Isaac Bruce makes a case for the Greatest Show on Turf over Super Bowl champion Chiefs

The state of Missouri has celebrated two Super Bowl championships in the past 20 years.

The Kansas City Chiefs, of course, won their first Super Bowl in 50 years last month, beating the San Francisco 49ers. The Chiefs won on the strength of dominant offense play led by young star quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

The Chiefs’ victory came 20 years after St. Louis fans celebrated the Rams’ winning the Super Bowl on the final play of the game against the Tennessee Titans (it was the second Super Bowl I attended as a journalist and it’s an awesome memory).

Of course, those Rams were an elite offense known as the Greatest Show on Turf. Not only is it one of the best sports nicknames of all time, but was, of course, the inspiration for this site.

Twenty years may have passed, but one of the key figures from the Rams’ only Super Bowl win is sticking up for his crew.

Receiver Isaac Bruce – who will go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this summer – said there’s no way the current Chiefs’ offense could stack up with his Kurt Warner-led offense.

Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Via Pro Football Talk, Bruce had this to say in a radio interview with 1480 WHBC in Canton, Ohio:

“I think you have a team every year that we can compare to. This year, it’s the Kansas City Chiefs,” Bruce said in an interview at the Hall of Fame. “What I’m asked about the Chiefs is, there are some similarities. They’ve got the speed on the outside from a perimeter standpoint. I think we may have been better at the run game than they are. I think our defense was probably a little bit better than what they had ...

“But I always say this: From a personnel standpoint. I think we were better and from a mentality standpoint, I think we were better,” he continued. “Because what you see with the Kansas City Chiefs right now is pretty much our spring practices where there’s no tackling allowed. What we had, we went up against a totally different gauntlet — guys were looking to take your head off. It was being promoted …

“You put us in this era, I don’t think it’s fair. It wouldn’t be fair because we had guys who were not afraid to go across the middle of the field, make plays, run slants and be there for the next play to do the exact same thing. Just with the rule change, it’s totally different,” Bruce said.

Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images

Let’s look at some key stats for both teams:

1999 Rams

Points: 526 points (32.9 per game, 1^st in league).

Warner stats: 4,353 yards, 41 touchdowns.

Leading rusher: Marshall Faulk, 1,351 yards

Leading receivers: Torry Holt, 97, 788, 6;Bruce, 77, 1,65, 12.

Nhat V. Meyer/MediaNews Group/The Mercury News via Getty Images

2019 Chiefs

Points: 451, (28.2, 5th)

Mahomes stats: 4,031, 26.

Leading rusher: Damien Williams, 498 yards

Leading receivers: Travis Kelce, 97, 1,229; Tyreek Hill, 58, 860.

Conclusion: I don’t think there is any doubt the 1999 Rams’ offense was better than the 2019 Chiefs. But, remember, Mahomes and Hill both missed time with injuries. The Chiefs’ offense was still extremely explosive. Kansas City scored a total of 117 points in three playoff games. The 1999 Rams scored a total of 83 points in the playoffs. They both resulted in the Lombardi Trophy, though. That Rams’ offense was full of Hall of Famers. The same may end up being said about these Chiefs. But, I buy Bruce’s theory. The 1999 Rams’ offense was better than the 2019 Chiefs.

What do you think?