Super Bowl XXXIV • Discuss the Game

By Ray Glier
Special to The Washington Post
Monday, Jan. 31, 2000; Page D11

ATLANTA, Jan. 30 – Keith Lyle, who missed eight games this season with a bruised nerve in his left shoulder and neck area, started at free safety for the St. Louis Rams ahead of Devin Bush. But Bush and Lyle switched places after just one series and Lyle played only in obvious passing situations.

Rams Coach Dick Vermeil said Lyle (Marshall High School and the University of Virginia) deserved the chance to start because he was a starter before being injured. Vermeil also said Lyle has been with the organization five years and deserved a chance to start in the biggest game of his career.

Lyle had started 73 consecutive games for the Rams before he injured his shoulder against Carolina on Nov. 14. Lyle, who was voted a Pro Bowl alternate, had 40 tackles and two interceptions in seven games.

Bush called the Georgia Dome his home field for three seasons and played for Atlanta in last year's Super Bowl loss to the Denver Broncos. He was drafted in the first round (26th overall) by the Falcons in 1995.

Thigpen Deactivated
Tennessee Titans wide receiver Yancey Thigpen was sidelined with a hairline fracture in his right foot.

Thigpen broke his foot in the AFC championship game last week and didn't practice all week, but the two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver had hoped that a splint in his right shoe would allow him to play.

He tested the shoe a couple of hours before kickoff, talked with Titans Coach Jeff Fisher and trainer Steve Watterson and then went off the field.

Thigpen was deactivated for the game. Isaac Byrd started in Thigpen's place. Byrd, who started six games during the regular season when Thigpen was injured, caught 14 passes for 261 passes.

Wilkins Gets His Kicks
St. Louis place kicker Jeff Wilkins said he was in pain most of the week because of a flare-up of tendinitis in his left (nonkicking) leg. Early in the week, there was some question whether he would even kick in the game.

Wilkins's leg looked strong today as he put several kickoffs into the end zone. But Wilkins missed a 34-yard field goal attempt in the first half. Wilkins can "run through" the football on kickoffs, but he said he has problems when he has to plant his foot on field goal attempts.

The Rams also missed a chance to score when Mike Horan, Wilkins's holder, had the football slip through his hands on a 35-yard field goal attempt in the first quarter that would have given St. Louis a 3-0 lead. Horan said during the week that the NFL uses new footballs for the game and the balls might be slick.

"It was very slick," Horan said. "Even Kurt [Warner] said so."

Quiet on the Front
Rams right tackle Fred Miller just wanted to play Titans rookie Jevon Kearse on a level – and quiet – playing field.

When the Rams and Titans played last Halloween at Tennessee's Adelphia Coliseum, Miller was whistled for six false starts and gave up a sack to Kearse, who caused quarterback Kurt Warner to fumble. The Titans won that game, 24-21.

Today, Miller took on Kearse in the relative quiet of the Georgia Dome and didn't allow a sack. Miller blamed the noise in the Titans' stadium for his poor Halloween performance.

"I thought it was noise when we played in Tennessee," said Miller, a fourth-year pro from Baylor. "The crowd noise wasn't a factor. That was the key thing.

"I wasn't surprised. My teammates weren't surprised. They said, 'You got him one-on-one.' "

Kearse nearly got to Warner on the game-winning touchdown pass. Warner released the ball and Kearse bashed him to the ground. The ball was underthrown but Isaac Bruce came back to catch the ball and turn a bad pass into a 73-yard touchdown play.

"He didn't get rid of the ball just in time, he got rid of it early," Kearse said. "It was Hail Mary."