Super Bowl XXII was one of the most memorable contests in the history of the championship. The Redskins had just come off a 14-4 season, and were facing off against the powerful Denver Broncos. The season had narrowly avoided being cut short by a player's strike, but in the end everything had been resolved with the loss of only a week's play. The Broncos' legendary quarterback Doug Elway took the field for his side, while the Redskins were led by the capable Doug Williams, the first African-American quarterback to start a Super Bowl.
No one was surprised to see the Broncos start strong, scoring ten points in the first quarter. At that point many fans wrote the game off entirely - no one had ever come back from a deficit that large. But in the second quarter, the Redskins exploded, and the Broncos completely collapsed. Washington came back to score a record-setting five unanswered touchdowns before the half with 356 offensive yards. Fans, especially the Denver crowd, were stunned by the performance.
The third quarter saw the teams struggle without scoring, with more mistakes made by the Denver line. By the end of the game, Elway had been sacked five times and thrown three interceptions. Washington scored again in the fourth, to make the final 42-10 and to give Williams the additional honor of being the first African-American quarterback to win a Super Bowl. It was the Redskin's second trophy, and a substantial upset for the favorite Broncos.
