Top Sports Moments At The Georgia Dome Part 1

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusmail
Facebooktwittergoogle_plus
Georgia DomeThe Georgia Dome opened for business in 1992 and it has indeed been one of the jewels of the sports world. Atlanta, Georgia has long fancied itself as the unofficial capitol of the South and the city was the perfect spot to have one of the biggest domed stadiums in the world. The Georgia Dome has hosted two Super Bowls, WrestleMania 27, basketball and gymnastics during the 1996 Summer Olympics, and the Southeastern Conference’s Championship Game in football since 1994. The City of Atlanta along with the Falcons attempted to secure another visit by the Super Bowl, but NFL commissioner Roger Goodell didn’t approve the big game coming to Dixie and the suddenly “outdated” Georgia Dome and thus the folks down in Dixie began plans for a new stadium. The Falcons are scheduled to move to a new stadium in 2017 and the Georgia Dome will more than likely become the latest victim of the wrecking ball. But we will always have the memories and here are some of the top sports moments that have taken place at the Georgia Dome.


Super Bowl 34-St. Louis Rams vs. Tennessee Titans


The dawn of the new millennium brought with it a new era for the National Football League. For the first three decades of the Super Bowl, the game developed a reputation of having one-sided scores. But that changed on January 30, 2000 when the St. Louis Rams met the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl 34. Both teams entered the game looking for their first Super Bowl Championship. 
Mike JonesThe game was a tale of two halves. The Rams dominated the first half of the game, but at halftime they were only up 9-0. 
In the third quarter Rams quarterback Kurt Warner connected with wide receiver Torry Holt on a 9-yard touchdown pass to put St. Louis up 16-0. Undaunted by this the Titans began to claw back into the game.
In a typical “ground and pound” drive by the Titans, they marched down the field to the goal line. A yard away from pay dirt Titans running back Eddie George punched it in to put Tennessee on the scoreboard. The Titans would dominate the majority of the second half and with a few minutes left in the game they would tie the score at 16.
On the Rams next offensive play Warner connected with wide receiver Issac Bruce on a 73-yard touchdown pass. With just under two minutes left in regulation the Titans would get the football back as they attempted to once again tie the game. Titans quarterback Steve McNair shrugged off Ram defenders as he led his team down the field. 
With six seconds remaining in the game the Titans would have one last shot from the Rams 10-yard line. The Titans called a slant pass for wide receiver Kevin Dyson. McNair hit Dyson in stride for what appeared to be the game tying score. But Rams linebacker Mike Jones peeled back to tackle Dyson at the St. Louis 1-yard line to preserve the 23-16 lead.
Warner would finish the game with 414 passing yards and a pair of touchdowns as he earned Super Bowl MVP honors.


2012 SEC Championship Game-Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Georgia Bulldogs

Alabama-GeorgiaThere was plenty on the line when the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs took the field to see who would be crowned as the Southeast Conference Champion in December 2012. ‘Bama was ranked second overall in the Bowl Championship Series poll while the Dawgs were ranked third. The winner of the game would advance to the BCS Championship Game and the contest was a de facto “semifinal game”.
The game was a defensive stalemate until early in the second quarter when Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray found his tight end Jay Rome for a 19-yard touchdown pass to put the Bulldogs up 7-0. The score would remain that way until late in the second quarter when Alabama running back Eddie Lacy would break free for a 41-yard touchdown run. As the clock expired to end the first half, Alabama kicker Jeremy Shelley was true from 22 yards out as the Tide to a 10-7 lead into the dressing room. 
Instead of a defensive slug fest in the second half the offenses woke up.
Early in the third quarter Georgia running back Todd Gurley found pay dirt from three yards out to put the Dawgs back in front 14-10. The Bulldogs were feeling really good about themselves themselves when linebacker Alec Olgetree returned a blocked field goal 49 yards for a touchdown to put Georgia up 21-10.

But Alabama head coach Nick Saban was unfazed as he turned to his running back duo of Eddie Lacy and T.J. Yeldon. For the game ‘Bama finished with 350 yards on the ground and most of it came in the second half. 

The Bulldogs defense could not stop Alabama in the second half, but their offense picked them up. Led by Murray, Georgia was able to answer each run by Alabama. With just over three minutes left in the game Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron found wide receiver Amari Cooper for a 45-yard touchdown that would put the Tide ahead 32-28. With a trip to the BCS Championship still hanging in the balance, Murray led the Dawgs down the field. In the waning seconds Murray’s pass was deflected and it was snagged by Georgia wide receiver Chris Conley who was tackled at the 5-yard line. With the clock ticking Georgia was unable to stop the clock and thus it was the Tide that would win the SEC Championship.

Sparked by the victory Alabama would win their second consecutive BCS Championship and third overall in four seasons.

1998 NFC Divisional Playoffs-San Francisco 49ers vs. Atlanta Falcons

Jamal AndersonThe Atlanta Falcons entered the National Football League in 1966, but for years they played the backseat role to the St. Louis Rams and San Francisco 49ers in the NFC West. Prior to 1998, the Falcons had only won the NFC West once, but things changed that season. Led by running back Jamal Anderson, the Falcons became “The Dirty Birds” and they took the NFL by storm. The Falcons went 14-2 and they won the NFC West for the first time since 1980. The Falcons would receive a first-round bye and they would meet the five-time Super Bowl Champion Niners in the NFC Divisional Round at the Georgia Dome.
On Saturday January 9,1999 the Georgia Dome was packed as the Falcons hosted their first playoff game in nearly two decades. It didn’t take the Falcons that long to give the home fans something to cheer about. In the first quarter Anderson scored on a two-yard rushing touchdown to put the Falcons up 7-0. It was another dose of Anderson in the second quarter; this time on a 34-yard scamper to put the Falcons up 14-0. But the Niners were not prepared to go away quietly. 49ers quarterback Steve Young threw the last playoff touchdown pass of his career as he found wide receiver Jerry Rice from 17 yards out cut the F
alcons lead in half. 49ers kicker Wade Richey closed out the scoring in the first half by connecting on a 36-yard field goal to make it 14-10 in favor of the Falcons.
The majority of the second half was a defensive stalemate, but Falcons kicker Morten Anderson would hit two field goals to give Atlanta a 20-10 lead. Late in the fourth quarter San Francisco would have one more shot to win as Young led the team on an 87-yard touchdown drive with just under three minutes remaining in the game. A botched snap on the ensuing extra point forced the Niners to go for the two-point conversion where backup quarterback Ty Detmer found tight end Greg Clark to make the score 20-18. 
The Niners would then kick away to the Falcons and play defense. The Niners would stop the Falcons and they had one more shot to win. But with under 30 seconds remaining and without any timeouts, the pressure was on Young who was intercepted by Falcons defensive back William White. 
The game was over and thus the Falcons won their first home playoff game in franchise history.
Chicago Bulls vs. Atlanta Hawks 3/27/1998

Michael JordanHeading into the 1997-1998 NBA season there was speculation that Chicago Bulls shooting guard Michael Jordan would retire. Jordan was already a five-time NBA Champion and in the two previous seasons he led the Bulls to 139 wins in the regular season.
From 1997-1999 the Atlanta Hawks split their home games between the Alexander Memorial Coliseum on the campus of Georgia Tech University and at the Georgia Dome. With the notion the Jordan would be retiring following the end of the regular season, the Hawks decided to have their last regular season encounter with Jordan and the Bulls at the Georgia Dome.
Generally for their home games at the Georgia Dome, the Hawks would only use half of the stadium and they would attract about 19,000 fans. But on March 27, 1998 the Georgia Dome was able to set an NBA attendance record of 62,046.
Jordan would go on to score 34 points and the Bulls would defeat the Hawks 89-74. The victory was the Bulls seventh straight as they would improve their record to 54-17 en route to winning their third consecutive NBA Championship.
Source: Augusta.com
Facebooktwittergoogle_plusmail
Facebooktwittergoogle_plus
By | 2014-07-31T01:17:35+00:00 June 14th, 2014|Categories: College Football, National Basketball Association, National Football League, NCAA|0 Comments

About the Author:

Leave A Comment