Super Bowl XVIII - January 22, 1984

On June 3, 1981 the NFL owners met in Detroit and one of the items on the agenda was to name the site for Super Bowl XVIII. The Tampa Bay presentation included a video narrated by Pat Summerall, but it may have been Hugh Culverhouse who landed the game. Culverhouse used his profession as a lawyer to become a very influential owner. Other contenders for the game were Dallas, Detroit, Miami, New Orleans and Pasadena. Dallas and Detroit were eliminated early on, and the game would be awarded on the first ballot. Two owners were absent, one voted for Los Angeles, one voted for Miami and the other twenty- four backed Tampa Bay.

The Washington Redskins, coached by Joe Gibbs, and the Tom Flores lead Los Angeles Raiders won their way to the first Super Bowl in Tampa. For Washington, it was the team's third trip to the game and they were defending league champions. The Redskins rolled to the NFC East championship with a 14-2 regular season record. Their only losses were by one point to Dallas and Green Bay. They beat up on the Los Angeles Rams 51-7 in their first playoff game and defeated San Francisco 24-21 in the NFC Championship Game. For the Raiders, it was the team's fourth Super Bowl trip and only appearance as the Los Angeles Raiders. They took the AFC West at 12-4 with regular season losses to St. Louis, Washington and twice to Seattle. They defeated Pittsburgh 38-10 in the playoffs and got revenge for the regular season losses with a 30-14 AFC Championship Game victory over Seattle. The Redskins had defeated the Raiders in a regular season game back in October and the bookmakers installed Washington as a three point favorite.

Barry Manilow sang National Anthem before a crowd of 72,920 at Tampa Stadium. The Redskins had the nicknames. The offensive line was called the "Hogs," the wide receivers were known as the "Smurfs," and when they scored a touchdown they became the "Fun Bunch." For the Raiders, owner Al Davis poked his head in the locker room before the game and told his players to "Just win, baby."

On Washington's first possession, Derrick Jensen blocked a Jeff Hayes punt and recovered it in the end zone. Just 4:45 in the game, the Raiders had a 7-0 lead. A 12 yard Jim Plunkett (16 of 25 for 172 yards) to Cliff Branch scoring pass stretched the lead to 14-0 in the second quarter. Late in the period, a 24 yard field goal by Mark Moseley put Washington on the board. With seven seconds before halftime, Raiders linebacker Jack Squirek intercepted a screen pass by Joe Theismann (16 of 35 for 243 yards with 2 interceptions) and returned it five yards for the score and a 21-3 halftime advantage.

Early in the third quarter, John Riggins ran for a 1 yard touchdown, Mark Moseley's point after attempt was blocked and the score was 21-9. Two touchdown runs by Marcus Allen would put the game away. Midway through the quarter, he ran one in from 5 yards out and, as third quarter expired, he ran a Super Bowl record 74 yards and the score was 35-9. The only scoring in fourth quarter was a 21 yard field goal by Matt Bahr and the final score was 38-9.

Marcus Allen easily won Most Valuable Player honors. He rushed for 191 yards, which broke the record set by John Riggins the previous year, and two of his 20 carries ended in touchdowns. He said of his record 74 yard TD, "It was the best run I've had in the NFL. I didn't think of what to do on the run, I just let instinct take over."

The Los Angeles defense sacked Joe Theismann six times and limited the Redskins to 90 yards rushing. Raiders defensive end Howie Long talked about how they handled the line of scrimmage. "Our front seven came up with our own nickname this week, but we didn't mention it until we had won the game. We're the Slaughterhouse Seven. We never had a hog before that tasted so good. In fact, we may market our own T-shirts."

At the time, the 38-9 final was the most lopsided Super Bowl ever, surpassing the Green Bay Packers 35-10 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl I. The 38 points for the victors were also the highest point total yet. The Raiders, who have since moved back to Oakland, have not gone to the game since. Washington has been back two more times, winning both.

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