Super Bowl XVII

Super Bowl XVII
DateJanuary 30, 1983 (1983-01-30)
StadiumRose Bowl, Pasadena, California
MVPJohn Riggins, fullback
FavoriteDolphins by 3[1][2]
RefereeJerry Markbreit
Attendance103,667[3]
Ceremonies
National anthemLeslie Easterbrook
Coin tossElroy Hirsch
Halftime showBob Jani Productions presents "KaleidoSUPERscope" with the Los Angeles Super Drill Team and the Los Angeles Unified School District All City Marching Band starring Tammy Aadnesen.
TV in the United States
NetworkNBC
AnnouncersDick Enberg and Merlin Olsen
Nielsen ratings48.6
(est. 81.77 million viewers)[4]
Market share69
Cost of 30-second commercial$400,000
Radio in the United States
NetworkCBS Radio
AnnouncersJack Buck and Hank Stram

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, and the first one where the previous losing team won.

The first half was competitive and ended with the Dolphins leading 17–10. This was the third Super Bowl where the losing team was ahead at halftime, and the second where they were ahead by the start of the fourth quarter. 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.[5] Nevertheless, Miami built a 17–10 halftime lead with Jimmy Cefalo's 76-yard touchdown catch and Fulton Walker's 98-yard kickoff return.[6] 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.[7]

Riggins was named Super Bowl MVP,[8] 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.[9][10][11]

  1. ^ DiNitto, Marcus (January 25, 2015). "Super Bowl Betting History – Underdogs on Recent Roll". The Linemakers. Sporting News. Archived from the original on February 4, 2015. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  2. ^ "Super Bowl History". Vegas Insider. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  3. ^ "Super Bowl Winners". National Football League. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
  4. ^ "Historical Super Bowl Nielsen TV Ratings, 1967–2009 – Ratings". TVbytheNumbers. Archived from the original on February 8, 2010. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
  5. ^ Hofmann, Rich. "Redskins' Riggins shows "I am the king"". Google News Search Archive. The Day (New London, CT). pp. 19, 21. Retrieved March 14, 2017.
  6. ^ "Redskins daring play breaks Dolphins ' backs". Lakeland Ledger (page 19). January 31, 1983. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  7. ^ "Rallying Redskins are simply superb 27 – 17". St. Petersburg Times (page 22). January 31, 1983. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  8. ^ "Riggins choice for MVP". Youngstown Vindicator (page 7). January 31, 1983. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  9. ^ Riggins became the second player to accomplish this feat in a Super Bowl. Franco Harris also gained more yards in Super Bowl IX than the entire Minnesota Vikings offense did.
  10. ^ "Redskins put it all together". The Milwaukee Journal (page 23). January 31, 1983. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
  11. ^ Denlinger, Ken (July 27, 1996). "Magic '70 Chip' Ends Four Decades of Trying". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 22, 2008.