Super Bowl XVII

Super Bowl XVIII - Washington Redskins vs Los Angeles Raiders: 1st Half

Part 1 - SB XVIII Pregame | Part 3 - SB XVIII 2nd Half

72,970 packed Tampa Stadium to see if the Redskins could become the fifth team to win two straight Super Bowls.

Quarter 1

The Raiders won the toss and elected to receive. The Redskins chose to kick off with the 20 mph wind from the Gulf of Mexico at their backs.
LA started from the 20 after a touchback. They gained a first down in two plays on a 5y run by Marcus Allen and a 6y pass from QB Jim Plunkett to Allen in the right flat. But they couldn't gain another as Allen got two at LT, Plunkett's pass to TE Todd Christensen was broken up by S Ken Coffey, and another flat pass, this one under a heavy rush to Kenny King, gained only one. So Ray Guy, averaging 42.6ypk, booted to the 19 where Nick Giaquinto made a fair catch.

Christensen on his QB: "In the huddle, Plunkett was businesslike. He was a bright guy, and he threw maybe the best ball of any quarterback I've seen. What I mean is a very catchable ball. He got it to you, and it wasn't a rocket. ... Jim was unorthodox in terms of his appearance and how he did things when he scrambled, but he was an accurate passer, called a good game, and as I've said many times, got the job done. In 1983 Jim Plunkett had 230 completions and exactly 160 of them were to Marcus and me, a running back and a tight end. So it wasn't the case that we had a long-play mentality, as the Raiders once did. Al Davis would snarl, 'I want to strike fear in the opponent,' so we'd try to convince everyone that we were still a long-ball team when we weren't. We were a conservative offense that didn't make mistakes."

The Redskins started predictably with a handoff to RB John Riggins up the middle. In a preview of what would happen throughout the game, NT Reggie Kinlaw, whom D-coordinator Charlie Sumner had moved off the line a slight distance to give him operating room against the bigger Hogs, stopped Riggins after a gain of three.

Raiders personnel director Ron Wolf described Kinlaw as "little in stature but stronger than the dickens with great natural leverage."

Two more runs by the 250lb bulldozer gained six and two to move the chains. Then the Redskins sent 6'3" WR Art Monk against RCB Mike Haynes three straight times without success as Theismann essentially threw the ball away over everyone's head.

Haynes said after the game, "I kind of figured Theismann would work on me right away. No one had done it, so why not try? He looked at the films; he saw that I hadn't been getting much work. Maybe he thought I'd be lax in my techniques."

That brought out Jeff Hayes to punt. A high snap gave special teams captain Derek Jensen enough time to zoom up the middle and block the kick, and he also fell on the ball in the end zone. Chris Bahr converted. Raiders 7 Redskins 0 (10:08)

Derek Jensen blocks Jeff Hayes's punt.

Jensen after the blocked kick.

Raiders celebrate the blocked punt touchdown.

The Raiders normally did not try an all-out blitz on punt attempts because they had Greg Pruitt returning kicks. But special teams coach Steve Ortmayer spotted a hole in the Redskins' punt protection that he could exploit. They tended to overplay the outside. So Jensen was able to break through up the middle.
Christensen: "The Raiders rarely attempted to block punts early in a game, but Derrick Jensen took it upon himself to try it, much to Washington's surprise. The guy in front of him, Otis Wonsley, just got lazy, and when Derrick took an inside rush, Wonsley just bumped him gently. The fullback who normally would have been in Jensen's path had stepped outside because he was worried about Lester Hayes, who was known to be a tremendous punt blocker. So Derrick had clear sailing ... When we heard that thump of Jensen striking the ball, we went, 'Oh, my gosh, this is great!' You could tell this was our lucky day because the ball flew directly backward into the end zone and died there, and Jensen recovered it for a touchdown."
P Hayes: "There was a missed (blocking) assignment in our line. The snap and the punt were no problem. The man (Jensen) came in scot-free, and no one touched him. My job isn't to look at the line, so I didn't see him until I had the ball out in front of me."
Raiders WR Cliff Branch on the blocked punt: "It gave us a lot of momentum. During the first quarter, both teams were very conservative, and we were going against the wind in the first quarter. When Derrick Jensen got that blocked punt and recovered the ball in the end zone, that definitely gave us momentum."
Redskins DE Dexter Manley: "That was definitely deflating."
Washington G Mark May:"Before the game [barely] started, we were in a hole."

The Redskins went three-and-out on a 4y Riggins run, an incompletion to Charlie Brown, and Theismann's 5y rollout around RE. But they got a break on the punt. Hayes's kick went only 28y and bounced into blocker Ted Watts. Greg Williams recovered on the LA 42.
Theismann again overthrew a receiver, TE Clint Didier down the right side. But Joe broke his 0-for-5 streak when he ran what TV commentator John Madden called "an organized scramble" to the right and threw to Didier who went out of bounds on the 34. Needing 2y, Riggins got three to keep the drive alive. Big John gained three, then Joe Washington replaced him and scooted around RE for just one. On 3rd-and-6, Theismann misfired to Giaquinto. So Mark Moseley tried a 44y FG with the wind that sailed wide left.

Moseley had almost cost the Redskins the NFC title game against the 49ers two weeks earlier when he missed four of five field goal attempts in the 24-21 victory. Wayne Sevier, the "secretive" special teams coach known to players as "Gene" - short, they said, for genius - folded his arms on the sideline and didn't move.

Matt Millen and Ted Hendricks chase Joe Theismann.

The Raiders' game plan was to take away Theismann's quick passes by jamming the wide receivers at the line of scrimmage and covering them tight - the "bump-and-run" technique. They expected the Redskins to respond by throwing the quick up down the sideline for the receiver to run under. LA coach Tom Flores said, "It was kind of automatic for them, so we knew we'd be taking a chance. If they complete one, it's a big play." Defensive backs coach Willie Brown, the former Raiders CB who was elected to the Hall of Fame the day before Super Bowl XVIII, said of Hayes and Haynes, "They challenged guys. That was my style when I played, and it carried on from there. You get up in their face and challenge them." Someone asked Haynes before the game if he thought the Redskins would try to play a bombs-away offensive style against him. "I hope so," he replied.
To stop Riggins, the Raiders widened their ends and brought big MLBs Millen (250lb) and Bob Nelson (235) up to take on the Redskin guards. "We wanted to make sure Riggins didn't get turned upfield," said LA offensive line coach Art Shell. "We plugged all the gaps on him, so he couldn't get turned up." It also helped that the secondary played man to man coverage, which allowed more defenders to stay close to the line "rather than dropping into zones," as Flores explained. "By pressuring the wide receivers with the corners, we could pressure the run with the remaining people."
On offense, "We felt we would be able to throw the ball on them because they were like us. They used a lot of man coverage. The key was going to be if we could protect (the quarterback) because they put on a good pass rush. The running game would just be a solid-type running game. It wasn't anything fancy. They didn't do anything fancy on defense. They were a lot like us. They lined up and they played the game and pressured you."

Plunkett put Allen in motion left and handed to King who zipped around RE 10y for a first down. Jim then tossed to King in the left flat for seven. After Allen gained two, Jim moved the chains by hitting Christensen for 9y. Then a 10y holding penalty on a short pass to King made it 1st-and-20, a setback that proved to be too much to overcome. LLB Monte Coleman fought off a blocker and hit Allen behind the line, batting the ball out of his hand. Raider G Charley Hannah recovered at the 42. Two straight incompletions led to a Guy punt of 42y to Giaquinto, who returned 11y. However, a holding penalty at the beginning of the runback put the ball on the 8.

Monte Coleman fights off Frank Hawkins' block to dump Allen for a 4y loss.

The Redskins started strong on Riggins' 2y sweep and a 10y pass to Washington to the 20. But another overthrow and a loss of three when RLB Rod Martin dumped Riggins made it 3rd-and-13. An offside penalty on LA gave the Redskins a gift of 5y. Theismann tried to hit Brown, but S Vann McElroy's solid hit knocked the ball loose. Hayes got off a 48y punt that Greg Pruitt returned 8y to the LA 38.
Allen burst through LT for 17y, then gained three more.
End of Q1: Raiders 7 Redskins 0

xxx

Allen scampers for 17y through the left side before Darrell Green (28) makes the tackle..

Quarter 2

When a 3y pass to Christensen was followed by DT Perry Brooks tossing Allen for a 3y loss, Guy came in to punt. The former college safety showed his athleticism by leaping high to snag the errant snap with one hand and getting off a 42y punt into the end zone.

Flores: "The snap was about 15' in the air, but Guy went up and caught it with one hand. He came down and still punted the ball way down the field. He did it so spectacularly, but so effortlessly, that it went unnoticed."
Christensen: "I snapped on punts in the Super Bowl. I made one errant snap, but Ray Guy made a spectacular catch on it and got it off. He was a tremendous athlete, and I'd seen him do such unbelievable things with regularity. He used to kick off, he could throw the ball 80 yards, and he was the best punter in the league. He was just a major contributor for us, yet I'm sure he felt a bit ostracized, as most kickers do. He was a great team player, but he was introverted and usually kept to himself. He would end up with three Super Bowl rings, and many people felt that he deserved to be the first punter inducted into the Hall of Fame."

The Redskins gained a first down on runs of one and four by Riggins and a 5y pass to Joe Washington. But a 7y sack by MLB Matt Millen two plays later and another overthrow resulted in Pruitt fair-catching Hayes's 41y punt at the LA 35.
The Raiders needed only three plays to reach the end zone. The big gainer came on first down on a 50y pass to WR Cliff Branch down the middle between Darrell Green and Anthony Washington to the 15. Following Allen's 3y run, the Raiders lined up Allen just outside the RE with Branch and WR Malcolm Barnwell wide left opposing Washington and Green. S Mark Murphy cheated toward Allen's side of the field and when Barnwell came in motion, moved even further left as Green also moved left to shadow Barnwell. Now one-on-one with Washington, Branch faked a cut outside, then easily went past the defender into the open area in the middle of the end zone to take Plunkett's pass. Chris Bahr kicked the point. Raiders 14 Redskins 0 (9:14)

Branch had been saying all week that Anthony Washington would need help in covering him. Cliff would total six catches for the day to break former Raider Fred Biletnikoff's NFL record of 70 by three. "We got of being conservative. We opened it up once we got the wind at our back. Now we're up 14-0 and confident we can really open our offense up."
Christensen: "I give a lot of credit to Cliff Branch for my success. Even though he was aging, he required special attention from the other team's defensive backs. I would argue that during his tenure he was the fastest guy in football. A lot of guys ran 4.35 until they put on their gear, but Cliff was fast in uniform. He had a gear that was like warp five. ... In 1983, he knew his job was secure, so at 35, he picked his spots."

Cliff Branch snags TD pass between Anthony Washington (24) and Mark Murphy (29).

WR Alvin Garrett was upended on the 20 by LB Jeff Barnes after a 14y kickoff return. Needing a long drive to get back in the game and give the defense a rest, the Redskins drove deep into LA territory but had to settle for a field goal. Theismann overcame a 7y sack by Martin and an incompletion by throwing a 17y button hook pass to Garrett. Then a 12y pass to Didier was negated by a holding penalty. But the Redskins immediately got 18y on a screen pass to Didier. Riggins didn't gain much, 1y, then two, but that was enough to move the chains. After John's 3y run, A Raider was called for offsides again. John swept right for 4y and a first down. The Raiders again helped the advance with a pass interference flag on Hayes. Joe then connected with Didier for 20y to the 14. Not finding an open receiver, the former Notre Dame QB evaded the pass rush for 5y. After Riggins hit the line to the 7, Washington called its second timeout with 3:14 left. On 3rd-and-3, Theismann unsuccessfully tried to hit Joe Washington between two defenders at the one. So Moseley kicked a 24y field goal. Raiders 14 Redskins 3 (3:05)

S Mike Davis stops Clint Didier after a 20y gain.

After a kick into the end zone, Allen took a pitchout around RE for 11 to the 31. But DE Darryl Grant sacked Plunkett for a loss of 10. After the two-minute warning, a draw play to Allen gained seven. On 3rd-and-13, Jim scrambled forward to escape the blitz and flipped to RB Frank Hawkins for 14y. With a new set of downs, Plunkett went back to Christensen down the middle for 14y to the Washington 44. Branch then took a down-and-out pass as he was falling out of bounds at the 37, stopping the clock with 42 seconds left. Off balance escaping another blitz, Plunkett threw incomplete. The Redskins took the 10y holding penalty to make it 2nd-and-13 from the 47. After Allen gained eight and a long incompletion to Christensen, Guy punted to the 12.

Allen looks for an opening.

Todd Christensen catches a Plunkett pass for 14y.

Instead of running out the clock or throwing the ball long downfield, Joe Gibbs called a very stupid play - "Rocket Right, Option Right, Screen Left." Theismann took the snap, dropped back to draw defenders with him, faked a throw to the right where three receivers were split out, then turned and, without looking, blooped a screen pass off his back foot toward Joe Washington on the left. Backup LB Jack Squirek cut in front of Joe, grabbed the ball at the five, and ran untouched into the end zone. Raiders 21 Redskins 3 (0:07)
Watch the interception ...

The Redskins had burned the Raiders for a 67y gain to Joe Washington on that same screen pass in the regular-season game. Suspecting Gibbs might try it again, defensive coordinator Charlie Sumner replaced Millen with Squirek, who was taller and faster than Matt. Sumner instructed Jack to play man coverage on Joe Washington while everyone else played zone.
When Millen came off the field, he accosted Sumner. "What the hell are you taking me out for?"
Charlie replied, "I just have a hunch."
Matt said, "I hope you're right."
After the touchdown, Matt picked Sumner up, hugged him, and yelled, "Great call!"
Squirek recalled, "I actually wasn't even paying attention. Charlie grabbed me by the shoulder pad and says, 'Get in there, quick!' He could see that the formation was going in. He said that everybody on our defense was going to be in a zone. He said, 'Everybody will be in a zone except you. You're covering Joe Washington man-to-man.' I was surprised when they threw it. I was even more surprised when I caught it. I was in shock. I hadn't scored a touchdown since I was a high school wide receiver. "
Theismann: "I walk to the sidelines. Joe says, 'I want to run rocket screen.' I said to him that I didn't feel good about putting the ball in the air backed up this far with such little time. He said that it worked against them last time, and I'm thinking to myself, 'You don't think they know that?' I start to walk away, and I turn aroud, and Joe points to me and says, 'Run it.' I'm going back to the huddle thinking that I don't like this. But Joe Gibbs is a world champion coach, my coach, and we won a lot of football games, so I'm all in. As soon as I turn, I see Jack start to break towards Joe. Just as the ball leaves my hand, I see Jack intercept it and go in the end zone."
Joe Washington, the intended receiver, said, "What surprised me was that they had me double-covered over there with only seven seconds left."
After the game, Gibbs explained his reasoning. "With 23 seconds (actually 12) left in the half, you have two choices. You can either fall on the ball or try to get something. ... I wanted to run something safe. It got us a 67y gain in the first game. I was hoping we'd get 20 or 30 yards and maybe get a field goal. ... I didn't like the idea of falling on the ball."
In the next day's Washington Post, Gary Pomerantz wrote that at the end of the first half, "the Redskins' offensive genius lapsed into buffoonery." Gibbs was not happy when he read that.
May was shocked "that we could be behind that far that quickly." He said the Redskins knew it would take a great second half to catch up, but they told themselves they could do it. "No matter how far we were down that season, we could always come back."
Several years later, "I see Joe at this charity function," recalled Theismann. "I told him that something's been bothering me now, and I've got to get it off my chest. I said, 'You know that call you made in the Super Bowl? That was one of the worst calls I've ever seen in my life.' He said I was probably right but said, 'That throw you made was probably one of the worst I've ever seen, too.' We both just laughed about it."

Matt Bahr bounced the kickoff to 275lb DE Darryl Grant, a member of the wedge, who took the ball at the 23 and returned 32y as time expired.
End of Q2: Raiders 21 Redskins 3

The halftime show put on by Walt Disney Productions ended with a fireworks display. During it, flares placed on a pair of wooden stands in the corners of the stadium ignited the stands. Flames briefly leaped more than eight feet in the air, several feet above the wall ringing the field, but were extinguished without incident and with no serious injuries.

The Raiders were happy with their defensive game plan. May remembers that the Raiders thew a lot of defensive fronts at them, including bringing safeties up and dropping defensive ends back. But the Redskins adjusted on the sideline to counter what LA was doing.
Millen has a simpler explanation. The Raiders just outplayed the Redskins one-on-one. He praised NT Reggie Kinlaw for plugging up the middle against double-team blocking. "Reggie had a great game," says Matt. He also praised ROLB Rod Martin. The Raiders coaxed the Redskins into running to Rod's side because it had the advantage of a TE versus a FS there. "We just left it up to Rod Martin to hold the right side down, and he did."
Millen also felt that he had a good game calling line stunts. The Redskins were easy to read based on their formations but were used to blocking defenders even though the opponent knew where they were going. But they had difficulty blocking the Raiders. "That was one of the best games I ever called," Matt brags. "It seemed like every time I moved somebody, it was right."
Christensen recalled the Raiders halftime attitude. "Everybody in our locker room reminded everybody else that we had been way up in the first game against Washington [35-20] and had lost. Complacency was a concern. We're saying, 'We're not going to let that happen again.' Matt Millen, in particular, was very, very vocal about this. He was screaming, "We've come this far ..." and whacking people. What got us this far was being aggressive and tough, and we wanted to continue to play that way."

Marcus Allen takes a handoff.