San Diego Welcomes a Winner-1978 San Diego Chargers

for the san diego charges the promise of 78 was previewed on a saturday night in august against the los angeles rams this was only pre-season but the high-powered visiting team seemed primed and ready for contention for three seasons the charges had been steadily growing and they demonstrated how far they had come with a 17 to nothing win over los angeles everyone agreed this was the team that san diego fans had waited for since the glory days of the 1960s san diegans had suffered through seven losing seasons now they prepared to welcome back a [Music] winner [Music] during the grand old days of the afl many of the league's heroes played in mission valley legendary men like ron mix who will soon join lance all worth as the second charger in pro football's hall of fame in 1974 owner gene klein and head coach tommy prothrow set out to perpetuate the san diego heritage of great athletes over the building years they gathered a stable of young thoroughbreds like number 83 john jefferson the wide receiver from arizona state was 78's number one draft pick and was blessed with a kind of body control and agility that no coach could teach the nfl offered another challenge heavy traffic over the middle [Music] so jj strapped on his goggles and proved that he could hold his own in the danger zone not since the days of a past catcher known as bambi could san diego quarterbacks look to a receiver of such spectacular skill and daring jefferson joined an air force that was already deep and talented cliff old lander number 10 could step in when needed and hit the mark also available was the veteran connection of number 12 james harris to number 18 charlie joyner starting quarterback dan pout could look to a variety of big play targets [Music] number 85 artie owens had learned to tailor his speed to the situation [Music] tight end bob klein was a leaper over the middle and ever ready dwight mcdonald received his yearly call back but the newest dimension in charger air games flew in from baltimore san diego greeted lydell mitchell with open arms only nine men in pro football history have gained more yards rushing than lydell mitchell mitchell's versatile example was not wasted on other charger runners number 37 hank bauer was supposedly too slow for the nfl but bauer became a medium-range cannon with uncanny accuracy inside the fire everyone called him the howard sir [Music] bauer's roistering style was complemented nicely by the easy glide of dawn woods [Music] the smooth veteran seemed to flow into the end zone with anonymous help of course from the men up front san diego's offensive line had the look of excellence guards doug wilkerson and ed white santa's don masik and ralph peretta tackles billy shields and russ washington and reserve milton hardaway [Music] as a unit they've protected their quarterback with a flourish giving dan pouch time to demonstrate his skill at reading a defense looking first to the primary receiver next to the secondary receiver then to an outlet receiver back to the primary receiver before settling on choice number five the 1978 charges had a million ways to move the ball and they couldn't wait to try them all san diego opened the season in seattle with the offensive line dan poultz and john jefferson all running true to four however the charges were not just half a team a defense had also been built from scratch the seahawks scrambled to stay alive until they launched a prayer which fell into the wrong hands gary big hands johnson sent san diego winging to a 24-20 opening day victory over seattle like their counterparts on offense these impetuous young defenders had been gathered over a three-year period why the front four had practically grown up in enemy backfields number 79 gary johnson number 68 leroy jones wilbert young charles d journey number 71 mean fred dean and a bunion s bruiser named louis culture louis was larger than light with a name to match san diego stadium sang his praises because at six feet five and 282 pounds louie had it all the strength to overpower any opponent enough size to blot out the sun the desire in savvy to track down plays that swung far and wide this unique combination earned culture all pro honors and made his teammates better louie's push across the line used up blockers and let the linebackers take over on the strong side dependable darn good number 50. filling holes from the weak side was number 51 woodrow low and holding down the middle number 55 bob horn in his first year as a stock the linebackers got more than moral support from the defensive backs pete shaw glenn edwards mike fuller keith king hal stringer jerome dove and number 29 mike williams they all fit the new san diego mold a team of eager young veterans hungry and mean each willing to hit and hawk the ball [Music] so [Music] defensive zeal spread to the special teams where rick middleton jim laszlovich ray preston mark slater clarence williams and ricky anderson took on the same turnover traits as the regulars but the most dangerous was ralph banerska banerska entered the season with a string of 12 straight field goals it seemed that all the charges were on the rise but as putter jeff west soon discovered timing is a tenuous thing one missed assignment can bring an entire game plan crashing down san diego's early season optimism fell prey to the domino effect and suddenly the charges had slipped out of sync [Music] the harder they tried the worse things went but nothing was as frustrating as the season's second week against the oakland raiders oakland had won 17 of 19 previous games including many last minute heartbreakers but now it was san diego's turn to get good and lucky [Music] pat curran grabbed a deflected pass and oakland was down to one last chance the raiders trailed 20 to 14. with only 10 seconds left the specter of the immaculate deception haunted the charges over half a season as they lost six of their first eight games the time had come to regroup and rally around a new figure of authority don coryell was called home to tackle the job coryell was welcomed back warmly to the scene of his college coaching triumphs but he knew history would not help him now he had to rebuild the confidence of a shaken group of men restore their sense of team and shared success coryell took over in the season's fifth week and made his goals clear he knew it wouldn't happen all at once but coryell was determined to salvage something from this year so he hitched up his pants put on his game face and led his team into the second half of the season the challenge began in oakland against the team that it started san diego's slide coryell had no trouble getting his team ready they knew that this game would be the turning point of their season the confident raiders promptly raced to a 13-point lead san diego did not panic the charges countered with a 20-play 11-minute drive and now it was oakland's turn to bite the bullet trailing by six with time running out dan pounce was determined to settle the score [Music] salt hit newly acquired tight and greg mccrary and the early season frustration did an about face the charges win shook the balance of power in the afc west and made their record three and six back home in san diego corielle called for white lightning to hit the cincinnati bengals [Music] offense opened up and the defense shared equally in a 2213 burial of the bengals to make the record four and six seven days later against kansas city the offensive line and fullback bo matthews cleared a way for bauer and jj to perform their specialty the chiefs came back to tie san diego and send the game into overtime now coryell called for character on the last play of overtime with the final seconds leaving the clock bounce spotted a friend in the far corner of the end zone [Music] the chargers were learning what it takes to win they were now five and six and headed toward their toughest test of the season north to minnesota minnesota winters are an acquired taste and the vikings use mother nature is part of the game plan [Music] but the confident charges were not afraid to meet the nfc central division champions head to head on their own frozen turf a new assertiveness was beginning to show they felt they could run they knew they could throw [Music] they were positive they could hold their own against any team in football [Music] the ball hawkers were ferocious and the ball was frozen after three quarters of give and take san diego still trailed seven to six but the feeling was that somehow thoughts and company would find a way to win john jefferson caught another impossible game winner and the astounding superchargers were six and six with a shot at the playoffs however a distress signal also went out false was injured and would miss the next week's game in kansas city a rusty james harris did his best in a difficult situation but san diego's offense missed the continuity that had been steadily building [Music] a few bad vibrations from the season's first half nightmare returned as san diego lost to the chiefs and fell back under 500. could the charges rebound on a monday night against the chicago bears thoughts returned and answered that question with a flurry of completions 16 for 269 yards and two touchdowns the route was on and harris got a chance to make amends by teaming up with the new addition to the charges arsenal number 87 larry burton [Music] the defense also came back strong holding walter payton and the bears to only seven points but the play of the night was turned in by hank bell the howitzer upped his reigns to 37 yards on sheer determination [Music] bauer scored one of eight touchdowns for the season as san diego evened its record at seven with a 40-point explosion seattle was the next victim of don coryell's white lightning [Music] by now this was an offense that could not be contained in successive games san diego had outscored its opposition 77 to 10 and its record went up to eight and seven but dan thoughts and the charges were not done yet under the houston astrodome on the season's final day fultz had a game most quarterbacks only dream about against the playoff bound oilers felt completed 21 incredibly accurate passes [Music] thoughts gathered four touchdowns and 369 yards to tie the all-time san diego record for single-game passing yardage set by tobin wrote in 1963 [Music] san diego ran its season record to nine and seven as houston was blitzed 45-24 some felt that san diego's season had ended too soon but don coryell knew that the seven in one second half finish was only a beginning [Music] 1978 was a season to remember a year of record-setting crowds and performance [Music] a banner year for a defense that was impossible to hold down all season long opponents tried unsuccessfully to slow down the pass rush [Music] but the pressure never relaxed [Music] the san diego defense turned on the power in 1978 and led the afc in quarterback sacks [Music] it is a defense that may be only one step away from greatness on offense the charges demonstrated versatility and the ability to strike from any distance with athletes of distinction john jefferson caught 56 passes and tied the all-time nfl record for touchdown catches by a rookie with 13. but the work of 1978 transcends the performance of any one man san diego led the entire nfl in passing and gained more total yards than any team in charger history these are men who learned their lessons together sharing victory and defeat in san diego's first winning season since 1969. [Music] the rebuilding years have begun to bear fruit in 1979 don coryell will have his first full season as leader of the san diego charges a town its team and their new head coach are ready to take the next step

Channel: Grey Beard

Views: 2,539

Rating: 4.9310346 out of 5

Keywords: NFL Films, Steve Sabol, Ed Sabol, San Diego Chargers, John Facenda, Don Coryell, Air Coryell, Dan Fouts, Tommy Prothro

Id: xuLP-EqJQCk

Length: 21min 41sec (1301 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 08 2020