The play, called "
Home Run Throwback," was conceived of by
Jeff Fisher and the
Titans coaching staff. Fisher wanted a play similar to that of "
The Play" (of
California fame). It was practiced on a regular basis--but, like most
trick plays, it never
worked in practice.
The plan was for tight end
Frank Wycheck to field the kickoff, but the kick was unusually short. It was fielded by fullback
Lorenzo Neal, who immediately handed off to Wycheck.
Kevin Dyson, remarkably, was not anywhere near the top of the
special teams depth chart and had never run the play before, but was used because
Derrick Mason was injured. He had the play quickly explained to him in the moments before the kickoff.
The
Bills challenged the play as a meaningless formality; since there were less than two minutes remaining in the game, it was the officials who decided to review the play.
Critical in the review process is the fact that there must be "overwhelming evidence" to overturn a ruling--meaning if it isn't plainly obvious from the replay, then the call stands as made. Referee
Phil Luckett ruled the throw a
lateral as it was being made, and the replay was more or less inconclusive, so the call stood. If Luckett had ruled it a
forward pass then that call would have been upheld instead.
Make no mistake about it, though--Luckett was right.
NFL Films created a
CGI model of the play, taking into account the camera angles of the replays; and they proved--as conclusively as can be hoped for--that the ball did indeed travel backwards.
"The last thing I told my players was to get ready for a trick play," said
Bruce DeHaven, the special teams coach for the Bills who was fired three days afterward. A clear
scapegoat move, the firing was a controversial move that drew its share of criticism.
Indeed, the blame lies on the Bills special teams
players. The players, mostly inexperienced, left their lanes to overpursue Wycheck, leaving a clear path on the other side of the field and a wall of Titans blockers.
If you believe in karma, then you probably weren't surprised by the outcome of
Super Bowl XXXIV.