Super Bowl XVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Los Angeles Raiders to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1983 season. The Raiders defeated the Redskins by the score of 38–9. The Raiders' 38 points and their 29 point margin of victory broke Super Bowl records. The game was played on January 22, 1984, at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida, the first time the Super Bowl was held in that city.
The Redskins entered the game as the defending Super Bowl XVII champions, and finished the 1983 regular season with a league-best 14-2 record, and led the league in the fewest rushing yards allowed. The Raiders were in their second season in Los Angeles since moving from Oakland in 1982, and posted a 12-4 regular season record in 1983.
As the favored team, the Redskins' 38–9 defeat at the hands of the black-jerseyed Raiders led Super Bowl XVIII to be known as "Black Sunday". The Raiders outgained the Redskins in total yards 385 to 283. Los Angeles 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. Raiders running back 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 and two touchdowns, including a then-record 74–yard run in the third quarter.
The telecast of the game on CBS was seen by an estimated 77.62 million viewers. The broadcast was notable for airing the famous "1984" television commercial, introducing the Apple Macintosh. The NFL highlight film of this game was the final voice over work for famous NFL narrator John Facenda.
Read more about Super Bowl XVIII: Background, Television and Entertainment, Game Summary, Starting Lineups, Officials
Famous quotes containing the words bowl and/or xviii:
“It seemed a long way from 143rd Street. Shaking hands with the Queen of England was a long way from being forced to sit in the colored section of the bus going into downtown Wilmington, North Carolina. Dancing with the Duke of Devonshire was a long way from not being allowed to bowl in Jefferson City, Missouri, because the white customers complained about it.”
—Althea Gibson (b. 1927)
“A king should die on his feet.”
—Louis XVIII (1755–1824)