NFC Championship: St. Louis Rams 11.2C Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6 1999–2000 NFL playoffs

at trans world dome, st. louis, missouri

game time: 4:00 p.m. est/3:00 p.m. cst
game weather: played indoors, domed stadium
game attendance: 66,396
referee: bill carollo
tv announcers (fox): pat summerall (play-by-play), john madden (color commentator), d. j. johnson, , ron pitts (sideline reporters)

in hard fought defensive struggle in both teams combined 512 yards , lost total of 5 turnovers, rams quarterback kurt warner s 11-yard touchdown pass ricky proehl 4:44 left in game enough edge out tampa bay.

on first play of game, bucs defensive end steve white intercepted screen pass warner on rams 20-yard line, setting 25-yard field goal martín gramática. rams responded driving 74 yards in 16 plays warner completing 7 of 10 passes 61 yards, including 22-yard completion tight end roland williams. on third , goal bucs 7-yard line fumbled handoff exchange warner marshall faulk on third down forced them settle 24-yard field goal jeff wilkins.

the second quarter full of missed opportunities , poor play both teams. on first play, high snap bucs center tony mayberry went on quarterback shaun king s head , end zone. king managed knock ball out of end zone prevent touchdown, gave rams safety , 5–3 lead. az-zahir hakim returned free kick 15-yards rams 40-yard line. hakim caught 14-yard pass , ran 6 team drove bucs 26, drive halted there , wilkins missed 44-yard field goal attempt. following punt each team, tampa bay got field position return, 14-yard punt return karl williams gave them first down on rams 45. although drive st. louis 26, fair no better rams did. on third down, king lost fumble while being sacked charlie clemons. king recovered ball, 13-yard loss pushed team out of field goal range. next time tampa bay had ball, king threw pass rams 41 went right arms of st. louis defensive todd lyght. few plays later, half ended score still 5-3, despite rams 159–75 advantage on buccaneers in total yards.

just in first half, tampa bay scored field goal on opening drive on third quarter, set 32-yard reception jacquez green , 15-yard facemask penalty on taje allen. meanwhile, warner intercepted twice buccaneers defense, including costly interception hardy nickerson on tampa bay 3-yard line. late in fourth quarter, rams defensive dré bly intercepted pass king @ buccaneers 49-yard line. several plays later, warner threw 30-yard touchdown pass proehl 4:44 left, taking 11–6 lead after two-point conversion failed. king responded leading bucs deep st. louis territory. 1:25 left, 22-yard completion williams gave team first down on rams 22-yard line. on next play, sacked grant wistrom 13-yard loss. after that, potential 11-yard completion bert emanuel controversially overturned replay challenge (the play led nfl adopt bert emanuel rule after season still allows catch made if receiver maintains possession , control of ball, if ball touches ground). king threw 2 consecutive incompletions, turning ball on over downs.

proehl sole offensive star of game, finishing 6 catches 100 yards , touchdown.