Super Bowl XVII, 1983: Washington 27 Miami 17

Super Bowl XVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the strike-shortened 1982 season. The Redskins defeated the Dolphins, 27–17, to win their first Super Bowl championship. The game was played on January 30, 1983 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

This Super Bowl came at the end of a season that was significantly shortened by a players' strike. Teams ended up only playing nine regular season games, and the league conducted a special 16-team, four-round playoff tournament where divisions were ignored in the seeding. The Redskins had an NFC-best 8–1 regular season record, while the Dolphins finished at 7–2. Both teams advanced through the first three postseason rounds to Super Bowl XVII. The game then became a rematch of Super Bowl VII, also played in the Los Angeles area at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ten years before, where the Dolphins completed their 17–0 perfect season at the Redskins’ expense by a 14–7 score. This was also the second Super Bowl to rematch teams, the first being Super Bowl XIII.

The first half was competitive and ended with the Dolphins leading 17-10. However, the Redskins scored 17 unanswered points in the second half and gained a Super Bowl record 276 yards on the ground while holding the Dolphins to just 47 offensive plays for 176 total yards, 76 of which came on a single play. Nevertheless, Miami built a 17–10 halftime lead with Jimmy Cefalo's 76-yard touchdown catch and Fulton Walker's 98-yard kickoff return. The turning point in the game came with 10:10 remaining: trailing, 17–13, and facing fourth down and one yard to go at the Dolphins' 43-yard line, Washington running back John Riggins broke through the Miami defense and ran into the end zone for a touchdown to take the lead. Wide receiver Charlie Brown then added an insurance touchdown with a 6-yard scoring reception.

Riggins was named Super Bowl MVP, finishing the game with two new Super Bowl records: the most rushing yards (166) and the most rushing attempts (38) in a Super Bowl game. He was the first player from an NFC team to rush for 100 yards in a Super Bowl. Riggins also recorded a reception for 15 yards, giving him more total yards from scrimmage (181) than the entire Miami team.

Game summary
First quarter
Miami scored first on their second possession when faced with 2nd-and-6 on their own 24. David Woodley froze hard-charging lineman Dexter Manley with a pump fake before throwing the ball to wide receiver Jimmy Cefalo, who caught the ball ahead of single coverage by safety Tony Peters at the Redskins 45 and raced untouched down the right sideline for a 76-yard touchdown completion. After the Dolphins' defense forced the Redskins to punt, Woodley attempted another deep pass but was hit by Manley. This caused him to fumble, and defensive tackle Dave Butz recovered the ball at the Miami 46. The turnover led to Redskins kicker Mark Moseley's 31-yard field goal to cut the Dolphins' lead to 7–3, two plays into the second quarter.

Second quarter
Miami kick returner Fulton Walker returned the ensuing kickoff 42 yards to the Dolphins 47-yard line. From there, the Dolphins advanced to the Redskins 3-yard line. Woodley's pass fell incomplete on third down, however, so Miami had to settle for kicker Uwe von Schamann's 20-yard field goal to increase their lead to 10–3 with 6 minutes left in the half. Although the drive was only 50 yards long, it consisted of 13 plays and took 8:39 off the clock.

Aided by a 27-yard completion from quarterback Joe Theismann to tight end Rick Walker, 13 rushing yards and a 15-yard reception by running back John Riggins, and a 12-yard run from Theismann himself, the Redskins marched 80 yards in 11 plays to score on wide receiver Alvin Garrett's 4-yard touchdown reception.

Garrett's touchdown tied the game 10–10 with less than 2 minutes left in the half, but the tie did not last long. Fulton Walker returned the subsequent kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown to give the Dolphins a 17–10 lead. It was the first kickoff return touchdown in a Super Bowl and the longest kickoff return in NFL postseason history, breaking the prior record of 97 yards by Vic Washington in 1972.

A penalty on the ensuing kickoff forced Washington to start their next drive at their own 7-yard line, but they managed to get to the 28 after their first four plays. A pass interference penalty on defensive back Lyle Blackwood on the next play moved the ball to the Miami 42-yard line. Immediately after Blackwood's penalty, wide receiver Charlie Brown's 26-yard reception advanced the Redskins to the Dolphins' 16-yard line. After calling their final timeout with 14 seconds left, Washington made one last attempt to score a touchdown before trying a field goal. Theismann's subsequent pass was caught by Garrett, but he was tackled at the 9-yard line by defensive back Glenn Blackwood, preventing any possible field goal attempt as the Redskins were unable to stop the clock before time expired in the half.

Third quarter
The teams opened the second half trading punts, but on their second possession of the third quarter, the Redskins managed to fool the Dolphins with a reverse play near midfield. Riggins took a handoff from Theismann and then handed the ball off to Garrett, who was running in the opposite direction. The play worked perfectly, as Garrett ran the ball 44 yards to Miami's 9-yard line. The Dolphins' defense only allowed Washington to advance to the 3-yard line on their next three plays, though, so the Redskins settled for another field goal from Moseley to cut their deficit to 17–13.

Later in the third quarter, Theismann was intercepted by Miami linebacker A. J. Duhe at the Redskins 47-yard line. The Dolphins reached the Washington 37 when Woodley tried to pass the ball deep to Cefalo again. However, Redskins defensive back Vernon Dean deflected the ball and safety Mark Murphy made a one-handed interception at the 5-yard line while falling to the ground. After Washington got a first down to advance to their own 18, Miami defensive end Kim Bokamper blocked a pass from a scrambling and retreating Theismann. Bokamper nearly intercepted the pass just outside of the Redskins' end zone, but Theismann prevented the score with a timely move, knocking the ball out of Bokamper's hands.

Fourth quarter
The Redskins then drove to Miami's 43-yard line and once again tried a trick play, this time a flea flicker. Riggins took a pitch from Theismann, ran up to the line of scrimmage and pitched the ball back to Theismann, who then attempted to pass it. This time, Miami was not fooled; Lyle Blackwood made a diving interception at the 1-yard line (making this the first Super Bowl in which three consecutive drives ended with interceptions).

However, Blackwood's interception turned out to be somewhat beneficial for the Redskins, as it pinned Miami back at their own 1. The Dolphins could only gain three yards with their next three plays, and Washington ended up getting the ball back with great field position on their own 48-yard line. The Redskins ran three plays to reach Miami's 43-yard line, but then faced a fourth down with one yard to go. Instead of punting, the Redskins decided to gamble and attempt to get the first down with a run from Riggins, but Riggins did a great deal more than pick up the first down. Coach Joe Gibbs called his trademark play I-Right 70 Chip, starting tight end Clint Didier in motion towards the right, then reversing motion back to the left. The concept behind the play was for the Redskins' line and skill players (except for Theismann) to block everyone but the smallest cornerback on the field, leaving Riggins able and ready to break the tackle of that player (in this case, Miami cornerback Don McNeal). Theismann handed off to Riggins, who blasted through McNeal's arms at the line of scrimmage and still built up enough speed to outrun defensive back Glenn Blackwood for a 43-yard touchdown, giving Washington their first lead of the game, 20–17, with a little more than ten minutes remaining. McNeal, who was assigned to cover Didier on the play, slipped briefly as Didier changed direction. The Redskins ran the play to the left, behind Didier and fullback Otis Wonsley, and Riggins ran over McNeal to score the touchdown. Even if McNeal had kept his footing, it would not have mattered much. Despite a valiant effort, the 185-pound cornerback could do little more than hold on briefly as he met the 240-pound Riggins running with a full head of steam, hit him high, and slid down his body as "The Diesel" pulled away towards the end zone and the Redskins' first Super Bowl victory.

Washington quickly forced Miami to punt on their next possession, and punt returner Mike Nelms's 12-yard return gave the Redskins great field position at the Dolphins 41-yard line. The Redskins ran five consecutive running plays by Riggins, consuming a lot of time and moving the ball to the 19-yard line. On a 3rd-and-long play, Theismann completed a key pass to Brown for a first down at the Miami 9. Riggins advanced the ball three more yards on two more carries to reach the two-minute warning, at which point Brown caught a 6-yard touchdown pass to put the game away. Walker returned the ensuing kickoff 36 yards to the 35-yard line, but the Dolphins could only advance to the 39 before turning the ball over on downs.

Washington dominated the second half, allowing no pass completions and 34 rushing yards; Miami's longest gain of the game's final 30 minutes went for just nine yards. The Dolphins managed only nine first downs in the entire game, with just two in the second half. "Their way is what we called Dolphin football," said left guard Bob Kuechenberg, one of only two holdovers from Miami's three previous Super Bowl teams in the 1970s (the other was defensive end Vern Den Herder who retired immediately following the game). "They controlled the second half and they're fitting world champions.

Woodley's poor performance in this game -- four pass completions in 14 attempts for 97 yards, a touchdown, an interception and a lost fumble -- was a factor in the Dolphins drafting Dan Marino three months later. After his 76-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter, Cefalo caught just one more pass for six yards. Duriel Harris recorded Miami's other two receptions in the game for a total of 15 yards. Woodley did not complete a pass in the final 40 minutes of play, notching his last completion of the day a few minutes into the second quarter. Walker finished with four kickoff returns for 190 yards and a touchdown, setting Super Bowl records for most kickoff return yards and highest single-game yards-per-return average (47.5).

Meanwhile, Theismann, the first starting quarterback to win a Super Bowl while wearing a single-digit uniform number (7), finished 15 of 23 for 143 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also added 20 rushing yards on three carries. Brown was the Redskins' leading receiver with six receptions for 60 yards and a touchdown. Nelms returned 6 punts for 52 yards, both Super Bowl records, and returned two kickoffs for 44 yards.

Overall, Washington gained 400 yards of offense -- including a Super Bowl-record 276 rushing yards -- while limiting Miami to 176 total yards.

About Super Bowl XVII, Justin Peters commented, "Super Bowl XVII capped off a strike-shortened season, and, as a result, the players seemed much better rested than usual, and the game was much more energetic than some of its predecessors."

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