Confetti fluttered onto the cheering crowd Sunday night in Atlanta as one of the greatest players in Titans history, Hall of Fame offensive lineman Bruce Matthews, stood on the field at the Georgia Dome one last time.
It was right there, in January 2000, where Mike Jones tackled Kevin Dyson just inches short of the end zone as time expired to secure the Rams’ 23-16 victory over the Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV.
It had taken Matthews 17 NFL seasons to reach that point, and now, 17 years later, here was his son Jake, the Falcons’ starting left tackle, celebrating an NFC Championship game victory over the Packers in the final game in the Georgia Dome. The Falcons will face the Patriots on Feb. 5 in Super Bowl LI in Houston – Jake Matthews’ hometown – before christening a new $1.5 billion stadium next season in Atlanta.
“It was a big thrill, no question,” Bruce Matthews told The Tennessean on Monday, marveling at the confluence of events and his son reaching the Super Bowl in just his third pro season. “That was pretty cool, the fact that that’s the last game to be played in the Georgia Dome. What a way to send the building off. It was pretty neat the way it all worked out, in terms of him winning it there and then coming back home to Houston for the Super Bowl, which is about as cool as it can get.”
Matthews still thinks about the Titans’ lone Super Bowl appearance, and what might have been had that ball crossed the goal line and an extra point sailed through the uprights to tie the score.
Standing on the same field had little to do with it. Every year he’s reminded of how close the Titans came.
“Usually come playoff time, NFL Films, they’ll dredge it up,” Matthews said, also pointing to the Oilers’ 41-38 loss to the Bills in the wild-card round in 1993, when Houston blew a 32-point lead in what remains the largest comeback in NFL history.
“Even that and the comeback by Buffalo, the 35-3 game, I mean, I watch (the replays) and it’s like, I know the outcome, but while I’m watching it I get such a euphoric feeling, like I know we’re going to win both those games, even though I know they don’t work out in the end.”
Matthews steeled himself against those same feelings when the Falcons led 24-0 at halftime.
“I flash back to the feeling I was feeling during those games,” Matthews said, “and I actually thought about both of them (Sunday). The Falcons were up 24-zip at halftime and I’m like, ‘I remember the feeling of euphoria in the Buffalo Bills locker room before we blew that lead.’
“I don’t want to feel that way, so that way it ain’t going to happen to Jake. And sure enough it didn’t.”
The NFC title game was surreal for Matthews for another reason, too.
Matthews’ nephew, Packers linebacker Clay Matthews III, was on the losing end.
“It’s just further confirmation about how blessed our family has been football-wise,” Matthews said. “We went into the game, obviously we wanted Jake to win, but we knew that had the Packers come out on top, we would have been just as excited for Clay.
“But we’re real happy the way it turned out.”
Matthews said the Falcons have a distinct advantage, when compared to the compressed schedule the Titans had to contend with in 2000.
“The biggest thing they’ve got going for them is they’ve got two weeks till the game,” Matthews said. “We came back after the game. There was a big pep rally at the stadium, and then we immediately went in and had a meeting kind of going over the logistics of the Super Bowl. And we had to be back at the facility that next morning.
“It was such a whirlwind, the fact that we only had one week between the AFC Championship and the Super Bowl. (The Falcons) had the big meeting today, but I think the one thing that both of us will have in common is when the game finally rolls around it’s a relief, because … there’s so much going on, whether it’s media day or things of that nature, it’s just, you’re ready to play the game.
“I remember that explicitly from when we played in the Super Bowl. I know for him, with the extra week, it’ll be the same way.”
Reach Jason Wolf at jwolf@tennessean.com and on Twitter @JasonWolf and on Instagram and Snapchat at TitansBeat.
