AFC Championship, 1983: Los Angeles Raiders 30 Seattle 14

Game information
Seattle had defeated Los Angeles twice during the regular season, but this game had a very different outcome. The Raiders outgained Seattle in total yards 405–197, intercepted five passes, jumped to a 20–0 halftime lead, and overcame four turnovers of their own 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 seven passes for 62 yards, and scored two touchdowns.

Seahawks running back David Hughes returned the opening kickoff 34 yards to the 40-yard line, and his team drove to the Raiders 34 from there. But defensive back Lester Hayes picked off a pass from Dave Krieg and returned it 44 yards to the Seattle 26. On the Raiders ensuing drive, a 19-yard run by Allen set up a 20-yard field goal by Chris Bahr. In the second quarter, Allen broke off a 16-yard run, while Raiders quarterback Jim Plunkett completed passes to Cliff Branch and Malcolm Barnwell for gains of 11 and 20 yards on a 61-yard drive that ended with Frank Hawkins' 1-yard touchdown run. Then Seattle went three and out and LA got the ball back with good position on their 40-yard line. Plunkett's 49-yard completion to Barnwell then set up Hawkins' second rushing touchdown, making the score 17–0. With 1:02 left in the half, Seattle desperately tried to put some points on the board before halftime, but defensive back Mike Davis intercepted a pass from Krieg at his own 40-yard line. A 20-yard completion from Plunkett to Barnwell then set up Bahr's 45-yard field goal to give the Raiders a 20–0 halftime lead.

In the second half, Seattle finally got a scoring opportunity when Hawkins fumbled the ball on the first play from scrimmage and the Seahawks recovered. However, all they got from this was Krieg's third interception, this one to linebacker Matt Millen on the first play after the fumble. At this point, Krieg was benched and replaced by backup Jim Zorn. Meanwhile, LA drove to the Seahawks 9-yard line. Defensive back Gregg Johnson intercepted a pass from Plunkett in the end zone to keep his team in the game, but even this turned out to be insufficient. Just two plays later, Davis recorded his second interception of the day, this one on the Seattle 46. On the next play, Allen took off for a 43-yard burst, and then caught a 3-yard touchdown pass to make the score 27–0.

After being completely dominated up to that point, Seattle finally managed to strike back, moving the ball 74 yards in 10 plays and scoring on Zorn's 11-yard touchdown pass to running back Dan Doornink. Then Seattle linebacker Bruce Scholtz intercepted a pass that bounced out of Barnwell's hands on the Seahawks 25-yard line, but once again Los Angeles' defense proved too formidable, as a 2-yard loss on a screen pass to Curt Warner, a holding penalty, and incomplete passes pushed Seattle out of field goal range and forced a punt.

The start of the fourth quarter saw the Seahawks blow another scoring chance when Vann McElroy intercepted a pass from Zorn after the team had recovered Plunkett's fumbled pitch to Allen on the Los Angeles 25-yard line. Then the next time they had the ball, they drove to the LA 40-yard line, only to see Greg Townsend sack Zorn for a 23-yard loss on fourth down and 4. After the turnover on downs, Bahr kicked a 35-yard field goal to give the Raiders an insurmountable 30–7 lead with 3:57 left. At this point, all that remained was Zorn's meaningless touchdown pass to tight end Charle Young, making the final score 30–14.

Warner, the AFC's leading rusher during the regular season, was held to just 26 yards on 11 carries. Barnwell finished the game with a career postseason high five receptions for 116 yards. Townsend had two sacks.

This was the first postseason meeting between the Seahawks and Raiders.

Wikipedia