What happened to San Diego after 1982?
What happened to San Diego after 1982?
Going into the 1983 NFL Draft, the Chargers were coming off of four straight playoff appearances, and they went into that draft with three first-round picks. You would think that they would keep up that success, but they didn't return to the playoffs until 1992. Why?
Re: What happened to San Diego after 1982?
Denver getting Elway
The Seahawks made a quantum leap
Basically those teams usurped SD as the Raider challengers in that division until MartyBall (and of course 1989-1991 KC’s vast improvement)
The Seahawks made a quantum leap
Basically those teams usurped SD as the Raider challengers in that division until MartyBall (and of course 1989-1991 KC’s vast improvement)
Re: What happened to San Diego after 1982?
I think the Chargers were trying to get Elway, but they allegedly wouldn't part with the fifth overall pick (Colt GM Ernie Accorsi wanted the fifth pick so he could draft Dan Marino), so that deal died.Denver getting Elway
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Brian wolf
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Re: What happened to San Diego after 1982?
Chargers regressed on defense without Dean and Johnson. Fouts and Winslow started getting hurt more and the offensive line was tough but needed younger depth.
Re: What happened to San Diego after 1982?
And Seattle rose up because they improved on defense (Nash, Easley, Jacob Green, Bryant)Brian wolf wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2024 9:52 pm Chargers regressed on defense without Dean and Johnson. Fouts and Winslow started getting hurt more and the offensive line was tough but needed younger depth.
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Brian wolf
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Re: What happened to San Diego after 1982?
Chuck Knox taking over in Seattle, improved the team dramatically. Steve Largent became the Raymond Berry of the 80s.
Re: What happened to San Diego after 1982?
Going into 1983, they had three guys that were around 33 or older (Russ Washington, White, and Wilkerson). Bruce Matthews would have been a better pick than Billy Ray Smith.Brian wolf wrote: ↑Thu Dec 12, 2024 9:52 pm Chargers regressed on defense without Dean and Johnson. Fouts and Winslow started getting hurt more and the offensive line was tough but needed younger depth.
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Ten Minute Ticker
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Re: What happened to San Diego after 1982?
They peaked in 1979 when they had a defense to go with the offense, but few think of them that way.
As others have mentioned, by ‘83 they were getting old and their defense was really poor.
And as others have also mentioned, that division was a witch by ‘83.
As others have mentioned, by ‘83 they were getting old and their defense was really poor.
And as others have also mentioned, that division was a witch by ‘83.
Re: What happened to San Diego after 1982?
Ripped from the PFRA headlines:
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.
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.
Re: What happened to San Diego after 1982?
I thought that DC Tom Bass ran some 4-3 in there as well, but I could be wrong.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 DL was getting old as well, which is why they should have drafted Jim Jeffcoat instead of Gary Anderson (and held on to James Brooks).
Reminds me of the Steelers with Cliff Stoudt that season. He was another terrible QB that went to the USFL the next year.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.