Super Bowl XVIII was an American football game played on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XVII champion Washington Redskins and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Los Angeles Raiders to determine the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1983 season. The Raiders defeated the Redskins, 38–9. The Raiders' 38 points scored and 29-point margin of victory broke Super Bowl records; it remains the most points scored by an AFC team in a Super Bowl, later matched by the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII. This is the first time the city of Tampa hosted the Super Bowl and was the AFC's last Super Bowl win until Super Bowl XXXII, won by the Denver Broncos.
The Redskins entered the game as the defending Super Bowl XVII champions, finished the 1983 regular season with a league-best 14–2 record, led the league in fewest rushing yards allowed, and set a then-NFL record in scoring with 541 points. The Raiders posted a 12–4 regular-season record in 1983, their second in Los Angeles, having moved there from Oakland in May 1982.
The Raiders dominated Super Bowl XVIII outgaining the Redskins in total yards, 385 to 283, and built a 21–3 halftime lead, aided by touchdowns on Derrick Jensen's blocked punt recovery, and Jack Squirek's 5-yard interception return on a screen pass with seven seconds left in the first half. This is also the second out of five Super Bowls where the winning team outscored the losing team in every quarter. Los Angeles' defense also sacked Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann six times and intercepted him twice. Raiders halfback Marcus Allen, who became the third Heisman Trophy winner to be named the Super Bowl MVP, carried the ball 20 times for a then-record total of 191 yards (breaking the previous record of 166 yards set by John Riggins in Super Bowl XVII the year before) and two touchdowns, including a then-record 74-yard run in the third quarter. He also caught 2 passes for 18 yards. Allen was the first running back who was a halfback to be named Most Valuable Player. All previous running backs who won the MVP were fullbacks.
The telecast of the game on CBS was seen by an estimated 77.62 million viewers.
Background
Host selection process
The NFL awarded Super Bowl XVIII to Tampa on June 3, 1981, at the owners' meetings in Detroit. This was the first time Tampa hosted the game, and it was the first Super Bowl to be played in Florida in a city other than Miami. Tampa Stadium won the rights to host the game in a landslide, earning 24 out of the 26 votes (there were two abstentions). Three other cities submitted bids for XVIII: Pasadena (Rose Bowl), Miami (Orange Bowl), and New Orleans (Superdome). Detroit (Silverdome) and Dallas (Cotton Bowl) also made presentations, but stated they were only interested in bidding for Super Bowl XIX. Detroit, in particular, was a long shot, as they were slated to host Super Bowl XVI in just over six months, and owners were not ready to award them a second game before they finished their first.
Tampa entered the meeting as a heavy favorite to land the game, representing a new market for the Super Bowl. They also received praise from the other owners for their fan support. The Buccaneers had joined the league as an expansion team in 1976, but despite starting 0–26, maintained a loyal fanbase. Pasadena received only one vote, owing much to the fact that they were already slated to host XVII. New Orleans fell out of consideration after a lackluster reception five months earlier at XV. Meanwhile, Miami, back in the running, was also voted down, in an apparent effort to continue providing Dolphins owner Joe Robbie with leverage to build a new stadium. With no outstanding options, owners decided to postpone the awarding of XIX until the 1982 meeting. Pro Bowl Safety Vann McElroy recovered 3 fumbles and ranked second in the NFL with 8 interceptions. The Raiders' head coach was Tom Flores.
Playoffs
The Raiders only allowed a combined total of 24 points in their playoff victories over the Pittsburgh Steelers, 38–10, and the Seattle Seahawks (who had beaten the Raiders twice during the regular season), 30–14. Allen had been particularly effective in the playoffs, gaining a total of 375 combined yards and scoring three touchdowns. The Raiders' defense limited Seahawks running back Curt Warner, who had led the AFC in rushing yards (1,449 yards), to just 26 yards on 11 carries.
Meanwhile, the Redskins crushed the Los Angeles Rams 51–7, and then narrowly defeated the San Francisco 49ers 24–21, with Mark Moseley kicking the game-winning field goal with just 40 seconds left. Mirroring the previous postseason, Riggins was a key contributor, rushing for a combined playoff total of 242 yards and five touchdowns in the two games. In doing so, Riggins extended his NFL record of consecutive playoff games with at least 100 rushing yards to six. Brown also was a key contributor in both playoff wins, recording a combined total of 11 receptions for 308 yards and a touchdown. Washington's defense was just as effective at stopping their postseason opponent's rushing attack as they had been during the regular season, limiting running backs Eric Dickerson and Wendell Tyler to a combined total of 60 rushing yards. Dickerson was the NFL's leading rusher with 1,808 yards and 18 touchdowns during the season, but could only gain 16 yards on 10 carries against the Redskins' defense.
Broadcasting
The game was broadcast in the United States by CBS, the last Super Bowl before ABC was added to the annual broadcasting rotation with the next game the following year (this was added to it as part of a new television contract that began with the 1982 season and a new alternation process that began with the previous game on NBC at the end of that season). The CBS broadcast team consisted of play-by-play announcer Pat Summerall and color commentator John Madden. Hosting pregame coverage for The Super Bowl Today was Brent Musburger, Irv Cross, Phyllis George (in her final assignment for CBS), and Jimmy "The Greek" Snyder. Other contributors included Jim Hill, sports director of CBS station KNXT in Los Angeles (which broadcast the game in its market; WDVM aired the game in the Washington, DC area); Charlsie Cantey; Pat O'Brien; Dick Vermeil; Tom Brookshier; Hank Stram; John Tesh; and CBS News correspondent Charles Osgood. During this game, CBS introduced a new theme and open that would later be used for their college football coverage until it was replaced by the current college football theme introduced on Super Bowl XXI (the next Super Bowl CBS aired at the end of the 1986 season).
CBS Radio had the game nationally with Jack Buck and Hank Stram. Dick Stockton would serve as pregame host for CBS Radio coverage; while Musburger would also contribute halftime commentary in addition to hosting CBS television coverage Locally, Bill King and Rich Marotta called the game on KRLA in Los Angeles; and Frank Herzog, Sam Huff, and Sonny Jurgensen were on WMAL-AM on Washington, D.C.
CBS' Super Bowl lead-out program was the pilot episode of Airwolf.
The game was simulcast in Canada on CTV and in the United Kingdom on Channel 4.
Apple's famous "1984" television commercial, introducing the Macintosh computer and directed by Ridley Scott, ran during a timeout in the third quarter. The advertisement changed how the Super Bowl would be used as a media advertising platform.
The highlight package to Super Bowl XVIII was voiceover artist John Facenda's final project for NFL Films. Facenda died eight months after the game. An expanded version of Black Sunday (the highlight film's title) has appeared on NFL's Greatest Games, containing an additional hour of game footage and more audio play-by-play from both the local KRLA and WMAL radio broadcasts.
Entertainment
The pregame festivities, which paid tribute to George Halas, featured the University of Florida Fightin' Gator Marching Band and the Florida State University Marching Chiefs. After a moment of silence for Halas, singer Barry Manilow performed the national anthem. The coin toss ceremony featured Pro Football Hall of Fame fullback and defensive tackle Bronko Nagurski.
The halftime show was a "Salute to Superstars of Silver Screen."
This was the first Super Bowl to feature the game's logo on the uniforms, but only on the back of the helmets and only Washington wore it. The game logo wouldn't return to the uniforms until 1991's Super Bowl XXV, but this time it was located on the front of the jerseys of both teams. Afterwards, the logo was removed from the jerseys and wouldn't become a regular practice until Super Bowl XXXII in 1998.
Game summary
First quarter
During the first half, the Raiders scored on offense, defense, and special teams, becoming the first team to score two non-offensive touchdowns in a Super Bowl. After both teams forced punts to start the game, Los Angeles tight end Derrick Jensen blocked Jeff Hayes' punt deep in Washington territory and recovered the ball in the end zone for the first touchdown of the game to give the Raiders a 7–0 lead. On their ensuing drive, the Redskins were forced to punt, but Raiders cornerback Ted Watts unknowingly deflected the ball with his arm during a block, and Redskins safety Greg Williams recovered the ball at the Raiders 42-yard line. However, Washington was only able to advance to the Los Angeles 27-yard line and came away with no points after kicker Mark Moseley missed a 44-yard field goal attempt wide left. After the teams traded punts again, Raiders running back Marcus Allen ran 20 yards in two plays to reach the Redskins 42 before the end of the first quarter.
Second quarter
However, the Raiders could not go any further than the Washington 39 and were forced to punt again to start the second quarter. During the kick, Los Angeles punter Ray Guy prevented a disaster when he leaped to pull in a high snap one-handed, before punting through the end zone for a touchback. After the Redskins were forced to punt, Raiders quarterback Jim Plunkett completed a 50-yard pass to wide receiver Cliff Branch, advancing the ball to the Redskins' 15-yard line. Branch said that the Raiders took advantage of the tailwind after the teams switched sides. Two plays later, Plunkett threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Branch, increasing Los Angeles' lead to 14–0. One of the key contributors on the touchdown play was center Dave Dalby. After snapping the ball, Dalby had no one in front of him to block, so he backpedaled into the backfield and spotted linebacker Rich Milot coming at Plunkett from the left side, managing to throw a block against him just in time to prevent a sack and enable Plunkett to throw the ball. Branch became just the fourth player to catch a touchdown pass in two different Super Bowls (after Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, and Butch Johnson).
On their next drive, the Redskins moved the ball 73 yards in 12 plays to the Raiders 7-yard line, with quarterback Joe Theismann completing a 17-yard pass to wide receiver Alvin Garrett on 3rd-and-17 and three passes to tight end Clint Didier for a total of 50 yards. However, linebacker Rod Martin broke up Theismann's third-down pass attempt, forcing Washington to settle for Moseley's 24-yard field goal, cutting their deficit to 14–3. Los Angeles took the ensuing kickoff and drove 41 yards to the Redskins 40-yard line. The drive stalled when Plunkett's third-down pass fell incomplete, but Guy's 27-yard punt pinned Washington back at their own 12-yard line with 12 seconds left in the half. From there, head coach Joe Gibbs had Theismann run a screen play called "Rocket Screen", but Raiders linebacker Jack Squirek intercepted the pass and returned it 5 yards for a touchdown to give Los Angeles a 21–3 halftime lead. The defense was prepared for the play, as Theismann had successfully completed an identical screen pass to running back Joe Washington for a 67-yard gain in their 37–35 victory over the Raiders on October 2. In fact, Los Angeles linebackers coach Charlie Sumner had sent Squirek onto the field as a last-second substitution specifically to cover Washington. "I was mad," said Raiders linebacker Matt Millen, who had to run off the field to avoid a penalty. "I'd called a blitz, and I was cranked up for it, but he told Jack to play the screen and sent him in. I guess Charlie knows what he's doing, huh?"
Third quarter
thumb|right|Allen (center) led the Raiders to a championship in Super Bowl XVIII and earned [[Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award|MVP honors as he rushed for a record of 191 yards, including a memorable 74-yard touchdown run.]]
Washington regrouped in the second half and reached the end zone on their opening drive by marching 70 yards in nine plays. First, Garrett returned the opening kickoff 35 yards from 5 yards deep in the end zone to the Redskins 30-yard line. Then, Theismann completed a 23-yard pass to receiver Charlie Brown to reach the Raiders 47-yard line. Eight plays later, fullback John Riggins finished the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. (Riggins became the second player to run for touchdowns in back-to-back Super Bowls; he had one in Super Bowl XVII en route to winning that game's Super Bowl MVP award.) Moseley's extra point attempt was blocked by Raiders tight end Don Hasselbeck, but the Redskins had cut the score to 21–9 and were just two touchdowns away from taking the lead.
However, the Raiders completely took over the rest of the game, preventing any chance of a Redskins comeback. On the ensuing drive, Washington cornerback Darrell Green was called for a 38-yard pass interference penalty while trying to cover Los Angeles wide receiver Malcolm Barnwell, setting up Allen's 5-yard touchdown run seven plays later to make the score 28–9 in favor of the Raiders. After the next three possessions resulted in punts, the Redskins had an opportunity to score after cornerback Anthony Washington forced and recovered a fumble from Branch at the Raiders 35. They moved the ball 9 yards in their next three plays, and then faced 4th-and-1. Washington attempted to convert the fourth down with a run by Riggins, just like their successful fourth-down conversion against the Miami Dolphins in the previous Super Bowl, but this time, Riggins was tackled by Martin for no gain, giving the ball back to Los Angeles.
Immediately after the turnover on downs, on the last play of the third quarter, Plunkett handed the ball off to Allen, who started to run left as the play was designed. But after taking an unusually wide turn in that direction (he later confessed, "I messed up."
Box score
Final statistics
Sources: NFL.com Super Bowl XVIII, Super Bowl XVIII Play Finder LA, Super Bowl XVIII Play Finder Was
Statistical comparison
{| class="wikitable"
!
!Washington Redskins
!Los Angeles Raiders
|-
|First downs||19||18
|-
|First downs rushing||7||8
|-
|First downs passing||10||9
|-
|First downs penalty||2||1
|-
|Third down efficiency||6/17||5/13
|-
|Fourth down efficiency||0/1||0/0
|-
|Net yards rushing||90||231
|-
|Rushing attempts||32||33
|-
|Yards per rush||2.8||7.0
|-
|Passing – Completions/attempts||16/35||16/25
|-
|Times sacked-total yards||6–50||2–18
|-
|Interceptions thrown||2||0
|-
|Net yards passing||193||154
|-
|Total net yards||283||385
|-
|Punt returns-total yards||2–35||2–8
|-
|Kickoff returns-total yards||7–132||1–17
|-
|Interceptions-total return yards||0–0||2–5
|-
|Punts-average yardage||8–32.4||7–42.7
|-
|Fumbles-lost||1–1||3–2
|-
|Penalties-total yards||4–62||7–56
|-
|Time of possession||30:38||29:22
|-
|Turnovers||3||2
|-
|}
Individual statistics
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="6" style=";"|Redskins passing
|-
!
!C/ATT<sup>1</sup>
!Yds
!TD
!INT
!Rating
|-
|Joe Theismann
|16/35
|243
|0
|2
|45.3
|-
! colspan="6" style=";"|Redskins rushing
|-
!
!Car<sup>2</sup>
!Yds
!TD
!LG<sup>3</sup>
!Yds/Car
|-
|John Riggins
|26
|64
|1
|8
|2.46
|-
|Joe Theismann
|3
|18
|0
|8
|6.00
|-
|Joe Washington
|3
|8
|0
|5
|2.67
|-
! colspan="6" style=";"|Redskins receiving
|-
!
!Rec<sup>4</sup>
!Yds
!TD
!LG<sup>3</sup>
!Target<sup>5</sup>
|-
|Clint Didier
|5
|65
|0
|20
|7
|-
|Charlie Brown
|3
|93
|0
|60
|7
|-
|Joe Washington
|3
|20
|0
|10
|6
|-
|Nick Giaquinto
|2
|21
|0
|14
|3
|-
|Art Monk
|1
|26
|0
|26
|10
|-
|Alvin Garrett
|1
|17
|0
|17
|1
|-
|John Riggins
|1
|1
|0
|1
|1
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! colspan="6" style=";"|Raiders passing
|-
!
!C/ATT<sup>1</sup>
!Yds
!TD
!INT
!Rating
|-
|Jim Plunkett
|16/25
|172
|1
|0
|97.4
|-
! colspan="6" style=";"|Raiders rushing
|-
!
!Car<sup>2</sup>
!Yds
!TD
!LG<sup>3</sup>
!Yds/Car
|-
|Marcus Allen
|20
|191
|2
|74
|9.55
|-
|Greg Pruitt
|5
|17
|0
|11
|3.40
|-
|Kenny King
|3
|12
|0
|10
|4.00
|-
|Chester Willis
|1
|7
|0
|7
|7.00
|-
|Frank Hawkins
|3
|6
|0
|3
|2.00
|-
|Jim Plunkett
|1
|–2
|0
|–2
|–2.00
|-
! colspan="6" style=";"|Raiders receiving
|-
!
!Rec<sup>4</sup>
!Yds
!TD
!LG<sup>3</sup>
!Target<sup>5</sup>
|-
|Cliff Branch
|6
|94
|1
|50
|7
|-
|Todd Christensen
|4
|32
|0
|14
|9
|-
|Frank Hawkins
|2
|20
|0
|14
|3
|-
|Marcus Allen
|2
|18
|0
|12
|2
|-
|Kenny King
|2
|8
|0
|7
|2
|-
|Malcolm Barnwell
|0
|0
|0
|0
|1
|-
|}
<sup>1</sup>Completions/attempts
<sup>2</sup>Carries
<sup>3</sup>Long gain
<sup>4</sup>Receptions
<sup>5</sup>Times targeted
Records set
The following records were set in Super Bowl XVIII, according to the official NFL.com boxscore, the 2016 NFL Record & Fact Book The minimums are shown (in parentheses).
{| class="wikitable"
!colspan=3|Player records set
|-
!colspan=3|Passing records
|-
|Highest passer rating,<br> career, (40 attempts) || 122.8 ||rowspan=3|Jim Plunkett<br />(Los Angeles)
|-
|Highest completion<br> percentage, career, (40 attempts) || 63.0%<br> (29–46)
|- style="border-bottom: 2px solid gray"
|Lowest percentage, passes<br> had intercepted, career, (40 attempts)|| 0%<br> (0–46)
|-
!colspan=3|Rushing records
|-
|Most yards, game || 191 ||rowspan=4| Marcus Allen<br />(Los Angeles)
|-
|Longest rushing touchdown || 74 yards
|-
|Longest run from scrimmage || 74 yards
|- style="border-bottom: 2px solid gray"
|Highest average gain, career (20 attempts)|| 9.6 yards<br />(191–20)
|-
!colspan=3|Combined yardage records <sup>†</sup>
|-
|Most yards gained, game || 209 || Marcus Allen<br />(Los Angeles)
|-
!colspan=3|Special Teams
|-
|Longest punt return || 34 yards || Darrell Green<br />(Washington)
|-
!colspan=3|Records tied
|-
|Most touchdowns, game || 2 || rowspan=2|Marcus Allen<br />(Los Angeles)
|-style="border-bottom: 2px solid gray"
|Most rushing touchdowns, game || 2
|-style="border-bottom: 2px solid gray"
|Most receiving touchdowns, career || 3 || Cliff Branch<br />(Los Angeles)
|-style="border-bottom: 2px solid gray"
|Most interceptions returned for touchdown, game || 1 || Jack Squirek<br />(Los Angeles)
|- style="border-bottom: 2px solid gray"
|Most kickoff returns, game || 5 || Alvin Garrett<br />(Washington)
|-
|Most (one point) extra points, game || 5 || rowspan=2 style="border-bottom: 2px solid gray" | Chris Bahr<br />(Los Angeles)
|- style="border-bottom: 2px solid gray"
|Most (one point) extra points, career || 8
|-
|Most fair catches, game || 3 || Greg Pruitt<br />(Los Angeles)
|}
- † This category includes rushing, receiving, interception returns, punt returns, kickoff returns, and fumble returns.
{| class="wikitable"
!colspan=3|Team records set
{| class="wikitable"
! width="150px"" style=";" | Washington !! Position !! Position !! width="150px"" style=";" | Los Angeles
|-
| colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" | Offense
|-
| Charlie Brown || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | WR || bgcolor="#FFCC00" | Cliff Branch‡
|-
| Joe Jacoby || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | LT || Bruce Davis
|-
| bgcolor="#FFCC00" | Russ Grimm‡ || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | LG || Charley Hannah
|-
| Jeff Bostic || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | C || Dave Dalby
|-
| Mark May || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | RG || Mickey Marvin
|-
| George Starke || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | RT || Henry Lawrence
|-
| Don Warren || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | TE || Todd Christensen
|-
| bgcolor="#FFCC00" | Art Monk‡ || colspan="2" align="center" | WR || Malcolm Barnwell
|-
| Joe Theismann || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | QB || Jim Plunkett
|-
| bgcolor="#FFCC00" | John Riggins‡ || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | FB || Kenny King
|-
| Rick Walker || style="text-align:center;" | TE || style="text-align:center;" | RB || bgcolor="#FFCC00" | Marcus Allen‡
|-
| colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" | Defense
|-
| Todd Liebenstein || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | LE || bgcolor="#FFCC00" | Howie Long‡
|-
| Dave Butz || style="text-align:center;" | LT || style="text-align:center;" | NT || Reggie Kinlaw
|-
| Darryl Grant || style="text-align:center;" | RT || style="text-align:center;" | RE || Lyle Alzado
|-
| Dexter Manley || style="text-align:center;" | RE || style="text-align:center;" | LLB || bgcolor="#FFCC00" | Ted Hendricks‡
|-
| Mel Kaufman || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | ILB || Matt Millen
|-
| Neal Olkewicz || style="text-align:center;" | MLB || style="text-align:center;" | ILB || Bob Nelson
|-
| Rich Milot || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | RLB || Rod Martin
|-
| bgcolor="#FFCC00" | Darrell Green‡ || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | LCB || Lester Hayes
|-
| Anthony Washington || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | RCB || bgcolor="#FFCC00" | Mike Haynes‡
|-
| Ken Coffey || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | SS || Mike Davis
|-
| Mark Murphy || colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" | FS || Vann McElroy
|-
|}
Officials
- Referee: Gene Barth #14 first Super Bowl
- Umpire: Gordon Wells #89 first Super Bowl
- Head linesman: Jerry Bergman #17 third Super Bowl (XIII, XVI)
- Line judge: Bob Beeks #59 third Super Bowl (XIV, XVI)
- Back judge: Ben Tompkins #52 second Super Bowl (XIV)
- Side judge: Gil Mace #90 first Super Bowl
- Field judge: Fritz Graf #34 fourth Super Bowl (V, VIII, XV)
- Alternate referee: Jim Tunney #32 worked Super Bowls VI, XI, XII on field
- Alternate umpire: Ed Fiffick #57 did not work Super Bowl on field
For the second consecutive Super Bowl, officials wore a black armband in memory of a recently deceased active official. In Super Bowl XVIII, it was number 5 to honor back judge Raymond Douglas, who died on Christmas Day at his home in Baltimore. Douglas officiated in Super Bowl IX and had been an official since 1968.
References
External links
- Super Bowl official website
- Super Bowl XVIII Box Score at Pro Football Reference
- https://www.pro-football-reference.com – Large online database of NFL data and statistics
- Super Bowl play-by-plays from USA Today (Last accessed September 28, 2005)
- All-Time Super Bowl Odds from The Sports Network (Last accessed October 16, 2005)