1980 San Diego Chargers season

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1980 San Diego Chargers season
Owner
Jack Murphy Stadium
Results
Record11–5
Division place1st AFC West
Playoff finishWon Divisional Playoffs
(vs. Bills) 20–14
Lost AFC Championship
(vs. Raiders) 27–34
Pro Bowlers
AP All-Pros
8
NFL
in both receiving yards (1,340) and receiving touchdowns (13) in 1980.

The 1980 San Diego Chargers season was the franchise's 11th season in the National Football League (NFL), and its 21st overall. The team failed to improve on their 12–4 record in 1979 and finished 11–5, though they won the AFC West and gained the top seed in the AFC playoffs for the second consecutive season. Their season ended in the AFC Championship Game when they lost to their divisional rivals and the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Oakland Raiders.

San Diego's Air Coryell offense led the league and set new standards in the passing game. Quarterback Dan Fouts passed for 4,715 yards, surpassing his own NFL record. He also set new single-season records for attempts, completions and 300-yard games. Tight end Kellen Winslow and wide receivers John Jefferson and Charlie Joiner each had over 1,000 yards receiving, becoming the first trio of teammates to do so in the same season. The running game was less impactful, despite the mid-season acquisition of running back Chuck Muncie. On defense, the Chargers led the league with 60 sacks. The majority of these came from their starting defensive linemen, Fred Dean, Louie Kelcher, Leroy Jones and Gary "Big Hands" Johnson, known collectively as the Bruise Brothers.

In the divisional playoffs, San Diego trailed the Buffalo Bills 14–3 at halftime, but scored 17 unanswered points in the second half to win 20–14. Backup wide receiver Ron Smith scored the winning touchdown in the final minutes. The Chargers were then stopped a game short of the Super Bowl by the Raiders, who took a 28–7 lead in the 2nd quarter. The Chargers again ran off 17 unanswered points, but they couldn't complete the comeback and were defeated 34–27.

Offseason

Departures and arrivals

San Diego traded a future 2nd-round draft pick to the

training camp to try and force a trade, which the Chargers granted him.[7] Matthews had averaged under 250 yards per season over his six years in San Diego.[8] Others departures included Lydell Mitchell, a former Pro Bowl running back whose production had decreased as San Diego shifted to a pass-oriented offense,[9][10] and tight end Bob Klein who was coming off the two most productive pass-catching seasons of his eleven-year career, but who retired after contract negotiations with Chargers owner Gene Klein broke down.[11][12]

On defense, San Diego traded linebacker Don Goode to the Cleveland Browns for a future draft pick.[13] Goode, another Chargers 1st-round pick from 1974, had started 62 games in six seasons, but only a single one in 1979.[14] The Chargers also switched punters, releasing Jeff West, who had ranked 28th in the league in 1979. After trying six other candidates for the position, they signed Rick Partridge from the New Orleans Saints. His average in 1979 had been 40.9 yards per kick, compared to 36.5 for West.[15]

San Diego also made a significant signing after the season had begun, when they traded their 2nd-round draft pick in 1981 for running back Chuck Muncie.[16] Muncie, the third overall pick in the 1976 draft, was coming off his best season with the New Orleans Saints, rushing for 1,198 yards at 5.0 yards per carry and being voted to his first Pro Bowl.[17] He had not started the season well for the Saints, who were 0–4 when the trade took place, with head coach Dick Nolan criticizing his work ethic and commitment to the team.[18] Coryell was unconcerned by Muncie's troubles, describing him as "one of the finest running backs in the game", who would benefit from a fresh start.[19] He contributed 659 rushing yards for the Chargers in 1980 and would make two Pro Bowls during his five seasons in San Diego.[17]

NFL draft

San Diego had no picks in the first three rounds, due to previous trades for Willie Buchanon and Bob Klein,[20][21][22] as well as for the right to sign head coach Don Coryell.[23]

Despite having four

offensive line over the next five years, though he only started 3 of them.[30]

1980 San Diego Chargers draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
4 101 Ed Luther  Quarterback San Jose State
4 108 Bob Gregor  Defensive back Washington State
6 151 LaRue Harrington  Running back Norfolk State
6 163 Wayne Hamilton  Linebacker Alabama
7 175 Chuck Loewen 
Tackle
South Dakota State
7 191 Stuart Dodds 
Punter
Montana State
8 219 Curtis Sirmones  Running back North Alabama
9 247 Steve Whitman  Running back Alabama
11 303 John Singleton  Defensive end UTEP
12 331 Harry Price  Wide receiver
McNeese State
      Made roster  

[31]

Personnel

Staff

1980 San Diego Chargers staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

[32][33][34][19]


Roster

1980 San Diego Chargers final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists

[35][27][36][37][38][39][40]

Rookies in italics
, 5 practice squad

[41]

Preseason

San Diego began their preseason in the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. They faced the Green Bay Packers in an electrical storm, with wind, rain and lightning. Neither team were able to score before the game was called with 5:29 remaining in the fourth quarter for player safety, although the Chargers had been poised to attempt a field goal with the ball at the Green Bay 25.[42] San Diego's starters played little in a 27–17 loss in Minnesota; Clarence Williams scored an early 50-yard touchdown run, and Luther led a late 91-yard touchdown drive, capped with a 20-yard pass to John Floyd.[43]

Starting quarterback Fouts played the entire first half against the San Francisco 49ers, passing for 177 yards. Most of these went to John Jefferson, who had 8 catches for 122 yards and a touchdown. Luther threw for 124 yards and a touchdown in the second half, but his pass from the San Francisco 40 was intercepted in the end zone as time expired and the Chargers lost 17–14.[44] The following week, the Chargers played most of their defensive starters into the second half, sacking Atlanta's quarterbacks eight times. Touchdowns from Cappelletti and Artie Owens gave them their only win of the preseason.[45] San Diego concluded their preseason with a 34–17 loss to the Rams. Williams and Cappelletti scored the Charger touchdowns, while Rolf Benirschke kicked a 55-yard field goal.[46]

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
HOF August 2 vs. Green Bay Packers T 0–0[a] 0–0–1
Fawcett Stadium (Canton, Ohio
)
19,972
1 August 9 at Minnesota Vikings L 17–27 0–1–1 Metropolitan Stadium 45,179
2 August 16 San Francisco 49ers L 14–17 0–2–1 San Diego Stadium 48,846
3 August 23 Atlanta Falcons W 17–9 1–2–1 San Diego Stadium 47,184
4 August 30 at Los Angeles Rams L 17–34 1–3–1
Anaheim Stadium
61,550

Regular season

Overview

Second-year tight end Kellen Winslow led the league in receptions with 89.

San Diego repeated as

Oakland Raiders to the divisional title on tiebreakers.[47]

The Chargers finished at the top in the league in total offensive yardage and total passing yardage, while coming fourth in scoring.[32] Fouts broke his own record with 4,715 yards passing, and threw 30 touchdowns.[48] His average of 294.7 yards per game also broke Joe Namath's record,[49] and he threw for 583 more yards than his nearest rival, Cleveland's Brian Sipe.[50] His marks for attempts (589), completions (348) and 300-yard games (8) were also NFL records.[48] Second-year tight end Kellen Winslow had a breakout year;[51] he, together with established wide receivers Jefferson and Charlie Joiner, dominated the NFL's receiving stats.[52] Jefferson had 1,340 yards, Winslow 1,290 and Joiner 1,132 – they ranked 1st, 2nd and 4th in the league, and were the first trio of teammates to post 1,000 receiving yards in the same season.[53] Winslow was the league leader in receptions (89); Jefferson was top in receiving touchdowns (13).[52] The running game was less successful, ranking 16th out of 28 teams for yardage,[47] but was bolstered when Muncie was acquired in a trade after four games.[54] He averaged 4.9 yards per carry, and led the team with 659 yards.[32] Six different players contributed to San Diego's total of 18 rushing touchdowns (joint-eighth in the NFL); Cappelletti's total of 5 led the team.[47] The Charger offense struggled with turnovers; they threw 26 interceptions, lost 22 fumbles and led the league with 48 total giveaways, including 7 in three separate games.[32]

While San Diego ranked only 18th in the NFL for points conceded, the defensive unit finished sixth in total yards and led the league with 60 sacks.[55] Leading the team was Gary "Big Hands" Johnson with 17+12, an unofficial[b] club record as of 2023,[57] and the joint-most in the league.[58] Johnson and fellow lineman Louie Kelcher and Fred Dean were all named starters in that season's Pro Bowl, a rarity for three defensive lineman from the same team.[59] The Chargers' defensive line, which also featured Leroy Jones (second on the team with 12 sacks),[32] was nicknamed the Bruise Brothers,[60] coined from a popular act at the time, The Blues Brothers.[61] Glen Edwards led the team with 5 of their 20 interceptions.[32] Kicker Benirschke returned from his illness of the previous season[62] but had the lowest field goal conversion percentage of his career to that point, making 24 of 36 and finishing joint-11th in the NFL with 67%.[63] The newly signed Partridge ranked only 23rd among punters with 39.1 yards per kick.[64]

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 7 at Seattle Seahawks W 34–13 1–0 Kingdome 62,042 Recap
2 September 14 Oakland Raiders W 30–24 (OT) 2–0 San Diego Stadium 51,943 Recap
3 September 21 at Denver Broncos W 30–13 3–0 Mile High Stadium 74,970 Recap
4 September 28 at Kansas City Chiefs W 24–7 4–0 Arrowhead Stadium 45,161 Recap
5 October 5 Buffalo Bills L 24–26 4–1 San Diego Stadium 51,982 Recap
6 October 12 at Oakland Raiders L 24–38 4–2
Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum
44,826 Recap
7 October 19 New York Giants W 44–7 5–2 San Diego Stadium 50,397 Recap
8 October 26 at Dallas Cowboys L 31–42 5–3 Texas Stadium 60,639 Recap
9 November 2 at Cincinnati Bengals W 31–14 6–3 Riverfront Stadium 46,406 Recap
10 November 9 Denver Broncos L 13–20 6–4 San Diego Stadium 51,435 Recap
11 November 16 Kansas City Chiefs W 20–7 7–4 San Diego Stadium 50,248 Recap
12 November 20 at Miami Dolphins W 27–24 (OT) 8–4 Miami Orange Bowl 63,013 Recap
13 November 30 Philadelphia Eagles W 22–21 9–4 San Diego Stadium 51,567 Recap
14 December 7 at Washington Redskins L 17–40 9–5
RFK Stadium
48,556 Recap
15 December 13 Seattle Seahawks W 21–14 10–5 San Diego Stadium 49,980 Recap
16 December 22 Pittsburgh Steelers W 26–17 11–5 San Diego Stadium 51,785 Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

All game reports except Weeks 7, 9 and 14 use the Pro Football Researchers' gamebook archive as a source.[65]

Week 1: at Seattle Seahawks

Week One: San Diego Chargers at Seattle Seahawks – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Chargers 3 21 7334
Seahawks 3 0 3713

at

Seattle, Washington

Game information

Chargers debutant Cappelletti set up his team's first field goal with a 46-yard run. The score was 3–3 early in the 2nd quarter when Seattle tried to punt from their own 28-yard line; Lowe blocked the kick, enabling his offense to start at the Seattle 5. Fouts found McCrary for the opening touchdown on 3rd and goal. On their next possession, Winslow had a 35-yard catch on 3rd and 5 and Joiner a 16-yarder on 3rd and 4; Joiner's touchdown followed on the next play. They soon made it three touchdowns in three possessions, with Jefferson's first touchdown coming on a 3rd-down play; the lead was 24–3 at halftime.[66]

Seattle pulled three points closer with a field goal on their first drive of the second half, then forced a punt. Jim Zorn was intercepted by Shaw on the next play, soon leading to another Jefferson touchdown, again coming on 3rd down. Mike Williams also got an interception soon afterwards, and San Diego saw out the final quarter without difficulty.[3]

Cappelletti's 112 yards represented his only 100-yard game with the Chargers (he had previously managed three with the Los Angeles Rams).[67] He helped the Chargers to a 197–47 advantage in total rushing yardage. They converted 12 of 20 3rd down attempts, while Seattle converted only 2 of 13.[66]

Week 2: vs. Oakland Raiders

Week Two: Oakland Raiders at San Diego Chargers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34OTTotal
Raiders 3 7 77024
Chargers 3 7 014630

at

San Diego, California

Game information

Oakland attempted field goals on their first three possessions, but Chris Bahr only converted one of them, while Benirschke made a club-record 52-yarder;[68] it was 3–3 midway through the 2nd quarter. Clarence Williams then lost a fumble in his own territory, but Horn recovered a mishandled snap a play later to win possession back. Following an exchange of punts, San Diego reached a 2nd and goal from the Oakland 4-yard line, and Jefferson made a spectacular one-handed touchdown catch with 48 seconds left in the half.[69] That proved to be enough time for the Raiders, who moved from their own 18-yard line to the Charger 48-yard line, from where Dan Pastorini found Cliff Branch for the touchdown that tied the game at 10–10 with 6 seconds on the clock.[70]

Dan Fouts set a then-team record with 387 yards passing versus the Oakland Raiders.

Fouts committed turnovers on five of the Chargers' seventeen 3rd-quarter plays. He lost a fumble that was run back for a Raiders touchdown and threw four interceptions, three in Oakland territory to end scoring chances and a fourth which set up a field goal try for Bahr. Bahr's kick was no good from 53 yards, and Clarence Williams gained 35 yards on the next four plays, setting up Winslow's touchdown. Oakland responded quickly, reaching a 1st and 10 at the Chargers 19-yard line before Edwards intercepted Pastorini. San Diego then drove 80 yards in 12 plays, including a 22-yard completion from Fouts to Winslow and a 4-yard touchdown run from Williams with 2:00 on the clock. Trailing 24–17, Oakland reached a 1st and 10 from the San Diego 16-yard line, from where Pastorini threw two incompletions before Gary Johnson sacked him for a loss of 7 and temporarily knocked him out of the game. Backup Jim Plunkett was then sacked by Johnson on 4th down, but the apparent game-clinching play was nullified by a penalty, and Plunkett threw the game-tying touchdown a play later. With 33 seconds on the clock, there was still time for Fouts to connect on three straight passes, giving Benirschke a chance to make a field goal from 51 yards out. The kick missed short and right, sending the game into overtime.[70]

Oakland won the toss. Pastorini returned, but was intercepted again by Edwards on the first play of the extra period. On the following play, Fouts threw his fifth interception of the game, giving the Raiders the ball at the San Diego 46-yard line. They gained 14 yards before Bahr badly missed a 50-yard potential game-winner. Fouts connected with Joiner for 28 yards on the next drive, and the Chargers reached a 3rd and 11 at the Raiders 24-yard line. Fouts then lofted a high pass to Jefferson just short of the end. While Oakland defensive back Lester Hayes lost the ball in the sun, Jefferson leapt to make the catch, fell just outside the end zone and rolled over the goal line untouched for the winner, 8:09 into overtime.[71]

Fouts had an eventful day, completing 29 of 44 for a club-record 387 yards, 3 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. San Diego had two 100-yard receivers: Winslow (9 catches for 132 yards and a touchdown) and Jefferson (9 for 110 yards and two touchdowns). San Diego won despite committing seven of the game's eleven turnovers. To date, this is the last win by a Chargers team over an eventual Super Bowl champion.[72][71]

Week 3: at Denver Broncos

Week Three: San Diego Chargers at Denver Broncos – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Chargers 3 24 3030
Broncos 3 3 7013

at

Denver, Colorado

  • Date: September 21
  • Game time: 2:00 p.m.
    MDT
  • Game weather: 66 °F (18.9 °C), relative humidity 37%, wind 9 mph
  • Game attendance: 74,970
  • Referee: Fred Silva
  • TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg and Merlin Olsen
  • Box score
Game information
Gary Johnson had a career-high four sacks against the Denver Broncos.

On the opening possession, Benirschke broke the Charger record for longest field goal for the second consecutive week, this time converting from 53 yards out.[68] After Denver tied the score, a 41-yard connection between Fouts and Winslow had San Diego back in Broncos territory, but Fouts was intercepted. Dean won possession back when he recovered a fumbled snap. Cappelletti converted a 3rd and 5 with an 11-yard catch early in the ensuing drive, which he ended with his first Charger touchdown. Another Fouts interception led to a Denver field goal, and the Chargers then went three-and-out. On the next play, Woodrow Lowe intercepted Matt Robinson, and ran the ball back 28 yards to the Denver 22-yard line. Fouts found Joiner in the end zone on the next play. Denver then reached the Chargers 45-yard line, but a Johnson sack pushed them back 9 yards, and Edwards intercepted a Robinson pass two plays later, returning it 68 yards for a touchdown. Benirschke added another field goal before halftime, pushing the lead to 27–6.[73]

Fouts was intercepted early in the second half, but Robinson was also intercepted three plays later, with Edwards' 20-yard return setting up a field goal. Denver scored a touchdown on their next possession, and drove inside the Chargers 20-yard line three times in the final quarter. Each of these scoring chances ended with an interception, and Denver came no closer.[74]

San Diego won in Denver for the first time since 1968 (they had tied there in 1970).[73] Edwards had two of the Chargers' total of six interceptions; they had seven takeaways to the Broncos' three.[75] San Diego finished with six sacks for 49 yards in losses, including a career-high four sacks by Johnson.[73][76]

Week 4: at Kansas City Chiefs

Week Four: San Diego Chargers at Kansas City Chiefs – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Chargers 7 14 3024
Chiefs 0 7 007

at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Game information