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The Washington Redskins entered Super Bowl XVIII at Tampa Stadium in Tampa, Florida looking for their second straight Super Bowl title after winning the championship the year before. Washington was a 3-point favorite going up against the AFC champion Oakland Raiders.
The 1982 Washington Redskins were considered to be even better than the team that had won the Super Bowl the season before. Joe Theismann won the NFL MVP award with 3,714 passing yards and 29 passing touchdowns. John Riggins rushed for 1,374 yards and set an NFL record with 24 rushing touchdowns. Washington's 541 points on offense were the most ever scored in a single season to that point in league history, and the defense was also solid allowing the fewest rushing yards in the league. The Redskins had an unbelievable +43 turnover margin as well.
The Los Angeles Raiders had a strong defense that was three levels deep and went into this Super Bowl having allowed only 24 points in two postseason games. The Raiders also had Jim Plunkett at quarterback who had a strong season with 2,935 passing yards and 20 passing touchdowns. But it was running back Marcus Allen that made the Raiders such a huge threat. Allen had racked up 1,604 yards from scrimmage while rushing for 1,014 yards, catching 68 passes and scoring 11 touchdowns. In LA's two playoff games, Allen had 375 total yards and three touchdowns.
In the battle of Marcus Allen vs. the top-rated rushing defense in the NFL, Allen won by a landslide. In the process, Los Angeles won in a landslide as well. The Raiders brought a 21-3 lead into the half and continued to pour it on en route to a 38-9 victory, the most lopsided in Super Bowl history to that point. Allen rushed for 191 yards and two touchdowns on just 20 carries, securing himself Super Bowl MVP honors.
Los Angeles dominated on both sides of the ball and cruised to an easy victory as a 3-point underdog. With Washington's highly-touted offense scoring only nine points, the UNDER 48 points narrowly cashed as the game total ended up being 47 points.
