1983 Chargers

[Bryan]

I’ve been watching a lot of games from the 1983 Chargers. They are a fascinating team to me. Lots of close games, some wins, some losses. The Chargers only beat one team convincingly (Denver), and were beaten badly a few times but almost always with Ed Luther at QB. The beat the Cowboys and Seahawks, and played the Redskins close. The defense didn’t stop anyone all year, yet the Chargers outgained their opponents and had a higher YPP (5.7 vs. 5.3). One thing I noticed was that they were terrible at ball security (55 turnovers)…and many times they would turn the ball over at key moments. It would have been interesting had Fouts been healthy all year; they might have been able to go 10-6, but its probably more likely that they would have finished 8-8. As it was, they ended up 6-10. How many teams have had the worst defense in the NFL, a minus-22 turnover differential, and still won 6 games? Here are some thoughts:

SD beat the Chiefs in week 2, 17-14. Muncie had 27 carries and Brooks had 23 carries, which is weird. The Chiefs had like a 99-yard TD drive to end the first half, and the Chargers had like a 96-yard TD drive to begin the second half, so those two drives took up half the game. Rookie punter Jim Arnold of KC was terrible…5 punts for a 31-yard average.

SD beat the Seahawks in week 6, 28-21. At the end of the game and trailing by 7, the Seahawks have like a 4th and 28 from their own 29. Zorn scrambles and completes a 20-yard pass to Dan Doornink, who somehow makes enough Charger defenders miss to get to the Chargers 31. It’s one of the dumbest plays I’ve ever seen…but a holding penalty on Seattle wipes out the play.

SD loses to Washington on Monday Night, 27-24. They almost win despite 8 turnovers and Ed Luther at QB. Sherman Smith costs SD the game by fumbling out of the endzone.

SD beats the Cowboys 24-23 in Ed Luther’s only win of the season. Highlight of the game is Danny White getting into a fistfight with Carlos Bradley and the benches clear for a somewhat impressive brawl.

Thoughts on personnel:

The defense was atrocious. They played a 3-4, yet the DL was terrible and neither OLB was a good pass rusher. Billy Ray Smith was probably their best at getting to the QB, but he was an ILB and sometimes used as a DE in nickel. Gary Johnson was out of place as a DE. The secondary was terrible. The Chargers usually played a base zone, with neither Safety able to cover much ground, and they gave up a ton of completions. Bob Gregor was like a statue, and the LBs weren’t much faster. They rarely blitzed. When they did play man coverage, the CBs didn’t really react well to the ball. They started two rookies at CB, and those guys were OK, but the rest of the secondary wasn’t any good.

The offensive line was still pretty good. Chuck Muncie had physical skills and caught the ball very well, but he’d fumble all the time. James Brooks was very impressive. It took multiple players to get him down. He probably could have been featured even more, but he had a fumbling problem as well.

Rolf Benirschke was completely erratic, yet at some point in the 1983 season he held the all-time record for FG percentage. I would like to do a study and see how many more points the Chargers would have scored and games they would have won in the Coryell era if they had Nick Lowery instead of Rolf.

Ed Luther was TERRIBLE. Coryell’s system would get guys wide open, and Luther would be nowhere near the receivers with his passes. He ended up signing a big contract with the USFL and was terrible there as well.

I’ll end with a comment on the pass-catching group. The 83 Chargers had a ton of guys who had great hands; it might have been the best pass-catching corps in NFL history. If Fouts had stayed healthy, they would have had 3 guys over 1000 yards. Winslow had over 1000 despite Luther being unable to complete deep passes to him. Chandler was slowing down, but he was very tough. In a game against Cleveland, he got completely obliterated by Mike Whitwell yet came back into the game and put up a 6-134-2 statline. Bobby Duckworth was the deep threat. Muncie and Brooks were great out of the backfield. Pete Holohan and Eric Sievers could both get the ball in traffic. Sievers also put up consecutive 41 catch 438 yard seasons, which is incredible. The guy who has impressed me the most in watching these old Charger games is Charlie Joiner. I used to think he was a bogus HOFer, but the guy was tough as nails. He could do it all…go deep, run after the catch, go over the middle, block. Very consistent. I don’t know how he lasted as long as he did, but he had a great career.

[Brian wolf]

Yep, better ball security and somewhat controlling the clock could have given the Chargers' 10 win seasons from 1983-1985. They even started 1986 putting 50 points on the Dolphins but the offensive line collapsed. Muncie should have made the HOF and they should have never traded Brooks. The Bengals easily won that deal. Joiner was great every time I watched him. He benefitted from the rules changes as much as anyone.

I felt Gary Johnson played too many downs on an exhausted defense but once he went to SF, the Niners utilized him beautifully. He was a force in the 83/84 postseason.

[7DnBrnc53]

I don't remember the 81 draft, or what was said about him, but James Brooks strikes me as the Russell Wilson of RB's (a guy that was talented but dropped because of his height). The Dolphins should have drafted him 13th overall instead of David Overstreet.

Also, even though Brooks was a good pick, the Chargers should have drafted Eric Wright, and moved the 10-year pro Willie Buchanon to S if it would have been feasible (Wright was, essentially, a first-rounder that SF got in Round 2. Getting him, Lott, and Williamson was a big reason they turned it around in 81). Mike Singletary could also have been a possibility.

[GameBeforeTheMoney]

Charlie Joiner is the man. Was the guy Fouts trusted most on third down. Might have the highest 3rd down conversion catch rate of that era. Complete player.

Wes Chandler - underrated historically, IMO.

And they had let Jefferson go just a couple of years earlier. They were a great team to watch during that time.

Not all teams invested much in backup quarterbacks back then. SD was one of those teams.

They got lucky for one game with Olander, though.

[Brian wolf]

People talk about the catches of Jefferson but Chandler made many himself. He still was one of the best until 1987 ...

[Gary Najman]

I remember that in the Cowboys game, Rafael Septien missed an extra point, which turned to be the difference (they lost 24-23). Also the Chargers' Derrie Nelson returned a blocked punt for a TD. Nelson had been drafted by Dallas two years earlier.

[74_75_78_79_]

I already mentioned their opener vs the Jets on another thread.

How about the other New York team they played four weeks later? At the Meadowlands, Air Coryell met Parcells & LT! This was an even-better game!

Yes, SD was a surprising 1-3 going in. But each loss was close and there still had to be expectation that they'd bounce back which they did in this game (and the next week vs Sea) with an exciting 41-34 victory! This despite Brunner actually outplaying Fouts statistically!

Enberg/Olsen announced (NBC). With Raiders/Washington having been the 1EST game, this had to be the premiere second game of the day! Nationally televised!

And the Giants were 2-2 going in. Not knowing just how much they'd end up nosediving in this, here, Tuna's debut (he'd almost get fired, actually), they still seemed at the moment to be that gritty respectable fringe-playoff Perkins-led squad the past two years. Seeing these two square off had to be intriguing!

NYJ/SD Wk#1...SD/NYG Wk#5...I'm going to watch each in their entirety as soon as I am able to.


You know what? The more I think of it, the more I see the 1983 season knocking harder and harder to try breaking into my personal 'Rushmore' of NFL seasons of the 16-game era ('78, '79, '80, '81). Just simply posting this, here, post adds further reminder. Like a pomegranate, you peel back and pick out the main reasons for admiring this season, and you find a whole host of other reasons that you never thought of or have forgotten about.

Yes, there was that recent docu narrated by Rob Lowe on how the NFL was on an apparent "all-time-low" in fan-interest in 1984. But, to me, 1983 revived things considering what obviously happened the year prior. Yes, the USFL would appear months later - and that is seen as having given the NFL a blow in-time for that '84 campaign - but if the League was at an "all-time-low" during that very year (if it even was; I remember being no less a fan in 8th grade though, yes, I did watch "The Burning Bed" on that Monday Night), then I opine that da '85 Bears all by themselves re-revived things by simply catching the imagination of swarms of non-NFL/sports-fans all across the country! This even if they all went back to not caring for sports anymore by the start of the '86 season (USFL now fully out the way).

I once said here that if I ever wrote an NFL-themed book, it'd be about the first four seasons of the 16-game era (that very personal 'Rushmore' of mine). Now, I think, I should make things easier and simply focus on just one season. 'League Rebound: A Comprehensive Story of the 1983 NFL Season' it'd be called! Marcus Allen doing the forward? Pic of he in the midst of that famous SB-run on the front cover? Todd Christensen on 'America's Game' getting emotional when quoting Facenda's "running with the night". Maybe he should do the forward instead!

Pic from the NFC Championship Game on the back? Or Wash/Dallas instead? Wash/Green Bay? Or maybe no Washington at all. They'd already be on the front!

[CSKreager]

The 84 Chargers are more intriguing

0-8 in the AFC West but 7-1 against the rest of the league (including wins over Miami AND Chicago)

[7DnBrnc53]

The 84 Chargers are more intriguing

0-8 in the AFC West but 7-1 against the rest of the league (including wins over Miami AND Chicago)

Right. I remember PRO! magazine doing a feature on the AFC West at the end of that season (being the toughest division in football, which it was in spades).

I am also very intrigued with the 85 Chargers as well. Three plays away (@Minn, @Hou, @Den) from being 11-4 and having a chance at a division title going into their Week 16 game @KC.

[Bob Gill]

I’ve been watching a lot of games from the 1983 Chargers. They are a fascinating team to me...

This is a very good write-up. It seems to me that you've done a few of these before, right? If so, I think it would be worthwhile to collect them and have them printed in the Coffin Corner. I think they'd be a welcome addition.