Stunning Super Bowl Moments

Stunning Super Bowl Moments — page 7
8 RUNNING FOR GLORY Washington head coach Joe Gibbs had a big problem early in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XVII on January 30 1983. His team trailed the Miami Dolphins 17-13 with just over 10 minutes to play Now Washington faced fourth-and-1 at the Miami 43-yard line But Gibbs had a big solution to his big problem 6-foot 2-inch 230-pound running back John Riggins Gibbs dialed up a play called 70 chip Riggins nicknamed Diesel for his powerful runs got the ball while running left The Washington offensive line opened a big hole for him Only Miami cornerback Don McNeal stood in the way Riggins outweighed McNeal by 40 pounds and shrugged the cornerback off easily From there Diesel raced into the end zone for the go-ahead score Washington won the game 27-17 Riggins was named the game's Most Valuable Player MVP A year later Washington was back in the Super Bowl This time the team was on the wrong end of a huge run While Riggins rushed with power the Los Angeles Raiders Marcus Allen was a lean graceful runner And on one third-quarter play he made NFL history by going off script Super Bowl XVIII was already a blowout The Raiders led 28-9 when Allen got the ball at the Los Angeles 26-yard line He ran to the left but found the way blocked by several defenders So Allen stopped and reversed Then he spotted a hole up the middle and