American Football · 2000 · Nashville, USA
The Music City Miracle
A point down with 16 seconds left, the Tennessee Titans return a kickoff the length of the field through a single lateral pass, and the Buffalo Bills are out.
Titans 22-16 Bills
Result
16 seconds
Time remaining at kickoff
75 yards
Return distance
A Buffalo Bills field goal had just put them 16-15 up on the Tennessee Titans with 16 seconds remaining in their AFC Wild Card game on 8 January 2000, and the result looked all but settled. On the ensuing kickoff, Lorenzo Neal handed a lateral to the Titans tight end Frank Wycheck near his own goal line, and Wycheck threw the ball right across the field to the wide receiver Kevin Dyson.
Dyson took it in stride down the near sideline and was not touched over the remaining distance, a 75-yard score as time expired. Buffalo's coaches protested immediately that Wycheck's throw had travelled forward rather than sideways or backward, which would have made it an illegal forward lateral. Officials reviewed it and let the play stand.
Tennessee won 22-16, and the play was named the Music City Miracle for Nashville's music-industry identity. The run it started carried the Titans to Super Bowl XXXIV, where they finished one yard short of forcing overtime.
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