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1979 San Diego Chargers

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Record: 12-4-0, Finished 1st in AFC West Division
NFL Season Summary

Scored 411 points (25.7/g), 2nd of 28 in the NFL.
 Allowed 246 points (15.4/g), 2nd.
 Differential of 165 points (10.3/g), 1st.
 Expected W-L: 12.3-3.7.

 Takeaway/Giveaway Differential +11 (0.7/g), 5th.

Coached by Don Coryell (12-4-0)

1979 Statistics / Starters & Roster / Games & Schedule / Team Draftees

Team Games & Schedule

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Score Offense Defense
Week Date Rec Opp Tm Opp 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO 1stD TotYd PassY RushY TO
1 Sun September 2 W 1-0 @ Seattle Seahawks 33 16 22 356 217 139 1 19 334 153 181 6
2 Sun September 9 W 2-0 Oakland Raiders 30 10 20 349 209 140 3 16 283 186 97 3
3 Sun September 16 W 3-0 Buffalo Bills 27 19 18 339 94 245 1 14 298 238 60
4 Sun September 23 L 3-1 @ New England Patriots 21 27 15 232 193 39 2 20 291 140 151 2
5 Sun September 30 W 4-1 San Francisco 49ers 31 9 22 317 246 71 2 14 242 122 120 3
6 Sun October 7 L 4-2 @ Denver Broncos 0 7 19 374 305 69 4 11 193 33 160 1
7 Sun October 14 W 5-2 Seattle Seahawks 20 10 19 391 295 96 18 280 147 133 1
8 Sun October 21 W 6-2 @ Los Angeles Rams 40 16 17 391 326 65 2 24 337 233 104 8
9 Thu October 25 L 6-3 @ Oakland Raiders 22 45 22 380 298 82 3 19 339 202 137
10 Sun November 4 W 7-3 @ Kansas City Chiefs 20 14 23 315 229 86 2 17 283 164 119 4
11 Sun November 11 W 8-3 @ Cincinnati Bengals 26 24 19 324 270 54 4 19 254 60 194
12 Sun November 18 W 9-3 Pittsburgh Steelers 35 7 14 218 120 98 4 14 191 125 66 8
13 Sun November 25 W 10-3 Kansas City Chiefs 28 7 30 460 325 135 1 9 190 125 65 1
14 Sun December 2 L 10-4 Atlanta Falcons 26 28 22 410 324 86 2 22 375 222 153 2
15 Sun December 9 W 11-4 @ New Orleans Saints 35 0 31 400 234 166 12 231 175 56 2
16 Mon December 17 W 12-4 Denver Broncos 17 7 17 327 230 97 4 20 335 224 111 5
Playoffs
Division Sat December 29 L 12-5 Houston Oilers 14 17

Team Stats and Rankings

Glossary · CSV · PRE
Passing Rushing
Pts Yds Ply Y/P 1stD Cmp Att Yds TD Int NY/A 1stD Att Yds TD Y/A 1stD TO FL 1stPy
Team Offense 411 5583 1053 5.3 330 338 541 3915 24 25 6.8 192 481 1668 25 3.5 114 35 10 24
Team Defense 246 4456 989 4.5 419 261 472 2549 11 28 5.0 132 475 1907 19 4.0 268 46 18 19
Lg Rank Offense 2 5 5 5 1 6 22 3 25 27 2 26 8 1
Lg Rank Defense 2 5 6 19 7 1 3 7 1 8 17 15 3 10

Passing

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Age Pos G GS Cmp Att Cmp% Yds TD TD% Int Int% Lng Y/A AY/A Y/C Y/G Rate Sk Yds NY/A ANY/A Sk%
Dan Fouts*+ 28 QB 16 16 332 530 62.6 4082 24 4.5 24 4.5 65 7.7 6.1 12.3 255.1 82.6 28 195 7.0 5.5 5.0
James Harris 32 8 0 5 9 55.6 38 0 0.0 1 11.1 10 4.2 -0.8 7.6 4.8 26.4 2 15 2.1 -2.0 18.2
Mike Fuller 26 SS 16 0 0 1 0.0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0 39.6 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Mike Thomas 26 RB 14 9 1 1 100.0 18 0 0.0 0 0.0 18 18.0 18.0 18.0 1.3 118.7 0 0 18.0 18.0 0.0
Team Total 26.9 16 338 541 62.5 4138 24 4.4 25 4.6 65 7.6 6.0 12.2 258.6 81.6 31 223 6.8 5.3 5.4
Opp Total 16 261 472 55.3 2549 11 2.3 28 5.9 5.4 3.0 9.8 159.3 53.7 42 332 5.0 2.1

Rushing & Receiving

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Rushing Receiving
Age Pos G GS Att Yds TD Lng Y/A Y/G A/G Rec Yds Y/R TD Lng R/G Y/G YScm RRTD Fmb
Clarence Williams 24 FB 16 16 200 752 12 55 3.8 47.0 12.5 51 352 6.9 0 14 3.2 22.0 1104 12 1
Mike Thomas 26 RB 14 9 91 353 1 21 3.9 25.2 6.5 32 388 12.1 0 32 2.3 27.7 741 1 4
Lydell Mitchell 30 rb 12 5 63 211 0 15 3.3 17.6 5.3 19 159 8.4 1 24 1.6 13.3 370 1 2
Artie Owens 26 RET 16 2 40 151 1 23 3.8 9.4 2.5 15 176 11.7 1 32 0.9 11.0 327 2 1
Bo Matthews 28 16 0 30 112 1 22 3.7 7.0 1.9 7 40 5.7 0 13 0.4 2.5 152 1 1
Dan Fouts*+ 28 QB 16 16 26 49 2 26 1.9 3.1 1.6 49 2 13
Hank Bauer 25 16 0 22 28 8 6 1.3 1.8 1.4 28 8 1
James Harris 32 8 0 6 26 0 18 4.3 3.3 0.8 26 0 1
Charlie Joiner* 32 WR 16 16 1 -12 0 -12 -12.0 -0.8 0.1 72 1008 14.0 4 39 4.5 63.0 996 4 1
Mike Fuller 26 SS 16 0 1 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0 0 4
Jeff West 26 P 16 0 1 -2 0 -2 -2.0 -0.1 0.1 -2 0 0
John Jefferson*+ 23 WR 15 15 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 61 1090 17.9 10 65 4.1 72.7 1090 10 0
Bob Klein 32 TE 15 14 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 37 424 11.5 5 54 2.5 28.3 424 5 0
Kellen Winslow 22 7 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 25 255 10.2 2 30 3.6 36.4 255 2 1
John Floyd 23 8 2 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 10 152 15.2 1 40 1.3 19.0 152 1 0
Greg McCrary 27 14 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 5 32 6.4 0 19 0.4 2.3 32 0 0
Larry Burton 28 12 0 0 0 0 0 0.0 0.0 4 62 15.5 0 23 0.3 5.2 62 0 0
Team Total 26.9 16 481 1668 25 55 3.5 104.3 30.1 338 4138 12.2 24 65 21.1 258.6 5806 49 31
Opp Total 16 475 1907 19 4.0 119.2 29.7 261 2549 9.8 11 16.3 159.3 4456 30 30

Kick & Punt Returns

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Punt Returns Kick Returns
Age Pos G GS Ret Yds TD Lng Y/R Rt Yds TD Lng Y/Rt APYd
Mike Fuller 26 SS 16 0 46 448 0 27 9.7 6 115 0 41 19.2 563
Artie Owens 26 RET 16 2 35 791 0 40 22.6 1118
Hank Bauer 25 16 0 4 92 0 31 23.0 120
Mike H. Williams 26 RCB 16 16 3 19 0 10 6.3 19
Pete Shaw 25 16 3 2 21 0 11 10.5 21
Don Goode 28 12 1 1 0 0 0 0.0 0
Bo Matthews 28 16 0 1 4 0 4 4.0 156
Lydell Mitchell 30 rb 12 5 1 15 0 15 15.0 385
Ralph Perretta 26 16 0 1 9 0 9 9.0 9
Cliff Thrift 23 16 0 1 11 0 11 11.0 11
Clarence Williams 24 FB 16 16 1 19 0 19 19.0 1123
Team Total 26.9 16 52 488 0 27 9.4 50 1066 0 41 21.3 7360
Opp Total 16 34 0 72 1535 1 21.3

Kicking & Punting

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Kicking Punting
Age Pos G GS FGA FGM FG% XPA XPM XP% Pnt Yds Lng Blck Y/P
Jeff West 26 P 16 0 75 2736 62 0 36.5
Mike Wood 25 K 9 0 14 11 78.6% 31 28 90.3%
Rolf Benirschke 24 4 0 4 4 100.0% 13 12 92.3%
Roy Gerela 31 3 0 7 1 14.3% 7 6 85.7%
Cliff Olander 24 4 0 1 0.0% 1 1 100.0%
Team Total 26.9 16 26 16 61.5% 52 47 90.4% 75 2736 62 0 36.5
Opp Total 16 12 8 66.7% 32 28 87.5% 83 3378 40.7

Defense & Fumbles

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Def Interceptions Fumbles Tackles
Age Pos G GS Sk Int Yds TD Lng PD FF Fmb FR Yds TD Tkl Ast Sfty
Hank Bauer 25 16 0 1 1 0 0
Willie Buchanon 29 LCB 16 16 0 1 24 0
Fred Dean* 27 RDE 13 12 0 3 2 0
Jerome Dove 26 16 0 0 2 2 0
Glen Edwards 32 FS 15 13 4 99 0 53 0 2 0 0
Dan Fouts*+ 28 QB 16 16 13 6 -20 0
Mike Fuller 26 SS 16 0 4 39 0 23 4 1 -8 0
Don Goode 28 12 1 1 0 0 0
James Harris 32 8 0 1 1 -7 0
Bob Horn 25 MLB 16 16 2 44 0 30 0 1 0 0
Gary Johnson* 27 RDT 16 15 1 2 36 0
Charlie Joiner* 32 WR 16 16 1 0 0 0
Leroy Jones 29 LDE 16 15 0 1 3 0
Linden King 24 16 1 0 2 0 0
Bob Klein 32 TE 15 14 0 1 0 0
Woodrow Lowe 25 RLB 16 14 5 150 2 77 0 1 2 0
Bo Matthews 28 16 0 1 1 0 0
Lydell Mitchell 30 rb 12 5 2 0 0 0
Artie Owens 26 RET 16 2 1 0 0 0
Ray Preston 25 LLB 16 16 5 121 0 35
Pete Shaw 25 16 3 3 54 0 30
Billy Shields 26 LT 16 16 0 1 0 0
Mike Thomas 26 RB 14 9 4 2 0 0
Cliff Thrift 23 16 0 0 2 0 0
Doug Wilkerson 32 LG 12 12 0 1 0 0
Clarence Williams 24 FB 16 16 1 2 0 0
Mike H. Williams 26 RCB 16 16 4 55 0 50
Kellen Winslow 22 7 1 1 0 0 0
Wilbur Young 30 LDT 16 16 0 3 3 1 1
Team Total 26.9 16 28 562 2 77 31 37 37 1 2
Opp Total 16 31 30 12 1

Scoring Summary

Glossary · ProBowl(*), 1st-team All-Pro(+), · CSV · PRE
Age Pos G GS RshTD RecTD PR TD KR TD FblTD IntTD OthTD 2PM XPM FGM Sfty Pts
Clarence Williams 24 FB 16 16 12 72
Mike Wood 25 K 9 0 28 11 61
John Jefferson*+ 23 WR 15 15 10 60
Hank Bauer 25 16 0 8 48
Bob Klein 32 TE 15 14 5 30
Rolf Benirschke 24 4 0 12 4 24
Charlie Joiner* 32 WR 16 16 4 24
Dan Fouts*+ 28 QB 16 16 2 12
Woodrow Lowe 25 RLB 16 14 2 12
Artie Owens 26 RET 16 2 1 1 12
Kellen Winslow 22 7 1 2 12
Roy Gerela 31 3 0 6 1 9
Wilbur Young 30 LDT 16 16 1 1 8
John Floyd 23 8 2 1 6
Bo Matthews 28 16 0 1 6
Lydell Mitchell 30 rb 12 5 1 6
Mike Thomas 26 RB 14 9 1 6
Greg McCrary 27 14 0 1 2
Cliff Olander 24 4 0 1 1
Team Total 26.9 16 25 24 1 2 47 16 2 411
Opp Total 16 19 11 1 28 8 1 246