Editing Super Bowl XXII (section)

===Second quarter===
Williams returned 43 seconds into the second quarter, and the Washington offense began to click. In the previous 21 Super Bowls, no team had ever overcome a 10-point deficit to win, but the second quarter took an abrupt turn in favor of the Redskins. And much like they had in the second half of [[Super Bowl XXI]] against the [[New York Giants]], Denver's defense suffered an on-field meltdown, giving up six unanswered touchdowns to Washington, five of which were scored in the second quarter alone, and all of which were scored by the offense.

Following another Broncos punt, on the Redskins' first play of the second quarter, wide receiver [[Ricky Sanders]] got behind cornerback [[Mark Haynes]] (who tried to jam him at the [[line of scrimmage]]) and safety [[Tony Lilly]], and caught a pass from Williams, taking it 80 yards for a touchdown, cutting Washington's deficit to 10–7. After forcing the Broncos to punt on their next possession, Washington advanced to the Denver 27 on a 19-yard run by Smith. Facing 3rd-and-1, Williams connected with receiver [[Gary Clark (American football)|Gary Clark]], who made a diving catch in the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown to give Washington a 14–10 lead. From this point forward, the Redskins would go on to dominate the Broncos.

After the ensuing kickoff, Denver drove to the Washington 26, aided by running back [[Sammy Winder]]'s 25-yard reception and Elway's 21-yard run. But offensive tackle [[Dave Studdard]], blocking defensive end [[Dexter Manley]], went down with a knee injury. After Elway threw an incomplete pass on third down, Karlis missed a 43-yard field goal attempt wide left. On the first play of the Redskins' ensuing drive, Williams threw a 16-yard pass to Clark. Then on the next play, Smith took off for a 58-yard touchdown run, with blocking from guard [[Raleigh McKenzie]] and offensive tackle [[Joe Jacoby]], increasing their lead to 21–10.<ref name="Redskins pull Bronc-Buster" /> Washington's offensive line featuring McKenzie and Jacoby figured greatly in a play known as the Counter Gap, which the Redskins ran repeatedly in the game.<ref name="One Super Show">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.si.com/vault/1988/02/08/106778760/one-super-showand-the-rout-was-on|title=One Super Show!|magazine=Sports Illustrated}}</ref>

The Redskins again forced a Broncos punt and increased their lead to 28–10 in three plays, the last two of which consisted of passes from Williams to Sanders; the first for 11 yards, and the second for a 50-yard touchdown, which made Sanders the first player in Super Bowl history to catch two touchdowns in one quarter. Three plays after the ensuing kickoff, Washington cornerback [[Barry Wilburn]] intercepted a pass intended for Nattiel on the Redskins 21, and once again, the Redskins stormed down the field to score. First, Smith broke loose for a 43-yard run, then Williams completed a pair of passes to Sanders for 28 yards to reach the Denver 7. Two plays later, Williams threw the fifth Washington touchdown of the quarter, an 8-yard pass to tight end [[Clint Didier]] to make the score 35–10. On Denver's next drive, Elway completed three consecutive passes for 40 total yards (including a 24-yard pass to Jackson) to advance to the Redskins 36. However, cornerback [[Brian Davis (American football)|Brian Davis]] intercepted Elway's next pass at the 21 to end the half.

In the second quarter alone, Williams completed 9 of 11 passes for 228 yards and four touchdowns; Smith rushed five times for 122 yards and a touchdown; and Sanders caught five passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns. The Redskins scored 35 points and gained 356 yards in total offense, both Super Bowl records, and scored five touchdowns on 18 total offensive plays.

During the regular season, the Broncos had allowed 35 points for the entire game only once—and it was in that game, a 40–10 loss to the [[1987 Houston Oilers season|Houston Oilers]] in Week 4, that they fielded replacement players, with the regular players having gone on strike.

Washington's 25-point lead at the half surpassed the previous record of 20 points set by [[San Francisco 49ers|San Francisco]] in [[Super Bowl XVI]].