RB Marcus Allen was named Super Bowl XVIII MVP after rushing for a then Super Bowl-record 191 yards.
The 1983 Super Bowl-winning Championship team will get back together as the Raiders organization celebrates the 30th Anniversary of the team that delivered the franchise's third World Championship of Professional Football.
Many of those players will be in attendance this Sunday, December 29, when the Raiders face the Denver Broncos at O.co Coliseum.
On Saturday, the players will gather to rekindle those memories, then participate in a halftime ceremony on Sunday. "I think today that this organization, this team, this coaching staff dominated so decisively that two things must be said," Owner Al Davis stated following the victory over the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII. "Not only, in my opinion, are you the greatest Raider team of all time, I think you rank with the great teams of all times to have ever played any professional sport."
SUPER BOWL XVIII
Tampa Stadium; Sunday, Jan. 22, 1984;
Attendance: 72,920; Time: 3:31 PM PST;
Weather: 68°F; partly cloudy, wind NE 20 mph
The Raiders defense held the Redskins to 9 points in Super Bowl XVIII.
Famously dubbed "Black Sunday" by NFL Films, Super Bowl XVIII put on display the best that the NFL had to offer as the Los Angeles Raiders drubbed the Washington Redskins, 38-9. The resounding victory rested on the running brilliance of Hall of Fame RB Marcus Allen and the strength of a dominating defense and special teams play that lifted the Raiders to the club's third Super Bowl title in eight years.
Head Coach Tom Flores, who led the Raiders to a second World Championship with a victory in Super Bowl XV, served as field general again for a victorious Silver and Black squad in Super Bowl XVIII.
Clad in their famous black jerseys, the Raiders jumped on the scoreboard first as special teams ace Derrick Jensen blocked a first-quarter punt deep in Washington territory and fell on the ball in the end zone for a touchdown. In the second quarter, QB Jim Plunkett orchestrated an efficient three-play drive that culminated in a 12-yard touchdown pass to WR Cliff Branch.
After a Redskins field goal, the Silver and Black's defense would strike just moments before halftime. Keying on a Washington screen pass play that had worked successfully against the Raiders during a regular season meeting between the two teams, defensive coordinator Charlie Sumner inserted reserve LB Jack Squirek with time winding down in the first half.
As QB Joe Theismann lobbed a screen out towards RB Joe Washington from the 12-yard line, Squirek stepped in front of the pass and returned the interception for a touchdown to give the Raiders a 21-3 halftime advantage. The Raiders' second half performance was just as dominant as the team shifted focus to its running game, led by Allen.
The second-year running back scored a third-quarter touchdown on a 5-yard run before breaking off perhaps the finest run in Super Bowl history later in the same period. Allen took a handoff from Plunkett and started left on the play but went too wide for his blocking and reversed his field, burst free of pursuit and found the end zone after a 74-yard sprint to give the Raiders an insurmountable lead and give the city of Los Angeles its first and only Super Bowl victory. Allen was the easy choice as the game's Most Valuable Player, gaining 191 yards on 20 carries. Both the 74-yard TD run and 191-yard rushing performance were then-Super Bowl records.
