Each NFL team's greatest play of all-time and why

Tennessee Titans - Music City Miracle
January 8, 2000

It could be nothing else. The Music City Miracle is one of the great plays in all of sports. The lateral play is attempted basically every week in a desperation situation. It was never done as beautifully as it was on January 8, 2000. The Titans were down to the Buffalo Bills at home in the Wild Card round. The Bills just took the lead with 16 seconds left in the game. The kickoff went to tight end Frank Wycheck. He chucked the ball across the field for Kevin Dyson, and he ran up the sideline to score the winning touchdown. 

The story behind the play is as wild as the play itself. Special teams coordinator Alan Lowry had this play in his playbook since learning it when he was a member of the Dallas Cowboys coaching staff 18 years earlier. The Titans practiced this play every single week, but in the simulation, Derrick Mason would start it off. He got hurt in the game, which is why the Titans put Dyson out there. 

Head coach Jeff Fisher had to explain the play moments before Dyson took the field. He had never practiced it. The Bills were forced to play some defensive starters, who were unfamiliar with special teams, because they were also dealing with injuries. This all led to the perfect storm that is the Music City Miracle. 

There was a lengthy review of the play, as they had to make sure the lateral wasn’t forward, but the referees called the play on the field good, and the Titans were moving on.