. . . where the 1970s live forever!


1978 San Diego Chargers: 9-7-0
Previous Season Next Season

Home record: 5-3-0 (206 points scored, 129 allowed) Road record: 4-4-0 (160 points scored, 183 allowed) Head Coaches: Tommy Prothro (1-3-0), Don Coryell (8-4-0)

366 points scored (6th of 28 teams), 312 points allowed (21st) NFL Averages: 18.3 points/game (293.3 points/team)

Team stats and rankings:
           ---------------- PASSING ----------------    ----------- RUSHING ----------    --- TOTAL ---
           Cmp   Att   Yards  (Rank) Yd/Att  TD  Int    Att   Yards  (Rank) Yd/Att  TD    Yards   (Rank)  Turnovers
Offense:   271   477   3,375   ( 1)   6.63   26   30    590   2,096   (20)    3.6   16    5,471    ( 4)      51
Defense:   237   441   2,351   ( 7)   4.75   23   22    510   2,208   (15)    4.3   12    4,559    ( 8)      38

Team roster (starters in bold):
 #   Player              Pos   GP   Hgt   Wgt  Age  Exp   College
 6  Rolf Benirschke      K     15   6'0   170   23    2   California-Davis
10  Cliff Olander        QB     9   6'5   196   23    2   New Mexico State
12  James Harris         QB     9   6'3   217   31    9   Grambling
14  Dan Fouts            QB    15   6'3   204   27    6   Oregon
18  Charlie Joiner       WR    16   5'11  188   31   10   Grambling
20  Johnny Rodgers       WR     6   5'10  180   27    2   Nebraska
26  Lydell Mitchell      RB    16   5'11  198   29    7   Penn State
27  Glen Edwards         DB    14   6'0   185   31    8   Florida A&M
29  Mike Williams        DB    16   5'10  180   24    4   Louisiana State
31  Linden King          LB    14   6'4   226   23    1   Colorado State
33  Don Woods            RB    16   6'1   209   27    5   New Mexico
35  Larry Barnes         RB     4   5'11  220   24    2   Tennessee State
37  Hank Bauer           RB    16   5'10  204   24    2   California Lutheran
40  Clarence Williams    RB    10   5'9   198   23    2   South Carolina
41  Bo Matthews          RB    11   6'4   230   26    5   Colorado
42  Mike Fuller          DB    16   5'9   188   25    4   Auburn
43  Rickey Anderson      RB    16   6'1   211   25    R   South Carolina State
44  Pete Shaw            DB    16   5'10  184   24    2   Northwestern
45  Hal Stringert        DB    13   5'11  185   26    4   Willamette
48  Jerome Dove          DB    14   6'0   186   25    2   Colorado State
50  Don Goode            LB    14   6'2   225   27    5   Kansas
51  Woodrow Lowe         LB    16   6'0   227   24    3   Alabama
52  Ray Preston          LB    16   6'0   215   24    3   Syracuse
53  Ralph Perretta       C     15   6'2   250   25    4   Purdue
54  Jim Laslavic         LB    16   6'2   240   27    6   Penn State
55  Bob Horn             LB    16   6'3   237   24    3   Oregon State
57  Rick Middleton       LB    12   6'2   228   26    5   Ohio State
58  Mark Slater          C      9   6'1   252   23    R   Minnesota
60  Dan Audick           OG     1   6'3   255   23    2   Hawaii
62  Don Macek            C     14   6'3   253   24    3   Boston College
63  Doug Wilkerson       OG    16   6'2   257   31    9   North Carolina Central
64  Charles Aiu          OG     6   6'2   250   24    3   Hawaii
66  Billy Shields        OT    16   6'7   254   25    4   Georgia Tech
67  Ed White             OG    15   6'2   270   31   10   California
68  Leroy Jones          DE    16   6'8   265   28    3   Norfolk State
69  John Lee             DE     1   6'2   253   25    3   Nebraska
70  Russ Washington      OT    16   6'6   290   31   11   Missouri
71  Fred Dean            DE    15   6'3   228   26    4   Louisiana Tech
73  Charles DeJurnett    DT    15   6'4   270   26    3   San Jose State
74  Louie Kelcher        DT    15   6'5   282   25    4   Southern Methodist
77  Buddy Hardaway       OT    12   6'9   309   23    R   Oklahoma State
79  Gary Johnson         DT    15   6'2   254   26    4   Grambling
80  Jeff West            P     16   6'3   211   25    4   Cincinnati
82  Pat Curran           TE    14   6'3   235   33   10   Lakeland
83  John Jefferson       WR    14   6'1   190   22    R   Arizona State
84  Bob Klein            TE    16   6'5   245   31   10   Southern California
85  Artie Owens          WR    13   5'10  174   25    3   West Virginia
87  Larry Burton         WR     3   6'1   193   26    4   Purdue
88  Greg McCrary         TE     8   6'3   230   26    3   Clark Atlanta
89  Dwight McDonald      WR    12   6'2   187   27    4   San Diego State
99  Wilbur Young         DE    10   6'6   290   29    8   William Penn

                                               Per   Per
Passing              Att  Cmp    Pct  Yards    Att   Cmp  TD   TD%  Int  Int%  Sack  Loss  Rating
Dan Fouts            381  224   58.8  2,999   7.87  13.4  24   6.3   20   5.2    22   130    83.0
James Harris          88   42   47.7    518   5.89  12.3   2   2.3    9  10.2     8    43    34.4
Cliff Olander          8    5   62.5     49   6.12   9.8   0   0.0    1  12.5     2    18    40.1
Receiving             Rec  Yards    Avg   TD
Lydell Mitchell        57    500    8.8    2
John Jefferson         56  1,001   17.9   13
Bob Klein              34    413   12.1    2
Don Woods              34    295    8.7    0
Charlie Joiner         33    607   18.4    1
Bo Matthews            11     78    7.1    0
Hank Bauer             10     78    7.8    1
Artie Owens             9    188   20.9    0
Pat Curran              9     92   10.2    2
Larry Burton            5    127   25.4    3
Johnny Rodgers          5     47    9.4    0
Dwight McDonald         3     84   28.0    1
Larry Barnes            2     13    6.5    0
Greg McCrary            1     29   29.0    1
Clarence Williams       1     17   17.0    0
Rickey Anderson         1     -3   -3.0    0
Rushing               Att  Yards    Avg   TD
Lydell Mitchell       214    820    3.8    3
Don Woods             151    514    3.4    3
Hank Bauer             85    304    3.6    8
Bo Matthews            71    286    4.0    0
Clarence Williams      27     76    2.8    0
Dan Fouts              20     43    2.1    2
Greg McCrary            2     18    9.0    0
Rickey Anderson         3     11    3.7    0
Larry Barnes            3      8    2.7    0
John Jefferson          1      7    7.0    0
James Harris           10      7    0.7    0
Johnny Rodgers          1      5    5.0    0
Jeff West               1      0    0.0    0
Cliff Olander           1     -3   -3.0    0
Kickoff Returns       Att  Yards    Avg   TD
Artie Owens            20    524   26.2    0
Johnny Rodgers         11    287   26.1    0
Clarence Williams       6    143   23.8    0
Rickey Anderson         6     83   13.8    0
Mike Fuller             5    109   21.8    0
Don Woods               2     37   18.5    0
Bob Horn                2     27   13.5    0
Ray Preston             1     15   15.0    0
Bob Klein               1     13   13.0    0
Don Macek               1      6    6.0    0
Rick Middleton          1      5    5.0    0
Mark Slater             1      3    3.0    0
Hal Stringert           1      0    0.0    0
Punt Returns          Att  Yards    Avg   FC   TD
Mike Fuller            39    436   11.2   10    0
Johnny Rodgers         11     88    8.0    5    0
Pete Shaw               4     46   11.5    3    0
Artie Owens             1     20   20.0    0    0
Don Goode               1      0    0.0    0    0
Mike Williams           1      0    0.0    1    0
Punting Punts Yards Avg TB In20 Blk Ret Yards Net Jeff West 73 2,720 37.3 8 19 2 37 356 29.4 Kicking 0-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50+ Total PAT Pts Rolf Benirschke 2/2 9/10 4/6 3/4 0/0 18/22 37/43 91 Defense Sacks Ints Yards TD Fred Dean 14.5 Charles DeJurnett 5.0 Jerome Dove 1 4 0 Glen Edwards 3 43 0 Mike Fuller 0.5 4 44 1 Don Goode 0.5 1 0 0 Bob Horn 1.0 1 0 0 Gary Johnson 8.5 1 52 1 Leroy Jones 8.0 Louie Kelcher 9.0 1 0 0 Linden King 1 3 0 Woodrow Lowe 2.0 1 16 0 Rick Middleton 1.0 1 2 0 Pete Shaw 2 0 0 Hal Stringert 1.0 2 4 0 Mike Williams 3 23 0 Wilbur Young 2.5

1978 Draft:
NFL Rnd Ovr Pos Player Games College 1 14 WR John Jefferson 102 Arizona State 2 41 OT Buddy Hardaway 12 Oklahoma State 3 71 RB Rickey Anderson 16 South Carolina State 5 135 OG John Choma 27 Virginia [pick acquired from LA] 7 180 DB Cliff Featherstone Colorado State 8 220 P Gavin Hedrick Washington State [pick acquired from OAK] 9 237 DT Henry Bradley 43 Alcorn State 9 248 LB Blake Whitlatch 4 LSU [pick acquired from OAK] 10 264 TE Charles Price Cincinnati 12 321 WR Kevin Bell 9 Lamar

Traded draft picks: #4 to STL (George Collins), #5 to DET (Dan Gray), #6 to DET (Tony Ardizzone), #8 to OAK (Mark Nichols), #11 to OAK (Dean Jones)


Transactions:

04-26-1978traded Tom Graham to Eagles for Philadelphia's #10 pick in the 1979 draft
05-02-1978traded San Diego's #5 and #6 picks in the 1978 draft to Lions for Jim Laslavic
05-03-1978traded Larry Dorsey to Chiefs for Wilbur Young
05-03-1978traded a #8 pick and a #11 pick in the 1978 draft to Raiders for a #8 pick and Oakland's #9 pick in the 1978 draft
07-27-1978traded future considerations to Eagles for Harvey Goodman
07-28-1978traded Rickey Young to Vikings for Ed White
08-04-1978traded Booker Brown to Buccaneers for Tampa's #4 pick in the 1980 draft
08-06-1978traded Richard Keys to Bills for past considerations and/or future considerations
08-18-1978traded Bill Munson to Bills for Buffalo's #7 pick in the 1980 draft
08-22-1978traded San Diego's #6 pick in the 1979 draft to Steelers for Glen Edwards
08-23-1978traded Joe Washington and San Diego's #5 pick in the 1979 draft to Colts for Lydell Mitchell
08-28-1978placed John Choma on injured reserve
08-30-1978Chiefs claimed Dave Lindstrom on waivers
09-04-1978placed John Lee on injured reserve
09-25-1978sent San Diego's #3 pick in the 1981 draft to Cardinals as compensation for hiring head coach Don Coryell


1978 Regular Season Game Log:
Click on the date to view the game summary. Date Opponent Result Record
09/03/78 at Seattle Seahawks W 24-20 1-0-0 09/10/78 vs Oakland Raiders L 20-21 1-1-0 09/17/78 at Denver Broncos L 14-27 1-2-0 09/24/78 vs Green Bay Packers L 14-27 1-3-0 10/01/78 at New England Patriots L 23-28 1-4-0 10/08/78 vs Denver Broncos W 23-0 2-4-0 10/15/78 vs Miami Dolphins L 21-28 2-5-0 10/22/78 at Detroit Lions L 14-31 2-6-0 10/29/78 at Oakland Raiders W 27-23 3-6-0 11/05/78 vs Cincinnati Bengals W 22-13 4-6-0 11/12/78 vs Kansas City Chiefs W 29-23 (OT) 5-6-0 11/19/78 at Minnesota Vikings W 13-7 6-6-0 11/26/78 at Kansas City Chiefs L 0-23 6-7-0 12/04/78 vs Chicago Bears W 40-7 7-7-0 12/10/78 vs Seattle Seahawks W 37-10 8-7-0 12/17/78 at Houston Oilers W 45-24 9-7-0

Logos shown here are the property of their respective leagues and teams.


  Copyright © 2014-2024, All Rights Reserved   •   Privacy Policy   •   Contact Us