them to an NFC Championship victory in 1980 and an appearance in Super Bowl XV(where the Eagles were crushed by the Oakland Raiders). Just 2 years after losing Super Bowl XV Dick Vermiel retired from head coaching. After spending years as a television analyst Vermiel stepped back into the head coaching realm by taking over the St. Louis Rams in 1997. Vermiel spent his first 2 years with the Rams trying to salvage what he could out of Tony Banks at quarterback and Lawrence Phillips at running back. The Rams finished 5-11 in 1997 and dropped to 4-12 in 1998. Going into 1999 his job was seriously on the line.

The pressure was on Dick Vermiel in 1999 to give St. Louis a winning football team after 4 years of bad football since the team relocated there in 1995. To make it happen the Rams made some major roster moves prior to the 1999 season. The biggest move was trading for running back Marshall Faulk from the Colts. Then they went out and signed Trent Green at quarterback and drafted wide receiver Torry Holt in the draft. Trent Green was coming off of a break out season with the Redskins in 1998 and was a hometown St. Louis/Missouri guy that had a ton of hype in preseason until he went down with an injury that put him out for the entire year. Trent Green's injury in the 1999 preseason at the time was made out to be one of the most devastating injuries but the Rams rallied around their backup Kurt Warner. Warner was undrafted out of college but was signed by the Packers in 1994, only to be cut before the start of the season. Warner spent 3 seasons in the Arena Football League before playing in NFL Europe prior to the 1998 NFL season, where he rode the bench as a backup for the Rams.

Something I find fascinating about the 1999 Rams/Kurt Warner story is that prior to the 1999 season the Rams made Kurt Warner available on the Cleveland Browns expansion draft. Cleveland overlooked Warner and left him on the table and the rest is history. Its interesting to think about the alternate histories that came close to becoming realities. Like what if the Browns drafted Kurt Warner in that expansion draft? Or what if Trent Green doesn't get hurt? Green's numbers for 1998 were solid, and he excelled in Dick Vermiel's offense when they got together in Kansas City in 2003. But Trent Green never did put up the numbers that Kurt Warner did in 1999(or 2001).

The stage was set for this unknown quarterback to lead this team from out of nowhere to run the table in the NFL in 1999. The Greatest Show On Turf was born on opening day 1999 with a 27-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens with Kurt Warner throwing for 309 yards and 3 touchdowns in his first NFL start against a Ravens defense that finished in the top 5 in the NFL that season. The Rams got off to a 6-0 start and put up a lot of points in doing so, including 35-7 win over the Falcons in week 2, a 38-10 win over the Bengals in week 3, followed by wins of 42-20 over the 49ers and 41-13 in a rematch with the Falcons.

St. Louis' undefeated streak was brought to an end by the Tennessee Titans in Tennessee in a game where Titans quarterback Steve Mcnair was returning from an injury that had sidelined him for the previous 5 weeks. Mcnair put up 3 scores in the first quarter to put the Titans up 21-0 quick. The Rams answered with a pair of touchdowns in the second half to cut the deficit to 21-14 but Tennessee would hold on for the 24-21 victory. The Rams would end up losing again on the road the next week when they were defeated by the Lions in Detroit.

After the back to back road losses dropped them to 6-2 the Rams stepped out in front of the NFL and ran away with the top seed in the NFC by putting together a 7 game win streak. St. Louis clinched the NFC's top spot with a 13-3 record. Kurt Warner was awarded NFL MVP honors with 4,353 passing yards, 41 touchdown passes and only 13 interceptions in 499 passing attempts. I really feel like Marshall Faulk was the real MVP of the 1999 Rams and by default the rest of the NFL. Faulk 1,381 rushing yards with 7 rushing touchdowns along with 87 receptions and 1,048 receiving yards with 5 touchdown receptions. That is a total of 2,429 yards and 12 touchdowns.

The Rams offense was ranked 1st in the NFL in 1999 in points scored with 526(32.9 average per game, 3rd highest in NFL history up to that point). Isaac Bruce had 77 catches for 1,165 yards and 12 touchdowns while Torry Holt had 52 catches for 788 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns his rookie year. The Rams also had Ricky Proehl(33 receptions for 349 yards) and Az Zahir Hakim(36 receptions for 677 yards and 8 touchdowns) on their receiver corps. Notable offensive lineman for this 1999 Rams squad included Adam Timmerman at right guard and Orlando Pace at left tackle. Pace was named to the Pro Bowl and was an All Pro in 99.

The Rams defense in 1999 doesn't get a whole lot of credit for the team's success that year. The unit finished 4th in the NFL in fewest points allowed(15.1 per game average). Defensive end Kevin Carter was the only All Pro and finished with 17 sacks on the season. The Rams defensive line also featured a young Grant Wistrom alongside veteran defensive tackle D'Marco Farr. Cornerback Todd Lyght was voted to the Pro Bowl with 6 interceptions on the year. The real unsung hero of the 1999 Rams defense was London Fletcher. I've heard Dick Vermiel say in interviews that London Fletcher was to the Rams defense in 1999 what Kurt Warner was to their offense that year.

The Rams were a nightmare matchup for the Vikings in the NFC Divisional Playoffs. Minnesota had one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL in 1999 so the Rams put it on them in what was probably their signature performance of the season. The Vikings led St. Louis 17-14 going into halftime but the Rams came out with 35 unanswered points in the second half. Kurt Warner ended up throwing for 391 yards and 5 touchdowns, the last of which put St. Louis up 49-17 late in the 4th quarter. The 49 points was the most scored by the Rams in a game all year in 1999.

St. Louis' game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1999 NFC Championship was a much tougher defensive duel. The Bucs intercepted Kurt Warner 3 times and eliminated Marshall Faulk from the game. Tampa' defense shut the Rams offense out of the end zone all the way through 3 quarters of football, taking a 6-5 lead after a field goal with 10:28 left to play. The Rams would fight back and take the lead with an amazing touchdown pass from Warner to Ricky Proehl to take an 11-6 lead in the final 5 minutes. Tampa threatened to drive down the field to take the game in the final minute but a controversial no-catch call killed their drive with seconds left to play, securing the Rams victory and trip to Super Bowl XXXIV.

Super Bowl XXXIV was played on January 30th 2000, just about a month after everyone thought the world was going to end because of "Y2K", about 6 months after the Summer of Star Wars and Woodstock, roughly 19 months before September 11th, and right in the middle of the whole .Com "Tech Bubble". Super Bowl XXXIV was such an interesting matchup and played out on the field as one of the greatest games in NFL history. I didn't watch much of it in real time when it happened but it's a game that I'm fascinated with now. The game itself plays out like something out of a movie, there is this intense struggle back and forth, a near comeback and one of the most dramatic finishes in NFL history.

Aside from the drama that plays out on the field I've always loved the colors and aesthetic of Super Bowl XXXIV, the contrast between the two team's uniform/helmets/colors and the way the Georgia Dome was lit up. The game just has a certain look and feel and vibe about it that I really love. The NFL Films highlight video for the game is beautiful and the 10 year anniversary episode of "NFL's Greatest Games" that was made around 2009 is well worth a watch as well(I believe it was made shortly after Steve Mcnair was murdered, watching that actually inspired me to write this project).

The Rams were able to pull off some big plays but the Titans defense kept their offense out of the end zone for the entire first half. St. Louis had to settle for field goals in 3 trips to the red zone. Meanwhile the Titans offense struggled. Tennessee missed a field goal and had another blocked before finally giving up a touchdown that put St. Louis up 16-0 in the third quarter. The Titans then fought back with 2 drives that ran the Rams defensive line into the ground. Eddie George ate up the clock with hard runs right into the heart of the St. Louis defense while Steve Mcnair kept drives alive with daring runs of his own, along with short range passes to Frank Wycheck. The Titans closed the gap to 16-13 and had kept St. Louis' offense off the field for so long in the second half they seemed out of sync. by the 4th quarter.

The fourth quarter of Super Bowl XXXIV unfolded like a fictional Oliver Stone football movie made for the big screen, the only thing missing was Al Pacino. The Titans forced St. Louis' offense to punt after a three and out and then drove down to tie the game at 16-16 with a field goal with 3:08 left to play. The Rams answered back with an incredible 73 yard touchdown strike from Kurt Warner to Isaac Bruce to take a 23-16 lead. Steve Mcnair took the ball for the Titans with less than 2 minutes left to play and drove them down the field into one of the most dramatic finishes in NFL history. Steve Mcnair spun out of the clutches of 2 Rams defenders on a critical 3rd down play near the red zone and connected with Kevin Dyson to put them in range for a game tying touchdown with just :05 seconds left to play. Mcnair dropped back and completed a pass to Kevin Dyson near the goal line but he was tackled just 1 yard short of the tying touchdown as the final seconds ticked off the clock. The clutch tackle by linebacker Mike Jones secured the Rams victory in Super Bowl XXXIV by the score of 23-16.

Kevin Dyson getting tackled just 1 yard short of the goal line at the final second is a classic NFL play that overshadows 2 really amazing plays from that game. The first was obviously the amazing first down conversion by Steve Mcnair to set up the finale. But also for me Kurt Warner's go ahead touchdown pass to Isaac Bruce in the fourth quarter is one of the most ice cold moments in Super Bowl history, even better than the David Tyree helmet catch for my money. That's definitely one of the great overlooked clutch moments in Super Bowl history.

But Super Bowl XXXIV was such a fitting conclusion to the 1999 NFL season. It was the last time there was a Super Bowl played between 2 teams that had never won a Super Bowl. For all of the "What If's" asked through this project the big ones for 1999 surely revolve around this game. What if Steve Mcnair just tucked the football and ran for the game winning touchdown? What if Dyson was able to reach the goal line? Would the Titans have gone for 2 for the win or played for overtime? It's crazy to think that with Super Bowl XXXIV we were maybe just 1 yard away from the first ever overtime in Super Bowl history. I'm not sure sending it into overtime would have been smart strategy by Tennessee though. With the NFL's overtime rules back then it would have been very possible that the Rams would have won the coin toss and easily moved into field goal range to win it. So I'm assuming the Titans would have gone for 2 to win the game had they scored on that final play. That would have been one hell of a 2 point conversion.

But with that we wrap up our look at all 31 teams of the 1999 NFL season. It's interesting to think about where this 1999 Rams team ranks among the all time best. According to Pro Football Reference this squad played the easiest schedule of any Super Bowl winner in history. They played half of their schedule against a very bad division, with only the Panthers being any type of threat(the Saints, 49ers, and Falcons were all among the worst teams in the NFL that year). They barely got past the Buccaneers in the NFC Championship. To me I think this 1999 Rams team was certainly legit but I don't see them as this unbeatable team. I don't think this team was as strong as any of the previous Super Bowl champions going back to the 1987 Redskins. I think this team would have been seriously challenged by Washington had they not botched the game winning field goal against Tampa in the second round of the playoffs. I also think that Carolina Panthers team would have been hard for the Rams to defeat a 3rd time had the Panthers made the playoffs. But at the end of the day you can't really deny this 1999 Rams team. They were truly great. They were extremely entertaining to watch and they breathed a whole new life into the NFL. 

One thing that really stands out about the 99 Rams from a historical standpoint was that they had to be one of the biggest "Come from out of nowhere" teams in NFL history. I can't think of any Super Bowl winners prior to them that ran the table so thoroughly after being the worst team in the NFL for a solid decade. The closest I can come up with would be the 1981 49ers, who were terrible the years before and Joe Montana came from out of nowhere to become a star that year after a 13-3 finish. 

Thats a wrap for this football odyssey. The 1999 season was such a fascinating year. It was really the beginning of a new era and the new league seemingly came of age all in the course of a single season. It was also to me the first year where you really started to see the effects of the salary cap and unrestricted free agency(which was all implemented in 1993-94). The league felt so wide open in 1999. The era of the super-All Star super teams was over, those teams that were just overloaded with big money talent like the 88-94 49ers, 92-95 Cowboys, and 97-98 Broncos where teams spent tons of money to build a winner. Both of the Titans and Rams teams were built organically through the draft over a period of time and they used unrestricted free agency to fill key holes that put them over the top. The same applies to that Ravens team that would win it the next year, followed by the era of Bill Belichick's Patriots from 2001 and on. This 1999 season was so critical in shaping what the NFL would look like in the 2000's, 2010's, and even so far into the 2020's.

I enjoyed this so much I have been thinking about keeping it going as a regular thing. I'm thinking about doing 1993 next but I'd be open to suggestions if anybody is interested in covering a different season. Here are the ones I'm interested in treking through:

1993- In my nostalgia obsession with the 93 Oilers run I've realized over the years that this was one of the most defensively dominant seasons in NFL history across the league. A stat that I stumbled upon for 1993 is that it was a record for the fewest teams to score over 350 points on offense(I believe only 4 teams) and also at the same time a record for the most teams to allow fewer than 300 points on defense ever in the 43 years that the NFL played a 16 game schedule(1978 to 2020). The 1993 season was really an anomaly when you look at that era from 1978 to 2020, I believe if you could narrow it down to what was the most physical brutal hardest hitting season in NFL history I believe it was 1993. After all of the innovations in offense from 1978 to the early 1990's(the Run N Shoot, The No Huddle, etc) and all the explosive offenses that came about all of a sudden by 1993 it was like the clock was turned back to 1973 NFL defense and there was so little scoring/offense that they started changing the rules in 1994. Take that element of the 1993 season and add to that the beginning of unrestricted free agency and how that turned the entire NFL upside down in one offseason. Definitely one of the most interesting NFL seasons for me.

1968-1969 AFL seasons- I'm very interested in these AFL years, their last 2 seasons before the merger with the NFL in 1970. This was well before my time and I have only seen a little footage from those years but i'm fascinated by these 2 seasons. These were the years where the AFL Champs beat the NFL in Super Bowl III(the Jets beat the Colts) and Super Bowl IV(the Chiefs beat the Vikings). There were just 10 teams after they added Cincinnati as the final AFL expansion team in '68. The AFL just got so strong over those 10 years by 1968 the coaches and players in the AFL had really reached a high level. The top coaches were all copying each other and building rosters to counter each other's strengths and weaknesses in a very interesting way. The whole dynamic with Kansas City, Oakland, and the Jets those years was really like an "Iron Sharpens Iron" effect, both of those years the team that came out of that three way dance whooped the NFL's ass in the Super Bowl.

1980- A year very similar to 1999 in how it felt like a sharp turnover and definitive beginning of a new era in the NFL. Also similar to 1999 because of the league in transition it was like a wide open season, the dominant teams like Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Dallas, and LA either lost or were losing their grips on their divisions. For the first time ever a Wild Card team(the Oakland Raiders) won the Super Bowl. Also had great teams like the Dan Fouts Chargers, Luv Ya Blue Oilers, Brian Sipe's MVP run with the Browns, etc. This would also be an interesting year to cover after the 1999 project because this was Dick Vermiel's Super Bowl run with the Eagles so it could be like a prequel to the Football Odyssey.

1970- The year of the merger between the NFL and AFL. Very wild and interesting season with a ton to talk about.

1962- The NFL season from 1962 is what interests me but it would be cool to take a look at the AFL season to compare where the 2 leagues were at in year 3 of their war. The '62 NFL season is very intriguing to me for some reason, I just like the way the league was shaped back then with just 14 teams divided into 2 divisions, the winners of those divisions played each other in the NFL Championship at the end of the season and that was it, it was that simple. But the NFL was really stacked that year, the Packers were one of the best teams in NFL history and at the height of their powers. They had a great rivalry with a really tough Bears squad, also the Lions were tough as nails and the Colts still had prime Unitas so that was a hell of a division right there. Over in the East you had YA Tittle and an awesome Giants team, plus an over the hill washed up Bobby Layne leading Pittsburgh to their best season up to that point. This was also the year the Cowboys vs Redskins rivalry started to heat up. It would be interesting to look at how strong the NFL was that year and compare it to where the AFL was at in their 3rd season.

1950- I guess it would be cool to cover a season from each decade, for the 50's I would be interested in taking a closer look at the 1950 season. Another year of sharp transition and turnover in the NFL. Two things began in 1950 that completely changed the game for the NFL, unlimited substitution was legalized and plastic helmets became a thing. Unlimited substitution did away with "Iron Man" ball with players playing both offense and defense, and this led to players focusing on just 1 position also the pace of the game changed and the way plays were called changed because of being able to freely sub out players. Then the plastic helmet changed tackling and hitting in the NFL for good, for better or worse. This was also the year the NFL brought over the Cleveland Browns after buying out the AAFC rival league(which also brought in the Colts and 49ers, which were also AAFC teams in the 40's).

1943- This would be a cool year to cover that wouldn't take long since there were only 8 teams. This season took place during World War II with the NFL depleted of players due to the war(Philadelphia and Pittsburgh temporarily combined rosters to form 1 team for 1943). What is interesting about this season is how the league was dominated by 4 teams with each team led by 4 of the all time greats, the Redskins with Sammy Baugh, the Bears with Sid Luckman, the Giants with Mel Hein, and the Packers with Don Hutson. So you had 4 of the all time NFL legends in their primes that just kind of had the entire league to themselves that year. 

1933- Can't say I'm super interested in covering the 20's or 30's but I guess 1933 would fit the theme if we had to hit each decade. This was the first year they started tracking stats and the first year they set the modern format with 2 divisions and a Championship Game. The league was cut down to the core franchises that would comprise the backbone of the NFL for the next 90 years with the Giants, Packers, Bears, Redskins, Eagles, Steelers, and Cardinals.

1925- Definitely the most interesting year of the first decade with the whole Pottsville Maroons scandal and the prime Chicago Bears barnstorming era with Red Grange. I guess it would be fun to dig into some of the 20's oddball teams like the Providence Steam Roller or the Rochester Jeffersons and see what we could find.

I'm about equally less enthusiastic about covering any seasons in the 2000's or beyond. I guess 2001 would be a cool follow up to 1999, and 2011 is worth another look too.

1978 Would be a good year, too. It was the first year with a 16-game schedule, and introduced the Wild Card Round.

Jan 21, 2022 6:00:54 GMT CM Punk'd said:

1978 Would be a good year, too. It was the first year with a 16-game schedule, and introduced the Wild Card Round.

That is an interesting one, the first year after the rules changes that allowed offensive linemen to use their hands and also the first year where modern pass interference rules changed everything.

1993 has my vote though of course I will read any Nobi project.

Jan 1, 2022 20:15:05 GMT Neo Zeed said:

The stage was set for this unknown quarterback to lead this team from out of nowhere to run the table in the NFL in 1999. The Greatest Show On Turf was born on opening day 1999 with a 27-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens with Kurt Warner throwing for 309 yards and 3 touchdowns in his first NFL start against a Ravens defense that finished in the top 5 in the NFL that season. 

This opening week rout is the game I remember most from the 1999 NFL season. Recall sitting there thinking "Hmm this Warner guy looks pretty good. Maybe the Rams will be decent for the first time in years." If only I knew...