SUPER BOWL / FIRST LOOK

TENNESSEE vs. ST. LOUIS

Sunday, 3:15 p.m., at Atlanta, TV: Ch. 7

* How they got here: A wild-card team as second-place finishers in the AFC Central, Tennessee defeated Buffalo, 22-16, in a wild-card playoff game; defeated Indianapolis, 19-16, in a divisional playoff game; defeated Jacksonville, 33-14, in the AFC championship game. The winner of the NFC West, St. Louis defeated Minnesota, 49-37, in a divisional game and defeated Tampa Bay, 11-6, in the NFC championship game.

* 1999 meetings: Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair, playing his first game in six weeks after back surgery, threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as the Titans held on for a 24-21 victory over the Rams on Oct. 31 at Nashville. The Titans outscored the Rams, 21-0, in the first 14 minutes and handed the Rams, who had opened the season with six victories, their first loss of the season. “It may have been a shock to a lot of people that the big game of Week 8 was the Titans and the Rams,” Ram tackle D’Marco Farr said. “But it lived up to its hype.”

* Common opponents in 1999: The Titans and Rams had six common opponents during the season.

Cincinnati--Tennessee defeated the Bengals, 36-35 and 24-14; St. Louis defeated the Bengals, 38-10.

Cleveland--Tennessee defeated the Browns, 26-9 and 33-21; St. Louis defeated the Browns, 34-3.

San Francisco--Tennessee lost to the 49ers, 24-22; St. Louis defeated the 49ers, 42-20 and 23-7.

Baltimore--Tennessee defeated the Ravens, 14-11 and lost to them 41-14; St. Louis defeated the Ravens, 27-10.

New Orleans--Tennessee defeated the Saints, 24-21; St. Louis defeated the Saints, 43-12 and 30-14.

Atlanta--Tennessee defeated the Falcons, 30-17; St. Louis defeated the Falcons, 35-7 and 41-13. Tennessee was 7-2 against common opponents, the Rams were 9-0.

* About Tennessee: The first person Coach Jeff Fisher should call when he begins his Super Bowl game plan is Tony Dungy. For obvious reasons.

Dungy’s Buccaneers were the first team to go into St. Louis and all but shut down the Rams. Tennessee matches up well with St. Louis, particularly on defense. Just as Tampa Bay harried Warner into three interceptions, the Titans got two interceptions against Mark Brunell and six turnovers altogether Sunday. They also got their sixth safety in 19 games, forced when Jevon Kearse occupied two blockers and allowed Jason Fisk and Josh Evans to sack Brunell in the end zone.

* About St. Louis: One factor in the Rams’ favor at the Super Bowl in Atlanta: It will be in a dome, on artificial turf. The Rams were 10-0 at home--in a dome, on artificial turf. The Rams even won at the Georgia Dome this season, beating the Falcons, 41-13. But the Rams have to be worried about their performance Sunday. The offense was out of sync most of the game. Warner frequently threw behind receivers and some balls floated to their intended target. Offensive coordinator Mike Martz at times appeared flummoxed by the Buccaneer defense. The Rams wasted three timeouts because Warner couldn’t get the snap off in time. But Warner says they’ll be ready in the Super Bowl: “I thought we did a fine job, I just thought we didn’t finish drives. We had chances to score some more points but we just never finished it.”