1983 Los Angeles Raiders

The 1983 Los Angeles Raiders season began with the team trying to improve on their 8–1 record from 1982. 1983 was their second season in Los Angeles. The 1983 season was also the Raiders third Super Bowl winning season.

Los Angeles Raiders 38, Pittsburgh Steelers 10
The Raiders scored 3 touchdowns in the third quarter en route to a 38–10 win over the Steelers. In the first quarter, Pittsburgh advanced on a 78-yard drive, but when faced with fourth down and inches near the goal line, they opted for kicker Gary Anderson's 17-yard field goal. But the Raiders controlled the rest of the game, as Lester Hayes returned an interception 18 yards for a touchdown. A 4-yard touchdown by running back Marcus Allen and a 45-yard field goal gave the Raiders a 17–3 lead. The Raiders then scored three touchdowns in the third period, including Allen's 49-yard run. Allen finished the game with 121 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on just 13 carries, while also catching 5 passes for 38 yards. The Steelers' lone score in the second half was wide receiver John Stallworth's 58-yard touchdown reception.


 * Scoring
 * PIT – field goal Anderson 17 PIT 3–0
 * LAD – Hayes 18 interception return (Bahr kick)LAD 7–3
 * LAD – Allen 4 run (Bahr kick) LAD 14–3
 * LAD – field goal Bahr 45 LAD 17–3
 * LAD – King 9 run (Bahr kick) LAD 24–3
 * LAD – Allen 49 run (Bahr kick) LAD 31–3
 * PIT – Stallworth 58 pass from Stoudt (Anderson kick) LAD 31–10
 * LAD – Hawkins 2 run (Bahr kick) LAD 38–10

Los Angeles Raiders 30, Seattle Seahawks 14
Seattle had defeated Los Angeles twice during the regular season, but this game had a very different outcome.

The Raiders jumped to a 20–0 halftime lead en route to a 30–14 victory. The Seahawks were held to 65 rushing yards while Raiders Running back Marcus Allen ran for 154 yards, caught 7 passes for 62 yards, and scored 2 touchdowns. Lester Hayes' interception on Seattle's first drive of the game set up a 20-yard field goal. In the second quarter, Raiders running back Frank Hawkins then scored two touchdowns. In the second half, Seahawks starting quarterback Dave Krieg was benched and replaced by Jim Zorn. Zorn threw two touchdown passes, but it was not enough as Allen's 3-yard touchdown reception and another Raiders field goal put the game away. Seahawks running back Curt Warner, the AFC's leading rusher during the regular season, was held to just 26 yards on 11 carries.


 * Scoring
 * LAD – field goal Bahr 20 LAD 3–0
 * LAD – Hawkins 1 run (Bahr kick) LAD 10–0
 * LAD – Hawkins 5 run (Bahr kick) LAD 17–0
 * LAD – field goal Bahr 45 LAD 20–0
 * LAD – Allen 3 pass from Plunkett (Bahr kick) LAD 27–0
 * SEA – Doornink 11 pass from Zorn (Johnson kick) LAD 27–7
 * LAD – field goal Bahr 35 LAD 30–7
 * SEA – Young 9 pass from Zorn (Johnson kick) LAD 30–14

Super Bowl
Less than five minutes into the game, Derrick Jensen blocked Redskins Jeff Hayes punt and recovered the ball in the end zone to give the Raiders a 7–0 lead. On their ensuing drive, Washington was forced to punt, but Los Angeles punt returner Ted Watts muffed the kick and Washington safety Greg Williams recovered the ball at the Raiders 42-yard line. However, the Redskins could only advance to 27-yard line.

The Redskins regrouped in the second half, and scoring on their opening drive by marching 70 yards in 9 plays. First, Garrett returned the opening kickoff 35 yards from 5 yards deep in the end zone to the Washington 30-yard line. Then, Theismann completed a 23-yard pass to receiver Charlie Brown to 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). Moseley's extra point attempt was blocked by Don Hasselbeck, but the Redskins had cut the score to 21–9 and were just 2 touchdowns away from taking the lead.

However the Raiders completely took over the rest of the game, preventing any chance of a Washington comeback. On the ensuing drive, Washington defensive back Darrell Green was called for a 38-yard pass interference penalty while trying to cover Raiders receiver Malcolm Barnwell, setting up running back Marcus Allen's 5-yard touchdown run 7 plays later to make the score 28–9.

On the next play, the last play of the third quarter, Plunkett handed the ball off to Allen, who started to run left. But then he saw a lot of defenders in front of him so he cut back to the middle and took off for a then Super Bowl record 74-yard touchdown run, increasing Los Angeles' lead to 35–9.

In the final period, the Raiders sacked Theismann 3 times, forcing him to fumble once, and intercepted a pass. Meanwhile, a 39-yard run from Allen set up a 21-yard field goal from kicker Chris Bahr to make the final score of the game 38–9.

Scoring summary

 * LAD – TD: Derrick Jensen recovered blocked punt in end zone (Chris Bahr kick) 7–0 LAD
 * LAD – TD: Cliff Branch 12 yard pass from Jim Plunkett (Chris Bahr kick) 14–0 LAD
 * Was – FG: Mark Moseley 24 yards 14–3 LAD
 * LAD – TD: Jack Squirek 5 yard interception return (Chris Bahr kick) 21–3 LAD
 * Was – TD: John Riggins 1 yard run (kick blocked) 21–9 
 * LAD – TD: Marcus Allen 5 yard run (Chris Bahr kick) 28–9 LAD
 * LAD – TD: Marcus Allen 74 yard run (Chris Bahr kick) 35–9 LAD
 * LAD – FG: Chris Bahr 21 yards 38–9 LAD