The all-time Chargers playoff

By Os Davis  |   Monday, February 26, 2007  |  Comments( 5 )

San Diego Chargers
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With the exciting dawn of the Norv "That's Right, My Winning Percentage is .414" Turner Era upon us, I got to thinking about the surprising history of the San Diego Chargers. For a small-market franchise which has only appeared in just one Super Bowl -- and that the most egregious loss not involving the Buffalo Bills -- a number of excellent teams have worn the jagged golden thunderbolt.

Seriously, check out some of the peaks the Chargers have seen.

In 1960, the American Football League played its inaugural season. In that year, the then-Los Angeles Chargers ran off a 10-4 record, good for the AFL West title and a championship game appearance against the Houston Oilers. (That's right, the Oilers were in the East). The L.A. Bolts were precursors in spirit to the Air Coryell years, a high-scoring team amid the high-scoring league. The Chargers won their final four games by an average score of 46-30; the quarterback with itchy trigger finger was Jack Kemp, who threw for over 3,000 yards with 25 picks against 20 TD passes, on his way to eventually becoming an über-conservative senator and would-be vice president.

The Chargers moved south in 1961, and in '63 finally won the AFL title by a typical score of 51-10 over the Boston Patriots. It would be the only postseason win recorded by Sid Gillman in an 18-year career.

After a dormant period of many so-so years for San Diego, the immortal Tommy Prothro (21-29 as Charger head coach) was fired during the 1978 season and so was born the Air Coryell Era.

Those who saw those Chargers will surely agree they were one of the most high-flying teams ever. The triple threat John Jefferson, Charlie Joiner, Kellen Winslow was found by the unbelievable Dan Fouts again and again and again. Dan Coryell's Chargers were tops in the NFL in passing yardage six times between 1979 and 1985. In 1984, they were No. 2. Following the 1981 season, San Diego played in what is widely considered the greatest playoff game ever, the 41-38 divisional round win in overtime over the Miami Dolphins. (I saw it; it really was a humdinger.)

However, as in years past, Coryell just couldn't get his guys into the big game, utterly shut down by the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship game. After the strike year of '82, these Chargers would never threaten again.

The sole Super Bowl-appearing Chargers were the 1994 Bolts, an obscure bunch that won a couple of squeakers in the playoffs, including the AFC title victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, which depended on Junior Seau and the boys maintaining a goal-line stand in the game's closing moments.

In the regular season, the Chargers stumbled into the playoffs, playing .500 ball throughout the season after starting 6-0. The defense was 24th against the pass, while the ever-obscure Stan Humphries was steady if not brilliant at QB. And, of course, most vaguely recall them as the team torched by Steve Young and his version of the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XXIX.

Another slow slide into inferiority followed, with the ultimate bottoming out in 2000, when Ryan Leaf and the 'Bolts stumbled to a 1-15 finish. Of course, this season led to three happy occurrences in Chargers land: Doug Flutie starting in 2001; the drafting of LaDainian Tomlinson; and the hiring of Marty Schottenheimer.

And in 2006, Schottenheimer -- who will be missed by season's end particularly by Philip Rivers -- saw the fruits of his team-building pay off in a 14-2 season. Tomlinson and Antonio Gates, two players drafted and nurtured by Marty's team, had monster years. Fellow Schottenheimer draft pick Rivers seamlessly took over at quarterback in the wake of Drew Brees' departure. The Chargers were No. 1 in scoring and were the odds-on favorite to win the Super Bowl by most from about Week 8 to right before the crushing playoff loss to the New England Patriots.

After the brief contemplation of history and seeing an excellent opportunity to visit the "Second-Greatest Web site of the RealFootball365.com Era," namely WhatIfSports.com, a four-team quickie tournament was devised by yours truly to determine (well, sort of) which team can be called the greatest in Chargers history. From Coryell's Chargers, I went with the 1979 bunch; these guys finished 12-4 and actually had the No. 2 defense in terms of scoring. The home teams would be the 1963 and 2006 squads, as they posted the best regular-season records of the lot.

Onto the tournament!

Playoff game one. 1963 Chargers 30, 1979 Chargers 20.

Hey, I'm as surprised as you are. Tobin Rote of the AFLers went a preposterous 7-of-18 while throwing for just 104 yards and one TD. The great Lance Alworth was consequently a nonfactor, catching just three passes for 48 yards. The 1963 team decided to solve the conundrum of the 1979ers' stifling 'D' by simply having the offensive line tear huge holes for player of the game Keith Lincoln and Paul Lowe: Lincoln produced TD runs of 61 and 82 yards while Lowe added two TDs with 68 yards on 14 carries.

Air Coryell did as it does; Joiner was particularly brilliant, hauling in six receptions for 111 yards. But against his 277-yard, one-TD performance was a disastrous second quarter in which Fouts threw interceptions on successive drives and fell short of field goal range with 33 seconds left in the first half. The '63s led 17-3 at halftime and cruised.

Playoff game two. 2006 Chargers 28, 1994 Chargers 17.

Now this is the Chargers team we were supposed to have seen against the Patriots this year, right, L.T.? That team capable of overwhelming the opposition with offense, capable of taking control of the game in the fourth quarter? Here it was in Qualcomm Stadium, thanks to the miracle of time travel.

The 2006ers went to work quickly, scoring on drives mixing run and pass for a 14-3 halftime lead. The 1994 Chargers -- and especially the awesome Natrone Means -- weren't done yet. In the third quarter, on third-and-4, Humphries crossed up the 2006 defense by calling a draw for Means, who converted for the first down and then the 29 yards for the TD.

Despite a couple of big plays in the quarter, including a 22-yard run by Tomlinson, Marty's boys could do nothing. To close out the quarter, Humphries connected with Ronnie Harmon, who then outran the sleeping secondary for 59 yards and a 17-14 lead. And when the 2006ers went three-and-out (including a key Seau sack) and John Carney lined up for a 48-yarder, it looked over.

Carney bounced it off the upright, however, and Martyball took over. Humphries & Co. responded to the missed FG with a 62-yard drive culminating in a TD to Keenan McCardell. To start another drive with just over five minutes remaining, Tomlinson ripped off a 54-yard run to put his Chargers in the red zone. Two plays later, it was L.T. catching the 11-yard TD pass to equal the final result.

And Shawne Merriman danced on his own lightning bolt.

The Charger Bowl. 1963 Chargers 17, 2006 Chargers 16.

Oh, Marty. Oh, Marty, Marty, Marty...what happened? What made you do it? There it was, your guys holding a 16-14 lead. After engineering a drive that ate nearly seven minutes off the clock while advancing the ball 60 yards to the opposition's 9-yard line. L.T. has been his typical unstoppable self at 23 rushes for 123 yards and a TD. If Tomlinson runs, either 30 seconds or a 1963 timeout is further burned.

Naturally, a pass play was called. Rivers' throw was intercepted by Charlie McNeil.

And it got worse.

Starting from the 5-yard line, the 1963ers were somehow allowed to gain just enough yardage -- while player-of-the-game Lincoln, who amassed 149 yards and two TDs on 12 carries, was stifled on the final drive, no less -- to get it to the 2006 team's 35. A George Blair field goal and 12 seconds of game time later, the 1963 team was proclaimed the best in San Diego Charger lore.

Perhaps it's fitting that the only Chargers team to ever earn the title of champion also gets the honor here, and sadly more fitting that not even in the alternate universe of science-fiction football can Schottenheimer win the big one.

Maybe they won't miss him in San Diego after all...

Already deep in the throes of the Norv Turner Era in San Diego Chargers land at RealFootball365.com.
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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