Countdown to Kickoff: 87 Days

The Titans' longest drive of the 1999 postseason is best remembered as the one that came up a yard short.

The countdown to kickoff continues.

The Tennessee Titans will open the 2020 regular season Sept. 14 at Denver. That is 87 days away. So, today we look at one way the number 87 figures into the team’s history.

So much attention is paid to the one yard that the Tennessee Titans did not get at the end of Super Bowl XXIV, that few – if any – remember how far they went to get to that point.

They went 87 yards.

It was the Titans’ longest possession of the contest in terms of net yards. In fact, it was their longest of the entire postseason, which included victories over Buffalo, Indianapolis and Jacksonville.

Yet it also was the shortest of the second half in terms of time off the clock. They covered that distance in 10 plays that exhausted the final 1:54 without the benefit of any timeouts. The possession included five first downs and 25 yards in penalties against the St. Louis Rams, who had just gone ahead 23-16 with a 73-yard touchdown pass from Kurt Warner to Isaac Bruce.

Derrick Mason returned the ensuing kickoff to the Tennessee 22 but a holding penalty against Joe Bowden cost 10 yards and left the offense 88 yards away from the game-tying touchdown.

The drive began with a 9-yard completion from Steve McNair to Mason. Then came a 7-yard connection with tight end Frank Wycheck for the first of three passing first downs. McNair also moved the chains with a 12-yard run on second-and-10 from the 28.

The Titans crossed midfield after just four plays, the last of which included a 15-yard facemask penalty against the Rams. The offense did not face a third down until 22 seconds remained when, on third-and-5 from the St. Louis 26, McNair famously dodged the pass rush, shook off a sack attempt by then-Rams defensive lineman Kevin Carter and found Kevin Dyson for a 16-yard completion to the St. Louis 10.

McNair and Dyson hooked up again on the next play – for nine yards.