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San Diego Chargers history

1994 San Diego Chargers: A Long-Awaited Super Bowl Trip

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The San Diego Chargers’ postseason history is not exactly filled with glorious moments. From the consecutive AFC Championship Game losses with Dan Fouts at quarterback in 1980-81, to the disappointments of the Marty Schottenheimer years in the ‘00s, to the flop of 2009 under Norv Turner, the Charger fans know about hopes being dashed. But the 1994 San Diego Chargers were just the opposite—it was the year the Bolts finally came up clutch. 

Bobby Ross, fresh off winning a national championship at Georgia Tech two years earlier, took over in 1992 and promptly won the AFC West. After briefly stepping back to 8-8, the 1994 San Diego Chargers made the big breakthrough and finally reached the Super Bowl.

Ross’ offense was built around the powerful running of big Natrone Means. Even with an offensive line that was mostly non-descript, Means muscled his way for 1,350 yards. He also mixed in 39 receptions. He was augmented in the backfield by the versatile Ronnie Harmon, who caught 58 balls.

Stan Humphries isn’t a name that rings out in history with other Charger quarterbacks like Fouts or Philip Rivers. But Humphries had a strong overall year in 1994. His 58 percent completion rate, 7.1 yards-per attempt and 2.6 interception rate all ranked in the upper half among NFL starting quarterbacks. He had a balanced receiving corps. Tony Martin was the big-play guy, his 50 catches going for nearly 18 yards a pop. Mark Seay and Shawn Jefferson combined to catch 101 more passes. The Charger offense would rank fifth in the league for points scored.

The San Diego defense was anchored by elite play in the front seven. The defensive ends included Pro Bowler Leslie O’Neal and Chris Mims, who combined for 23 ½ sacks. And the late, great Junior Seau was the best middle linebacker in football. Overseen by coordinator Bill Arnsparger, who had been the DC for the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins, San Diego’s defense ranked ninth in the NFL for points allowed.

San Diego opened the season on Sunday Night Football against John Elway’s Denver Broncos. It didn’t start well, as the Chargers found themselves in an early 17-0 hole. But Humphries was making big plays—his 12/22 night ended up producing 232 passing yards. San Diego chipped back to get within 24-19. Then defensive back Stanley Richards stepped up. With Denver on the verge of going in for a critical score in the third quarter, Richards intercepted Elway on the one-yard line and took it back 99 yards the other way. The Chargers won a 37-34 thriller.

Humphries played well again in the home opener against the lowly Cincinnati Bengals. He went 18/29 for 299 yards and no mistakes. Seay caught eight passes for 119 yards. Means ran for 107 yards. The result was a comfortable 27-10 win.

San Diego went north to visit the Seattle Seahawks in the old Kingdome. The Bolts weren’t sharp and committed 14 penalties. But Richard had another big Pick-6, this one coming back 73 yards. And San Diego had another 99-yard touchdown play—this one a Humphries-to-Martin TD pass. It was enough for a 24-10 win.

The Chargers went on to play the Raiders, who then called Los Angeles home. Special teams keyed a strong start, as Darrien Gordon took a punt 90 yards to the house. San Diego led 17-0. But the Chargers bogged down. The Raiders cut the lead to 23-17. Then Humphries threw a Pick-6. Disaster loomed, as they trailed by a point. But Humphries bounced back, led a drive into a field goal range and kicker John Carney won it with a 33-yard boot. San Diego went into their bye week riding high at 4-0.

A home date with the Kansas City Chiefs awaited on the far side of the bye. The Chiefs were the defending division champs, and they had the legendary Joe Montana at quarterback. But San Diego would control the line of scrimmage. Means went for 125 yards. The K.C. running game, led by Marcus Allen, was held to 64 yards. The Chargers churned out a 20-6 win and stayed undefeated.

The good times kept rolling at home against mediocre New Orleans. Means ran for early touchdowns from 16 & 8 yards out. San Diego raced to a 24-0 lead and closed out a 36-22 win. They were 6-0, the toast of the AFC, and emerging as a potential rival to the powerful NFC duo of the San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys, widely seen as the league’s two best teams.

Denver was having a mediocre season in 1994, but it was their visit to SoCal that broke the momentum. San Diego missed a chance to put the game away early when three deep drives ended in field goals. What could have been a rout was only 9-0. When Humphries threw three interceptions, it turned into a 20-15 loss.

Seattle, an AFC West team prior to the realignment of 2002, made their return visit a week later. Means ran for 104 yards and keyed an easy 35-15 win over a bad team. But Humphries was knocked out and missed the following week’s game in Atlanta. Even though backup Gale Gilbert didn’t play badly, the Chargers failed to execute on third down, going just 3-for-15. The result was a 10-9 loss.

At 7-2, San Diego’s visit to Kansas City was looming even bigger now, as the Chargers needed to keep control of the division. Humphries was back in the saddle. After spotting the Chiefs a 13-0 lead, the San Diego defense took over and shut down the K.C. running game again. Humphries hit Jefferson with a 52-yard touchdown strike, then tossed a short TD pass to tight end Duane Young in the fourth quarter. The Bolts got out of town with a big 14-13 win. They were two games up on the Chiefs and had the tiebreaker.

New England’s 4-6 record made them seem like easy prey. But this was a cross-country trip for a third straight road game. That alone would have given reason for San Diego fans to worry. What’s more, we now know that this Patriot team, with Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells, was just starting a surge that would carry them to the playoffs. The Chargers fell behind 10-0, couldn’t really get into their running game, and Humphries was intercepted three times. A 23-17 loss was the result.

Returning home to play a bad Los Angeles Rams team was the right antidote. Gordon had another big punt return for a touchdown. The defense intercepted four passes. The last one was a 50-yard Pick-6 from Sean Vanhorse that was the coup de grace in a 31-17 win.

San Diego was 9-3, two games up on Kansas City and plus-three on the L.A. Raiders in the AFC West. With four games left, the Chargers were comfortable. It was the race for homefield advantage and what were then two first-round byes that were the focus. The Pittsburgh Steelers were also 9-3 and were coming to San Diego for the season finale. The Miami Dolphins were 8-4, with the tiebreaker situation against the Bolts still up in the air.

A Monday Night home game with the Raiders, following a Kansas City loss on Sunday, was a chance to ice the division title. It was a missed chance. Neither team ran the ball well. But the Charger secondary gave up some big plays and they lost a back-and-forth 24-17 affair. What’s worse is that the next game was with San Francisco. The powerful 49ers quickly raced to a 21-0 lead. In a deep hole, San Diego couldn’t pound the ball with Means. Martin did catch nine balls for 172 yards, but the stats were padded after the result was a foregone conclusion. The final was 38-15.

The good news for the Chargers, now 9-5, is that the Chiefs were also flailing and were at 7-7. The Raiders were up to 8-6, but San Diego still had the divisional record tiebreaker on L.A. Moreover, Miami had missed a chance to really take a hold of the 2-seed and was also 9-5. While Pittsburgh was pulling away with the homefield advantage, a first-round bye was still very much on the table.

San Diego just needed to start playing well, and they flew east to play a bad New York Jets team. Things didn’t turn around immediately, and the Chargers trailed 6-0 in the second quarter. A short TD pass from Humphries to Seay got everything loosened up. Humphries went on to throw touchdown strikes to Martin from 44 and 60 yards out, go 19/26 for 280 yards on the day, and lead a 21-6 win. San Diego was AFC West champs.

What’s more, Miami lost, so the Chargers controlled their destiny for the second first-round bye. Pittsburgh had sewn up the top seed, so the Steelers had nothing to play for when they came west. It was still a wild game. At 3-3, San Diego’s Andre Coleman returned a punt 90 yards to the house. The Chargers led 24-19 after three quarters. A wild fourth-quarter ensued. Trailing 34-27, Means ran 20 yards to tie the game. And San Diego got the last word when a Carney field goal won it 37-34. The Chargers were 11-5 and the 2-seed in the AFC playoffs.

Miami knocked out Kansas City in the wild-card round, and the Dolphins came west for what would be the final game of Divisional Round Weekend on Sunday afternoon.

The Dolphins struck first with a Dan Marino touchdown pass. A long Charger drive in the second quarter stopped just near the goal line and ended with a short Carney field goal. Before halftime, the pattern repeated. Marino tossed a TD pass. The Chargers drove right to the brink, and then settled for three. When Marino came out in the third quarter and tossed another TD pass, the score was 21-6 and the afternoon was looking bleak in old Jack Murphy Stadium.

These two franchises had played an epic playoff game back in 1981. And while it might be pushing it to put the 1994 edition on a par with the ’81 classic, this one was about to get considerably more dramatic.

The San Diego defense produced a safety. They were also completely shutting down the Miami running game, holding the Dolphins to 26 yards on the ground and preventing them from salting this one way. Means, who would rush for 139 yards, cut the lead to 21-15  with a 24-yard jaunt later in the third quarter.

In the final quarter, Humphries led a late drive. He had thrown two interceptions and was generally outplayed by Marino, but Stan came through here. He tossed an eight-yard scoring pass to Seay in the final minute, capping off a 28/43 for 276 yards afternoon. Marino had an answer—he drove the Dolphins into position for a field goal try on the last play. But it sailed wide. San Diego had survived and was going to their first AFC Championship Game since that 1981 season.

No one gave the Chargers much of a chance. Pittsburgh was rolling and had just demolished Bill Belichick’s Cleveland Browns in the divisional round. On a gray, early afternoon in the Steel City, the Steelers came out rolling and scored first to take a 7-0 lead. Continuing the pattern from the previous week, San Diego drove inside the 5-yard line…and settled for three.

A grinding game ensued. Steeler quarterback Neil O’Donnell was putting up yards, but the Chargers were again controlling an opponent’s ground game. A couple of good Pittsburgh drives ended in field goals. In the third quarter, a game that felt like it was being controlled by the Steelers was still in striking distance at 13-3.

Humphries then found tight end Alfred Pupunu on a 43-yard touchdown pass. You could start to feel the tension build in old Three Rivers Stadium. And for good reason. Humphries would strike again from 43 yards out, this time to Martin in the fourth quarter. San Diego suddenly had a 17-13 lead.

In a replay of the previous week, the opponent had one more good swing left in them on the final possession and Pittsburgh drove to the Charger three-yard line in the closing seconds. It came down to 4th-and-goal. O’Donnell threw to the end zone. Seau knocked it down. A season that had seen a surging start and mediocre finish had now been capped by two thrilling AFC playoff wins and a long-awaited Super Bowl trip.

Of course, the season wasn’t really “capped.” There was still the Super Bowl itself, to be played out in Miami where San Francisco was waiting. The conventional wisdom around the league was that the 49ers’ win over the Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game had been the de facto Super Bowl. San Diego was installed as a huge 19-point underdog.

This was one of those times when conventional wisdom was spot-on. The 49ers and Cowboys were both light-years ahead of the rest of the league and the Super Bowl went much like the December meeting between San Francisco and San Diego. The Chargers fell behind by multiple scores early and the 49-26 final was never close.

But San Diego was still the best team in the AFC. And after such a long wait to get here, no one was complaining.

The History-Making Turnaround Of The 1992 San Diego Chargers

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Success had been a long time coming for the football fans of San Diego. The Chargers were last a playoff team in the Air Coryell Era of 1979-82, when they went to the postseason each year and reached the AFC Championship Game in 1979 and 1980. After a decade in the wilderness, the 1992 San Diego Chargers hired Bobby Ross, who had Georgia Tech to a surprise national championship in 1990 as their head coach. And the ‘92 Chargers not only got back to the playoffs but made history in the process.

Today, the name Junior Seau is sadly synonymous with the risks that come to the brain from playing pro football. Back in 1992, the late linebacker was a rising star, 23-years-old and on his way to 1st-team All-NFL. He led a defense that finished fourth in the league in points allowed. Seau got help from a tough pass rush led by Pro Bowl defensive end Leslie O’Neal and his 17 sacks. Burt Grossman and Blaise Winston combined for 14 more sacks and Gil Byrd was a Pro Bowler in the secondary.

The offense didn’t have the same kind of Pro Bowl talent, but they still ranked ninth in putting points on the board. Quarterback Stan Humphries ranked in the middle of the league in completion percentage and throwing interceptions but was seventh among quarterbacks in yards-per-attempt.

Anthony Miller was the primary target on the outside and Miller caught 72 passes for nearly fifteen yards a pop. Nate Lewis was a big-play threat, with his 34 catches producing more than 17 yards each. Derrick Walker provided another option at tight end.

But no one was more consistently in Humphries’ sights than the versatile Ronnie Harmon out the backfield. Harmon caught 79 balls for over 900 yards and was the only Pro Bowl player on offense. The backfield was rounded out by conventional, physical running backs in Marion Butts and Rod Bernstine, who combined for over 1,300 yards.

The schedule was difficult out of the gate. Of the first four opponents, three of them (Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Oilers, Pittsburgh Steelers) would make the playoffs. The fourth, the Denver Broncos were coming off an AFC Championship Game appearance in 1991. And the Chargers lost all four games.

No team in NFL history had ever reached the postseason after an 0-4 start. Even though the playoffs had been expanded to six teams per conference in 1990, and even though San Diego beat lowly Seattle on October 4 to go into their bye week at 1-4, there was no reason to expect these Chargers to be the first.

San Diego began a softer schedule stretch that included two games against the mediocre Indianapolis Colts (the schedule format of the time had the two teams that finished last in the five-team divisions play each other twice). The Bolts won both games. More notable was that they did it decisively, by scores of 34-14 and 26-0. These wins were sandwiched around a big 24-21 victory over Denver, as Humphries went 20/27 for 355 yards, while the Charger defense picked off John Elway three times.

The Broncos and Chiefs were still the leaders of the AFC West, and San Diego dropped a 16-14 game in KC. They were at 4-5. It was a nice turnaround, but the Bolts were still two games back of Denver.

But another winning streak promptly began. San Diego went to Cleveland, led by second-year head coach Bill Belichick. Trailing 13-7 in the fourth quarter, Humphries ht Miller with a 45-yard touchdown strike that won it. The following week was about the ground game, with Butts muscling out 104 yards in a 29-14 win over Tampa Bay. The Chargers were 6-5 and on the winning side of the ledger for the first time in 1992.

They hosted the Los Angeles Raiders for Sunday Night Football and San Diego showed the nation how far they had come. They led 21-3 by halftime and coasted to a 27-3 win. There might have been a modest hangover the next week in Phoenix when they spotted the Cardinals a 14-zip lead and still trailed 21-10 in the third quarter, with no running game to be found. But O’Neal would get four sacks himself, the defense forced five turnovers and Humphries 20/32 for 275 yards was enough to pull out a 27-21 win.

San Diego came back home to face Cincinnati and were tied 10-10 at halftime. The Chargers again took over late and again the pass rush was a reason why. O’Neal and Grossman combined for three sacks and the final was 27-10.

The Chargers were 9-5 and improbably tied with the Chiefs for first place in the AFC West. The Broncos had slumped in the second half and were fading fast at 7-7. It was a two-team race, but with San Diego having lost twice to KC, they needed help.

And they got it on a Saturday afternoon in the penultimate week of the regular season. The Chiefs lost to a weak New York Giants team. The Chargers came out the next day at Los Angeles to face the Raiders and played one of their best games of the season. San Diego played error-free football, shut down the running game and intercepted three passes. The final was 36-14.

History was already made—San Diego was in the playoffs. But now the AFC West crown was in their grasp. Kansas City won its finale, so the Chargers needed to win in Seattle (the Seahawks were an AFC West team prior to the realignment of 2002). San Diego trailed 14-13 after three quarters. The defense took matters into their own hands. Grossman created a safety. Darren Carrington brought an interception back to the house. They Chargers pulled away again and won 31-14.

San Diego’s history-making turnaround had not even required the most recent playoff expansion of 1990. The Chargers were in the old-fashioned way, as division champs.

And Round III with Kansas City was up. Nobody was under any illusion about how different this Charger team was from the one that lost to the Chiefs in September or even in midseason. San Diego was a three-point favorite for the late Saturday afternoon kickoff.

Both teams were built on defense and it showed. The game was scoreless at the half. It would be Butts that would breakthrough, rambling 54 yards for a touchdown. He rushed for 119 yards and outplayed his counterpart, KC’s physical Christian Okoye. And that San Diego defense kept coming. They got seven sacks, with Grossman, O’Neal and Shawn Lee all getting home multiple times. The final was 20-0.

A road trip to Miami was on deck for the divisional playoffs, something that woke up the memories of 1981 when the Chargers won one of the great playoff games of all-time in South Beach. That 1981 game was the late Sunday afternoon kick that ended divisional weekend, just as this 1992 game would be. But that’s where the similarities ended.

The rain was pouring and after a scoreless first quarter, the San Diego dream run came crashing down. Dolphin quarterback Dan Marino heated up in the second quarter, while Humphries threw four interceptions. The game got away by halftime and ended 31-0.

It was still an amazing turnaround year for a franchise that needed it. And it was the start of a good five-year run under Ross. He would get to the playoffs two more times and the 1994 trip resulted in what remains the only Super Bowl appearance in Chargers history.

Dan Fouts & Air Coryell Arrive: The 1979 San Diego Chargers Season

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The 1979 San Diego Chargers marked the beginning of a new period of success in franchise history, with their high-powered passing attack nicknamed “Air Coryell, named after head coach Don Coryell. But the season also had a bitter ending, something the franchise has become all-to-familiar with in the Super Bowl era.

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San Diego had been on the outside looking in since winning AFL championships in the early 1960s. The Chargers hadn’t enjoyed a winning season since 1969. After losing three of their first four games in 1978, Coryell was given the coaching reins and they promptly closed the season 8-4 and got positive momentum rolling into the 1979 NFL season.

Coryell had an offensive coordinator who would make a pretty good name for himself, and that was Joe Gibbs, future legend for the Washington Redskins. Gibbs oversaw a passing game that was state-of-the-art by the standards of the era, with Dan Fouts as the triggerman. Fouts threw for over 4,000 yards. In a testament to how aggressive passing games were, and how much leeway defenses still had, Fouts threw 24 interceptions, but it didn’t stop him from being named 1st-team All-Pro.

Wide receiver John Jefferson was also 1st-team All-Pro, and Charlie Joiner made the Pro Bowl. Both were 1,000-yard receivers. There was a young tight end named Kellen Winslow, who was still finding his way into the offense, but had a Hall of Fame career ahead of him. The right side of the offensive line, Ed White and Russ Washington, were Pro Bowl-bound.

The running game was up-and-down, but Clarence Williams still ran for over 750 yards, and the offense as a whole ranked second in the NFL in points scored.

San Diego’s defense in the Air Coryell era often came under scrutiny, but they also ranked second in the league. The talent wasn’t as explosive, but there were a pair of Pro Bowlers on the defensive front, with Gary Johnson and pass rusher extraordinaire Fred Dean. Two linebackers, Ray Preston and Woodrow Lowe, were alert to the ball and intercepted five passes. Defense wasn’t going to be a problem for the 1979 San Diego Chargers.

The AFC West would be a good division, with four of its five teams ultimately finishing with a winning record and even the fifth-place Kansas City Chiefs winning seven games (the division was the Seattle Seahawks along with the AFC West’s four current teams). San Diego opened with two division games and quickly showed they meant business.

Fouts completed 21/30 for 224 yards in Seattle, the defense forced six turnovers and San Diego broke open a game that was 13-10 at the half and won 33-16. Fouts kept it going at home against the Oakland Raiders, going 15/30 for 216 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in a 30-10 rout.

It was the running game’s time to shine when the Buffalo Bills came west. The Chargers trailed 19-13 in the fourth quarter against an average opponent. Williams then ripped off a 55-yard touchdown run to put the Bolts on top and then tacked one more score to win it. He finished with 157 yards rushing in the 27-19 win.

San Diego traveled cross-country to New England for Week 4 and the running game disappeared. The Chargers dug a 20-0 hole in the second quarter, before Fouts started bringing them back. The lead was down to 27-21 and San Diego was driving for the winning score, before Fouts was intercepted near the goal line in the final two minutes. They had taken their first loss of the season.

The hangover seemed to drag into a home game with the awful San Francisco 49ers. It took a scoreless first quarter for the Chargers to wake up, but then they got rolling again. Fouts was 26/34 for 251 yards and Winslow caught seven passes in what ended as a 31-9 rout.

Fouts put up the yards in Denver, against a Bronco team that had won the AFC West each of the previous two years, and reached the Super Bowl in 1977. Fouts threw for 305 yards. But he also threw three interceptions and with the running game shut down, the passing yardage proved to be sound and fury signifying nothing. Literally nothing—Denver won 7-0.

A similar offensive dynamic took place for three quarters at home against Seattle. Fouts finished with the game with 318 yards, including nine catches by Jefferson for 137 yards. But with no running game, San Diego couldn’t shake Seattle and only led 14-10. This one had a better ending though—Fouts went over the top to Jefferson for a 49-yard touchdown strike and a 20-10 win.

The Los Angeles Rams would eventually make the Super Bowl out of the NFC, but they were still trying to find their footing when San Diego played them in a battle of SoCal. The Chargers forced eight turnovers, Fouts threw for over 300 yards, with both Joiner and Jefferson having big days, and it was a 40-16 rout.

In an era where there weren’t nearly as many prime-time games—Sunday night and Thursday nights were occasional novelties and only Monday Night Football was standard—the Chargers had not yet been showcased to the nation. They made a Thursday Night visit to Oakland and seemed to shrink. The secondary was carved by Raider quarterback Ken Stabler, they were outrushed 137-82 and pounded on the scoreboard, 45-22.

Fouts got his team back on track quickly in Kansas City, throwing an early 31-yard touchdown pass to Jefferson, and the defense forced four turnovers in a 20-14 win. The Chargers then flirted with danger in a trip to the lowly Cincinnati Bengals. Fouts threw four interceptions and San Diego trailed 24-16 in the fourth quarter, at a time when there was no two-point conversion.But the quarterback was at his best down the stretch. Fouts found Artie Owens on a 32-yard touchdown pass and then led a drive for a winning field goal.

The biggest possible test was next when San Diego hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers, the famed “Steel Curtain”, who had won three of the previous five Super Bowls and would win another one this year. San Diego led 21-7 in the third quarter, with Pittsburgh driving to get back in the game.

Lowe picked off Terry Bradshaw and took it 77 yards to the house, all but sealing a 35-7 win. It was one of two interceptions for Lowe, and one of five interceptions and eight total turnovers the defense as a whole forced.

After a slow start at home against the Chiefs, trailing 7-0 in the second quarter, Fouts heated up. He went 29 yards to Joiner, 42 to Jefferson and threw a short touchdown pass to tight end Bob Klein, pulling away in a 28-7 win.

The calendar flipped to December and there were three games left. San Diego was 10-3 and atop the AFC West, but Denver was right behind at 9-4. The Broncos held the tiebreaker and the teams would play on the final Monday Night game of the year in San Diego.

Fouts played extremely well in a home game against a bad Atlanta Falcons team, going 28/37 for 338 yards. But there was no running game, and Atlanta’s balanced offense pulled a 28-26 upset. San Diego was dropped into a tie with Denver, and were now a game back of Pittsburgh for the top seed in the AFC.

A road trip to mediocre New Orleans brought a much better result. Fouts was 17/23 for 253 yards, spreading the ball around to all his receivers. Williams gave a consistent running game. The defense was in lockdown mode and the final score was 35-0. The following night, the Steelers lost to the Houston Oilers and San Diego would play for not just the AFC West, but the top playoff seed on the final Monday Night.

The Chargers-Broncos battle is the kind of game that would be quickly flexed to Sunday Night in today’s NFL. Back then, it was a lucky break for fans to get this kind of game for a finale. Denver led 7-0, but Fouts was able to scramble in for a 4-yard touchdown run to tie the game by halftime.

The workmanlike battle continued in the second half, but San Diego was able to make some big plays. Fouts hit Joiner on a 32-yard touchdown pass. The quarterback made mistakes—three interceptions—but Bronco counterpart Craig Morton made even more, throwing four picks. It wasn’t a work of art, but with the 17-7 win, the Chargers were division champs.

It seemed everything was pointing to a San Diego-Pittsburgh battle for the conference championship, especially when Houston arrived in San Diego for the AFC divisional round missing the heart of its lineup. The Oilers were not only without the league MVP, running back Earl Campbell, but missing quarterback Dan Pastorini and wide receiver Ken Burrough.

But Fouts ended up being owned by a rookie strong safety named Vernon Perry. The kid intercepted Fouts four different times, and Perry also blocked a field goal. San Diego scored on their first drive of the game, but most everything went wrong offensively after that and they lost 17-14.

San Diego had still arrived and their aerial attack would continue to keep them atop the AFC West each of the next two years and in the playoffs through 1982. They started getting playoff victories, advancing in each of the next three seasons. But this group of players never reached a Super Bowl, and the franchise itself still looks for its title since the AFL days.

The Game-By-Game Narrative Of The 1981 San Diego Chargers

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The San Diego Chargers had lost playoff games at home each of the two previous years, coughing up #1 seeds in the process. In 1981, they won a third straight AFC West title, but had to go on the road for the playoffs. Ironically, it would be not having homefield advantage that probably did them in this time, although along the way they did win one of the greatest postseason games ever played.

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The Air Coryell passing attack continue to define the 1981 San Diego Chargers. Even though offensive coordinator Joe Gibbs had departed to begin coaching the Washington Redskins, head coach Don Coryell and quarterback Dan Fouts kept churning out the passing yards.

Fouts threw for over 4,800 yards, had a TD-INT ratio of 33/17 and a completion percentage of 59 percent. Every one of these was a sterling number by the standards of the era and Fouts made the Pro Bowl.

Tight end Kellen Winslow was a 1st-team All-NFL talent, with 88 catches for 1,075 yards. Charlie Joiner didn’t make the Pro Bowl, although with his 70 catches for nearly 1,200 yards it’s hard to see why. Wes Chandler stepped in for the explosive John Jefferson after an early season trade and was a reliable third target. The running game had Chuck Muncie, who rolled up over 1,100 yards and made the Pro Bowl himself. It added up to the most productive offense in the NFL in points scored.

San Diego was lacking in the meat-and-potatoes aspect of football, on the offensive line and on defense. That was best demonstrated by the fact defensive tackle Gary Johnson was the only player outside the skill positions to make the Pro Bowl, and the defense ranked 26th in the NFL in points scored.

The Chargers were under a new defensive coordinator—ironically it was Jack Pardee, who had previously held the Redskins head coaching job that Gibbs took. The de facto coordinator-for-head-coach swap worked out better in Washington than it did in San Diego.

San Diego opened the season in Cleveland in an anticipated Monday Night game. The previous year the Browns had gotten the 2-seed in the AFC playoffs and shared the Chargers’ angst in being eliminated by the eventual Super Bowl champion Oakland Raiders. Furthermore, Cleveland quarterback Brian Sipe won the MVP award, making it a battle between him and Fouts a juicy one for the season’s first prime-time game.

It turned into a rout for the Bolts. Fouts was brilliant, with 19/25 for 330 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Joiner caught six passes for 191 yards, while Muncie ran for 161 yards. The 44-14 win foreshadowed a sharp decline for the Browns this season.

A home game with the mediocre Detroit Lions was a better game, going back and forth. The Fouts-to-Joiner combo overcame the lack of a running attack. The quarterback was 18/25 for 316 yards, while Joiner caught seven passes for 166 yards in a 27-23 win. A road win at another average opponent, the Kansas City Chiefs extended the record to 3-0.

The Charger defense forced eight turnovers, including an interception by none other than Johnson at the line of scrimmage, who returned it for the clinching touchdown in a 42-31 win.

San Diego went to Denver, the team they would fight all year for the AFC West crown and played a terrible game. The defense was lit up by Bronco quarterback Craig Morton, the Chargers trailed 35-0 in the third quarter and lost 42-24. Fouts bounced back a week later in a home game against then-AFC West rival Seattle. He threw for 302 yards and three touchdowns, frequently targeting running back Clarence Williams out of the backfield in a 24-10 win.

When San Diego got into a passing war you could usually count on Fouts and his cadre of weapons eventually outgunning the opponent. That didn’t’ happen in a home game with the Minnesota Vikings. Fouts was brilliant again, with 310 yards, but Tommy Kramer was even better, throwing for 444 yards and leading a drive for a late field goal to win 33-31.

The worst defense in the league awaited the Chargers when they traveled across the country to play the Baltimore Colts. The result was predictable. Ten different San Diego receivers caught passes from Fouts in a 43-14 win. But a road trip to Chicago, a last-place team, resulted in another loss.

Fouts was wildly erratic, completing 13/43 passes, though his big-play ability did produce 295 yards. The Chargers couldn’t run the ball, while the Bears, with Walter Payton could. San Diego lost 20-17 in overtime, in a game they were a (-11) favorite.

The Chargers survived a shaky home game with the Chiefs. It started well, with a 19-7 lead at halftime, but Kansas City was getting a strong running game behind Joe Delaney, while Muncie couldn’t get going. KC took a 20-19 lead, before Fouts drove his team down the field for a 22-yard field goal from Rolf Benirschke to win it.

San Diego was 6-3 and in good position for the AFC playoffs, making their home date with the Cincinnati Bengals, also 6-3 and leading the AFC Central, crucial. The Chargers got off to a poor start and were trailing 24-7 in the second quarter. Fouts had the offense on the march to get back on the game when he threw a Pick-6. In a 31-7 hole, the game was all but over and it ended 40-17. The implications would ripple into January.

The Chargers had bigger immediate problems than postseason seeding when they turned up flat on a Monday Night in Seattle, against a weak Seahawks team. Air Coryell kept the team in the game for a half, trailing 24-17. But the lack of defense, the lack of a running game and three turnovers led to a 44-23 loss.

That marked two straight defeats by a combined score of 83-40. That’s bad defense by the standards of the 21st century and it was positively horrific by the standards of 1981.

San Diego was now 6-5 and two games back of Denver in the AFC West. Kansas City was nestled in between the two teams at 7-4. Oakland was struggling to capture its Super Bowl form, but they were hanging on the fringe at 5-6 and Oakland was where San Diego was going next.

The Chargers took a small measure of revenge for the previous year’s AFC Championship Game loss when they all but eliminated the Raiders and in devastating fashion. Winslow caught 13 passes for 144 yards and the offense unloaded in a 55-21 win. Denver lost and San Diego pulled to within a game, as the two rivals prepared to meet on the final Sunday in November.

In the biggest game of the regular season, it was the running game that stood tall. Muncie ran for a pair of early touchdowns and the Chargers outgained the Broncos 148-67 on the ground. They forced five turnovers and won decisively, 34-17. The AFC West was now a three-way tie at the top.

The Buffalo Bills were playoff-bound and hoping to avenge a tough loss in San Diego in the previous year’s divisional playoffs. Fouts threw for 343 yards, most of it to Winslow and Joiner, but the running game disappeared this week. San Diego lost the rush yardage battle 145-84 and they lost the football game 28-27. Denver beat Kansas City, so the Chargers were tied with the Chiefs at 8-6 and trailed the Broncos by a game.

San Diego went across the country to Tampa Bay, where the Buccaneers were a mediocre team, but playing in an NFC Central division where their ultimate 9-7 record would be enough to win. It turned into a passing battle, with Fouts throwing for 351 yards and Doug Williams throwing for 321. It was a Chargers kind of a game and they got the win, with a late Benirscke field goal pulling it out, 24-23.

Kansas City lost and was eliminated, but Denver won and moved to 10-5. The good news was that the Chargers had the tiebreakers—if they beat the Raiders to close the season, San Diego would have the superior divisional record and could claim the AFC West if Denver lost. The Chargers also had hope of a wild-card, but would need the New York Jets to lose.

The San Diego-Oakland finale was on Monday Night, so the Chargers would know their fate when they took the field. They were pulling for either the Bears to upset the Broncos or the Packers to knock off the Jets.

Any hope of a wild-card faded quickly on Sunday afternoon, as the Jets crushed the Packers early and often. But out in Chicago, the Bears repaid the Chargers for that upset back in October. Chicago upended Denver and San Diego could now take the AFC West with a win. With the Raiders fading fast, the result seemed almost foregone.

Fouts threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Joiner in the second quarter, part of a 14/27 for 222 yards performance. The Bolts led 17-3 at the half and Muncie ran the ball well, gaining 94 yards and enabling San Diego to chisel out a 23-10 win. They had done it the hard way, but they were going to the playoffs as the #3 seed.

In 1981, the alignment was three divisions per conference and the playoff format was the same as what major league baseball uses today, with two wild-cards. So even though San Diego was on the road, they would still get a week off before going to play the 2-seed Miami Dolphins.

San Diego was a 2 ½ point favorite, in spite of being a game and a half behind Miami and on the road. Fouts drove the team down for a field goal. After a defensive stop, Chandler busted a 58-yard punt return for a 10-0 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, the ball hit the ground and took a strange bounce back towards the kicking team and the Chargers recovered.

Muncie scored a touchdown and on the next possession, defensive back Glen Edwards intercepted a pass. San Diego put it in the end zone again and with a 24-0 lead, it looked this one was over. But, to borrow the words of Frank Drepin in The Naked Gun “my night was just beginning.”

The Dolphins made a quarterback change to veteran Don Strock and he quickly put 10 points on the board and had Miami on the San Diego 40-yard line with time winding down in the first half. The Dolphins ran a trick play, the hook-and-lateral, where a pass to the receiver was followed by a lateral to trailing running back. It worked for a touchdown and the score was 24-17 by halftime.

By the early part of the third quarter, that big lead was gone, as the Dolphins scored to tie it. Fortunately for San Diego, Winslow was having the night of his life, one that would be immortalized in NFL lore and he caught a 25-yard touchdown pass for a 31-24 lead. Miami answered right back to tie it, then took the lead 38-31 and then were driving in the fourth quarter for what looked like a clinching field goal.

The Chargers then got a break—or forced one, however you want to look at it. Miami running back Andra Franklin fumbled and San Diego recovered on their own 18-yard line with less than five minutes left. Fouts, who would finish the night 33/53 for 433 yards, led the offense immediately down the field and tied the game up with less than a minute to play.

Miami still drove right back to the San Diego 26-yard line and the Dolphins lined up for a field goal to win it. Winslow, who would finish the game with 13 catches for 166 yards, leapt up and blocked the kick to force overtime.

The Chargers won the coin toss and looked ready to finally end this game when Fouts led them down to the 10-yard line for a try at a chippie field goal in the era of sudden-death overtime. Benirschke hooked it left. The Dolphins got another chance of their own, an easy 34-yard try. San Diego blocked it again. Finally, with 1:08 remaining in the first overtime, Benirschke took advantage of his second chance, hitting a 29-yarder to win the game 41-38

It was one of the greatest NFL playoff games ever played, and the great performances abounded. Muncie had ran for 120 yards, while Joiner and Chandler each went over 100 yards receiving. On the Dolphin side, Strock threw for over 400 yards, but didn’t get the running game support that Fouts got from Muncie.

But the hero of the night was Winslow, with his big stats and blocked field goal. He was dehydrated, suffering exhaustion and the enduring image of the game was him being helped off the field by teammates when it was over, too tired to move.

San Diego now had to play the AFC Championship Game in Cincinnati. The Bengals had finished 12-4 to the Chargers 10-6, but had San Diego won the regular season meeting between the two teams, it was the Bolts would have had the edge, owning a tiebreaker with both teams at 11-5. The difference in homefield advantage? Playing in warm San Diego or going to Cincinnati, where the temperatures would be (-32) with the wind chill.

The Chargers fell behind 10-0 in the first quarter before Fouts hit Winslow on a 33-yard touchdown pass. But that was the last offense San Diego showed. Muncie had a decent day running the ball, with 94 yards, but with the icy winds, Fouts couldn’t get anything going, finishing 15/28 for 185 yards and throwing two interceptions.

One of the interceptions was in the end zone in the second half, the most costly of three Charger turnovers that stopped drives. Cincinnati’s offense, geared to short passing with NFL MVP Ken Anderson, was better suited to impossible conditions and San Diego lost 27-7.

The Air Coryell era of the Chargers wasn’t over, but it was getting close. They would make the playoffs again in the strike-shortened year of 1982, but then faded from the postseason picture for the balance of Fouts’ career. This team of promise would never make a Super Bowl, but they entertained a lot of fans and in 1981, left a proud legacy of winning a playoff game that no one who watched will ever forget.

1980 San Diego Chargers Just Miss The Super Bowl Dream

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The 1980 San Diego Chargers may have been the best team in the franchise’s “Air Coryell” era, where head coach Don Coryell, with a big assist from offensive coordinator Joe Gibbs, produced an explosive offense on the cutting edge of the NFL’s relatively new pass-friendly rules. They went all-in to win the Super Bowl, but defensive problems cut the dream short.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
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Future Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Fouts was at the controls, and he threw for 4,715 yards and 30 touchdowns, both very high numbers by the standards of 1980. He also threw 24 interceptions, which, while not unheard of 1980, even for good quarterbacks, was still on the high end.

Fouts was a Pro Bowler and he had three 1st-team All-NFL targets. John Jefferson and Charlie Joiner were each 1,000-yard receivers, as was Kellen Winslow at tight end. The offensive line wasn’t great, and the team had problems running the football, but 33-year-old left guard Doug Wilkerson still made the Pro Bowl. San Diego would later seek to address its running game issues with a big midseason trade.

The offense ranked fourth in the NFL in points scored. It was defense that was the issue and specifically in the back seven. The Chargers had talent in the front four. Gary Johnson and Louis Kelcher were both Pro Bowlers at defensive end—Johnson was 1st-team All-NFL—and young Fred Dean was the same at defensive end. But the problems at linebacker and in the secondary resulted in a unit that ranked 18th in the NFL in points allowed.

San Diego opened up the season at Seattle, a division rival in the AFC West prior to 2002 and Fouts opened up. He threw for four touchdowns and any notions of problems with the running game and defense were nowhere to be found. John Cappelletti ran for 112 yards, the Seahawks only rushed for 47 and the final score was 34-13.

A home date with the Oakland Raiders was next. The Raiders, the division’s standard bearer through the most of the 1970s, had slipped and missed the playoffs two straight years, though they were never really bad. This was going to be a big comeback year for them, and the Week 2 game in San Diego was outstanding.

Fouts threw for 387 yards, hitting Jefferson and Winslow nine times apiece. The Chargers should have won handily, but they turned the ball over seven times, gave up a defensive touchdown and allowed backup quarterback Jim Plunkett to lead a drive for the tying touchdown at 24-24. The game went to overtime where San Diego finally won it.

The good times continued with two more AFC West wins, at Denver and at Kansas City. The defense picked off six passes in Denver, two by Glen Edwards who brought one back to the house in a 30-13 win. Fouts threw a pair of second quarter touchdown passes to Winslow in KC to get control of that game and the Bolts won 24-7.

Even though San Diego was 4-0, it was obvious they needed better offensive balance and to that end they swung a trade with the lowly New Orleans Saints. Chuck Muncie, an explosive Pro Bowl talent at running back—albeit with a penchant for fumbling the ball—was acquired for a second-round draft pick. Why the relatively low price tag? Muncie had off-the-field issues pertaining to drug use and the Saints were on their way to the worst record in the NFL anyway.

Muncie had no impact in his first game back, a tough 26-24 home loss to Buffalo. The Bills were on their way to an AFC East title and the inability to run the ball meant San Diego couldn’t hold a 24-12 lead in the fourth quarter. The following week in Oakland another loss came and this time it was the rush defense. The Chargers allowed 217 rush yards. Fouts did everything he could to overcome it, throwing for 388 yards, almost all to his Big Three of Jefferson, Joiner and Winslow. But again, the fourth quarter was the killer as a game tied 24-24 ended up in a 38-24 defeat.

A home game with a bad team in the New York Giants was a good antidote for the two straight losses, and Fouts opened up with 444 yards in a 44-7 loss. It set up a Sunday Night game in Dallas—prime-time games outside of Monday Night were a rare treat for fans in 1980, and with Dallas continuing to be an elite team under head coach Tom Landry, this matchup was a bigger treat than most.

San Diego trailed 7-3 before Fouts hit Jefferson on a 58-yard touchdown pass. A defensive touchdown put the Chargers ahead 17-7. But the flip side of this offense always staying on the attack was high turnovers and Fouts threw four interceptions. For the third time in four weeks, San Diego came undone in the second half against a good team, losing 42-31.

If we fast-forward the clock one year, San Diego traveled to Cincinnati for an AFC Championship Game in frigid temperatures. The weather in Cincinnati on November 2 this season was a little more manageable and so were the Bengals, who finished 6-10. The Chargers took care of the football this time, jumped out to an early 17-0 lead and coasted home, 31-14.

San Diego was a nine-point favorite at home against Denver and Muncie had his best game to date, running for 115 yards. But Air Coryell was grounded in this game. A couple drives to the red zone ended up in field goals, the mediocre Broncos hung around and pulled a 20-13 upset. The Chargers dragged the hangover through the first quarter at home against the Chiefs a week later, trailing 7-0. Finally, San Diego awakened, got 30 first downs and beat KC 20-7.

The popularity of the Chargers, with their innovative passing offense, could be seen by yet another prime-time date outside the Monday Night window. On Thursday they went to Miami. The Dolphins were the defending AFC East champs, but on their way to a mediocre season in 1980. But this game would prove to be a foreshadowing of an epic playoff battle the two teams would have in 1981.

Fouts threw three touchdown passes, the game went back and forth until kicker Rolf Benirschke won it in overtime, 27-24, with a short field goal. On Sunday, Oakland lost in Philadelphia. It meant the Chargers and Raiders were tied atop the AFC West at 8-4, with the rest of the division in the rearview mirror.

It was now San Diego’s turn to play Philadelphia, the team that would ultimately win the NFC crown. This game took place out west. After a season where the Chargers constantly struggled against good teams, they stepped it up with a strong outing to start the stretch drive. Fouts hit Winslow on a pair of touchdown passes, the defense shut down the Eagle run game and San Diego jumped out a 19-0 lead, before holding on to win 22-21. Oakland held serve and the race remained tied.

A road trip to struggling Washington should have marked another easy win. The Redskins were going to be in the market for a head coach soon and though they man they would find was in the San Diego coaches’ booth, it couldn’t have been based on anything that happened in this game. Fouts threw an early Pick-6, threw five interceptions total and the Chargers were beaten badly 40-17. Fortunately, Oakland also lost.

San Diego hosted lowly Seattle on Saturday in the season’s penultimate week and Muncie ran for two touchdowns, while Fouts threw for 339 yards in a 21-14 win. The victory wasn’t impressive, but it was a divisional win. The Chargers held the tiebreaker on the Raiders, and still controlled their destiny for the AFC West title after Oakland won on Sunday.

The Chargers’ season finale would be a Monday Night home date with Pittsburgh. The Steelers were the two-time defending Super Bowl champs, and San Diego-Pittsburgh was the AFC Championship Game everyone had anticipated in 1979 before the Chargers were upset in the playoffs. Undoubtedly ABC, who televised MNF, had big dreams when this game appeared on the schedule.

Pittsburgh faded and was out of playoff contention, so those dreams were shot, but the game would still mean something to San Diego. They had their playoff berth secure, but when Oakland won on Sunday, the Chargers needed to win to secure the AFC West. In fact, the stakes were even higher—in a balanced AFC where all five playoff teams ultimately finished 11-5, a San Diego win gave them the #1 seed. A loss put them on the road for the wild-card game.

San Diego had red-zone problems in the first half with three good drives resulting in field goals and that kept the game close, at 9-3. With the lead at 16-10 in the third quarter, the Chargers again settled for a short field goal. But they were controlling the flow of play and Fouts went 21/37 for 308 yards and no interceptions. Winslow caught ten passes for 171 yards. Muncie rushed for 115 yards and when he scored a fourth quarter touchdown for a 16-point lead, the game was secure.

The Chargers won 26-17, had their second straight AFC West title and ensured the road to the Super Bowl went through San Diego.

Two weeks later, Buffalo came in for the AFC divisional playoffs. Even though the Bills had won here in October, they were playing with a hobbled quarterback in Joe Ferguson and the Chargers were a (-6) favorite.

San Diego drove to the 5-yard line, but had to settle for a field goal, and then Buffalo took over the second quarter, with two touchdowns. The Chargers were in a 14-3 hole at half. Fouts found Joiner on a short touchdown pass to put the team back in the game. San Diego began driving for the lead score and reached the 5-yard line, but again had to settle for three points.

It’s easy to oversimplify, but while the acquisition of Muncie made opponents respect the run more, the Chargers continued to have problems in areas where the run game should have mattered most.

But Fouts and his Big Three could cover for a lot of sins. A big defensive play didn’t hurt either, as the Chargers came up with an interception inside their own 10-yard line when the Bills were driving for a lockup touchdown. With 2:08 left, San Diego reached midfield. Fouts threw over the middle and found one his under-the-radar targets, Ron Smith. Touchdown. San Diego escaped 20-14.

Oakland had won the wild-card game and then held off the Cleveland Browns in a thriller. It set up Round 3 of Chargers-Raiders, this time with a Super Bowl trip at stake. It wasn’t San Diego’s day, a fact demonstrated early when an Oakland pass was tipped several times before ending up as a touchdown.

The Chargers fell behind 28-7 in the second quarter before Fouts brought them storming back to within 28-24. The rally might have tied the game, but a drive inside the 10-yard line ended up in yet another field goal. Fouts was great, throwing for 336 yards and the defense recorded six sacks. But Oakland otherwise did what they wanted offensively and they held on to win 34-27.

San Diego was an explosive team and a very good team in 1980, but it’s hard not to feel a sense of disappointment. This was the first of two straight AFC title game losses, and the one they got on their homefield. The season was a clear success, but losing a conference championship at home to your hated rival, who goes on to win the Super Bowl, leaves a bad taste. Air Coryell never did get to a Super Bowl, much less win it, and the franchise still looks for its first title today.

The Playoff Teams Of The 1980 NFL Season

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Read the story of the 1980 NFL season as told from the perspective of the 11 most consequential teams. Each section consists of a discussion of each team’s key players and then a game-by-game narrative of their drive through the season.

No wild-card team had ever won the Super Bowl prior to the 1980 NFL season, and three years earlier the league had made it even more difficult. They expanded the playoffs to five teams per conference, but with a three-divisional alignment similar to what major league baseball uses today, the wild-cards would now have to win an extra game for the first time. In spite of these obstacles, the Oakland Raiders pulled it off and went the distance.

This blog compilation contains the complete game-by-game narratives of every notable team in the 1980 NFL season, starting with…

*The Raiders and Houston Oilers pull off a big quarterbacks swap of Ken Stabler-for-Dan Pastorini, but it ends up being Jim Plunkett who makes the biggest mark of them all.

See how Oakland began to come together around the 1980 season’s midway point and how Houston seemed close to fulfilling their dream of a Super Bowl run behind powerful back Earl Campbell, but first lost tiebreakers and then lost a wild-card playoff game…ironically in Oakland.

*In the NFC East, the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys were both at the top of the NFL and jousted all season for the top. See the strange way the Eagles “beat” the Cowboys in the season’s final week. It proved to be a historic year for both franchises—Philadelphia made its first Super Bowl trip and Dallas began the post-Roger Staubach era.

*The Atlanta Falcons and Cleveland Browns each had magical years, and both were in positions to win playoff games at home, against the more tradition-laden Cowboys and Raiders respectively. Each had their hearts ripped out. Read how their rises to prominence came about before the fall.

*The San Diego Chargers continued to be the league’s most exciting offense with Dan Fouts at quarterback, and went all-in to try and win in 1980. Read how they survived Oakland in the AFC West during the season before losing to the Raiders in the playoffs.

*The Buffalo Bills stepped up and won the AFC East. Read how an excellent head coach in Chuck Knox guided a team through the season even though they didn’t have the best talent.

*The Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams, two powers of the 1970s, would fade briefly in this decade, but still had enough in the tank to reach the playoffs. Read how the Vikings crawled to the finish line in a weak NFC Central, aided by a miracle pass, and the Rams played their way into the postseason a year after making a Super Bowl run.

*And how can we forget the Pittsburgh Steelers? They didn’t make the playoffs, but this was the two-time defending Super Bowl champion, with four titles in the previous six years. “One For The Thumb” was the rallying cry. You’ll read how they came up short, as well as the moments at the early and mid-points when it seemed like they were still in position to make a championship run.

Each of these articles is published individually on TheSportsNotebook.com and editing has been done to eliminate obvious redundancies. Taken together, these eleven articles tell the story of the 1980 NFL season through the eyes of its most consequential teams. Download it from Amazon today.