2001 San Diego Chargers season

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2001 San Diego Chargers season
Owner
Qualcomm Stadium
Results
Record5–11
Division place5th AFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers
AP All-Pros

The

Offensive Rookie of the Year
award. Despite finishing 5–11 after losing their final nine games of the season, eight of the Chargers' losses were by less than a touchdown, five of them were by three points, and three of them were by ten points.

Offseason

Becoming the "Bills West"

In December 2000,

John Butler, and his entire staff. The Chargers immediately signed Butler, and within weeks, Butler had cut several players from the roster including troubled quarterback Ryan Leaf, and lured several recognizable names from the 2000 Bills team: defensive end Marcellus Wiley, linebackers Sam Rogers and John Holecek, kicker Steve Christie and most notably, quarterback Doug Flutie, who had been cut by the Bills in a bitter quarterback controversy involving Rob Johnson. With so many former Bills connections, the team was often referred to as the "Bills West".[3][4] (See also the 1995 Carolina Panthers season, in which Bill Polian
brought several Bills contributors from the team's Super Bowl era to Carolina in its inaugural year of play.)

As such, the October 28 matchup between the Bills and Chargers in San Diego was heavily promoted as a dual grudge match, not just between Johnson and Flutie, but also between Wilson and Butler, with Wilson having been quoted as wanting to win the Chargers game more than the Super Bowl.[3] Despite the fact that the Bills were having a very bad season, and the Chargers' fortunes (at the time) had turned significantly, the game was very competitive, coming down to the final minutes play. Trailing 24–20, Flutie scrambled 13 yards to put the Chargers up 27–24; when kicker Jake Arians attempted a 44-yard field goal to tie the game, it was blocked.[5] The Chargers, then 5–2, would not win another game the entire season, going 0–9 in the remaining nine games.

NFL draft

league MVP in 2006.[7] Although Vick has never become league MVP, he finished second in voting in 2004.[8] In this way, Tomlinson and Vick are linked as having been "traded" for each other, although the transaction was actually the result of traded draft picks and contract negotiations. The Chargers' other notable draft pick was Drew Brees, who would eventually win Super Bowl XLIV
as a member of the Saints.

2001 San Diego Chargers draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 5 LaDainian Tomlinson * †  RB TCU Pick from ATL
2 32 Drew Brees *  QB Purdue
3 67 Tay Cody  CB Florida St Pick from ATL
4 112 Carlos Polk  LB Nebraska Pick from PIT
5 132 Elliot Silvers 
OT
 Washington
5 139 Zeke Moreno 
ILB
 USC Pick from New England Patriots
7 201 Brandon Gorin 
OT
 Purdue
7 244 Robert Carswell  Defensive back Clemson
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

2001 San Diego Chargers staff

Front office

  • Chairman of the board – Alex Spanos
  • President/chief executive officer – Dean Spanos
  • Executive vice president – Michael Spanos
  • Executive vice president/general manager –
    John Butler
  • Assistant general manager/director of pro personnel – A. J. Smith
  • Vice president of football operations – Ed McGuire
  • Director of player personnel – Buddy Nix
  • Director of college scouting – Jimmy Raye

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

  • Special teams – Bruce Read
  • Special teams assistant/quality control – Craig Dickenson

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – John Hastings
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – Mike Schleelein

Roster

2001 San Diego Chargers final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists
  • 67
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 52
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 25
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 93
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 94
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 76
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)


Rookies in italics
 53 active, 6 inactive

Preseason

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 August 11 San Francisco 49ers W 25–24 1–0
Qualcomm Stadium
 45,155 Recap
2 August 18 at Miami Dolphins W 23–20 (OT) 2–0 Pro Player Stadium 58,854 Recap
3 August 25 St. Louis Rams W 13–10 (OT) 3–0 Qualcomm Stadium 53,700 Recap
4 August 31 at Arizona Cardinals L 3–16 3–1
Sun Devil Stadium
 27,301 Recap

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 9 Washington Redskins W 30–3 1–0
Qualcomm Stadium
 60,629
2 September 23 at Dallas Cowboys W 32–21 2–0 Texas Stadium 63,430
3 September 30 Cincinnati Bengals W 28–14 3–0 Qualcomm Stadium 56,048
4 October 7 at Cleveland Browns L 16–20 3–1 Cleveland Browns Stadium 73,018
5 October 14 at New England Patriots L 26–29 (OT) 3–2 Foxboro Stadium 60,292
6 October 21 Denver Broncos W 27–10 4–2 Qualcomm Stadium 67,521
7 October 28 Buffalo Bills W 27–24 5–2 Qualcomm Stadium 63,698
8 November 4 Kansas City Chiefs L 20–25 5–3 Qualcomm Stadium 58,789
9 November 11 at Denver Broncos L 16–26 5–4
Invesco Field
 74,951
10 November 18 at Oakland Raiders L 24–34 5–5 Network Associates Coliseum 61,960
11 November 25 Arizona Cardinals L 17–20 5–6 Qualcomm Stadium 49,398
12 December 2 at Seattle Seahawks L 10–13 (OT) 5–7 Husky Stadium 55,466
13 December 9 at Philadelphia Eagles L 14–24 5–8 Veterans Stadium 65,438
14 December 15 Oakland Raiders L 6–13 5–9 Qualcomm Stadium 67,349
15 December 23 at Kansas City Chiefs L 17–20 5–10 Arrowhead Stadium 76,131
16 December 30 Seattle Seahawks L 22–25 5–11 Qualcomm Stadium 51,412
17 Bye

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Washington Redskins

Game information

Both teams opened with a

three-and-out. When Washington punted, Dwight took the ball at his own 16 and profited from good blocking as he wove to the left sideline and completed an 84-yard touchdown without being touched. Dwight and Conway caught passes of 17 and 24 yards from Flutie on back-to-back plays on the next Charger drive, setting up a field goal. When Tomlinson scored his first career touchdown after a short drive in the 2nd quarter, it was 17–0 without Washington having crossed midfield. They did reach a 1st and 10 at the Charger 46 on the following drive, but Jeff George's long pass was then intercepted in the end zone by Alex Molden. Richey's second field goal was set up by a 15-yard Dwight punt return.[9]

Five of the first eight possessions after halftime resulted in turnovers. John Parrella recovered a George fumble in Washington territory, but Flutie was intercepted three plays later. After three punts, Tomlinson fumbled in his own territory, and Washington reached the San Diego 1 yard line before Seau forced a fumble that Rodney Harrison recovered. Two plays later, Conway lost a fumble, setting up the only Washington points of the game. The Chargers responded with Richey's third field goal on their next drive and concluded the scoring when Dwight drew a 34-yard defensive pass interference penalty in the end zone, and Tomlinson scored again two plays later.[10]

The San Diego defense gave up 161 yards, which would be comfortably their best total of the season; both teams committed four turnovers.. Tomlinson's 36 carries were tied for the third-most in Charger history at the time,[11] while his 113 yards rushing yards remain a record for a Charger on debut as of 2022.[12] Both teams' head coaches (Riley and Marty Schottenheimer) would be sacked at the end of the season, with Schottenheimer taking over the San Diego job.[13]

Week 2: at Dallas Cowboys

Week 2: San Diego Chargers at Dallas Cowboys – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Chargers 14 6 6632
Cowboys 0 14 0721

at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas

Game information

Jamal Williams recovered a mishandled snap at the Dallas 38 on the game's second play. The Cowboys extended the ensuing Charger drive with a penalty on a successful Richey field goal, and Flutie converted 3rd downs with completions to Dwight and Freddie Jones, the latter for a touchdown. After a Dallas three-and-out and a short punt, San Diego again took over in opposition territory, and Flutie again converted two 3rd downs, this time with completions to Graham, and Conway for the touchdown. McNeil intercepted Anthony Wright late in the 1st quarter and lateralled to Harrison, who ran the ball back to the Dallas 43; this time the Chargers added a field goal to lead 17–0 after three possessions each. The Charger defense were beaten by a deep pass on the game's following play, Rocket Ismail catching Wright's pass at the San Diego 25 en route to an 80-yard touchdown. San Diego almost returned the favor later in the half – on 3rd and 4 at the Charger 15, Dwight caught Flutie's pass over the middle at the Dallas 45 and reached the 7 yard line before being tackled for a gain of 78. The Chargers had to settle for another field goal, and Dallas pulled back within six points on their following drive.[14]

Graham gained 34 yards on a

flea-flicker on the opening play of the second half, but Tomlinson lost a fumble the play after. The Cowboys were forced to punt, and San Diego drove for another touchdown, Dwight taking an end-around to the left and dodging between tacklers near the sideline before completing a 16-yard touchdown. Conway's 36-yard catch was the biggest play on the drive for Richey's third field goal, after which Wright threw his third touchdown with nine minutes to play. Leading by eight points, San Diego then took six minutes off the clock, but Richey was wide right from 43 yards with a chance to make the game safe. Dallas advanced to their own 43 before McNeil made his second interception of the game and returned the ball 33 yards to the Dallas 34. San Diego had one more scare when Tomlinson fumbled again, but Kendyl Jacox recovered, and Richey hit the clinching field goal soon afterwards.[15]

San Diego dominated several statistical categories, with 475 offensive yards to 289, 5 takeaways to 1, and 26 first downs to 14. Their time of possession was a second short of 38 minutes.[16] The 475 yards of offense were the highest for San Diego since 1986.[17]

Week 3: vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Week 3: Cincinnati Bengals at San Diego Chargers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Bengals 0 7 0714
Chargers 0 7 14728

at

San Diego, California

Game information

McNeil intercepted Jon Kitna late in the 1st quarter, leading to a Richey field goal that was wide left from 38 yards. Seau produced another interception two plays later, this time leading to a touchdown; Flutie enjoyed excellent protection before finding Conway ahead of his markers in the end zone. Cincinnati levelled the score shortly before halftime with Chad Johnson's first career touchdown catch.[18]

After both teams punted on their first possession of the second half, Graham got the Chargers over midfield with a 28-yard catch on 3rd and 7, leading to Tomlinson's first touchdown. Harrison forced a Corey Dillon fumble on the next play from scrimmage, with Rogers Beckett recovering. Tomlinson started the ensuing drive with back-to-back carries of 10 and 13 yards, and finished it by going around left end for another touchdown. Cincinnati went three-and-out, and Tomlinson had gains of 23, 19, 4 and 3 yards, the last of these for his third touchdown in as many possessions. The Bengals were able to recover an onside kick after their late touchdown, but McNeil intercepted Kitna again on the next play.[19]

It was McNeil's fifth interception of the season, leading the league at that point.[19] Tomlinson was the first Charger to rush for three touchdowns since Natrone Means in 1994.[20]

Week 4: at Cleveland Browns

Week 4: San Diego Chargers at Cleveland Browns – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Chargers 3 0 7616
Browns 0 10 01020

at

Cleveland, Ohio

Game information