The 1998 San Diego Chargers season was the franchise's 29th season in the National Football League (NFL), its 39th overall and was the second and final season under Kevin Gilbride. After a 2–4 start, Gilbride was fired and June Jones coached the final ten games of the season as interim head coach, the team going 3–7 under his stewardship. San Diego's defense led the league in yards allowed; however, a weak offense under infamous draft bust quarterback Ryan Leaf meant that the team was last in the AFC West. The team scored a total of 241 points, an average of 15.1 points per game, the second lowest in the NFL, with only the Philadelphia Eagles performing worse with 161 (10.1 per game).
With the retirement of Stan Humphries, the Chargers went into the draft seeking a new quarterback. There were two outstanding prospects; when Indianapolis took future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning as the #1 pick, Leaf went to San Diego. Immediately named the starter, he began 2–0 before an infamous performance at Kansas City, after which he was caught on camera shouting at a reporter.
Leaf finished with 15 interceptions and only two touchdown passes in ten games; Craig Whelihan replaced him as the starter for the final seven games, but also performed poorly. The two combined for 34 interceptions, the worst tally in the NFL for a decade; San Diego had 51 turnovers in total, 8 more than any other team in 1998. The inexperienced quarterbacks were hampered by the departure of star receiver Tony Martin during the offseason. Leaf's passer rating in 1998 was only 39, which was an NFL-worst. No starting quarterback since then has matched this number or beaten it. In his absence, Charlie Jones led the team with 699 yards, while tight end Freddie Jones had the most receptions with 57. Natrone Means returned to lead the rushing attack after two seasons in Jacksonville. He performed well prior to a season-ending injury, gaining 883 yards in ten games, or 88.3 yards a game.
On defense, Norman Hand was promoted to starting defensive tackle, and led the team with 6.0 sacks; Greg Jackson had the most interceptions, with six. His six interceptions were the most by a Charger since Darren Carrington intercepted 7 passes in 1993.
Pro bowlers Junior Seau and Rodney Harrison made 115 and 114 tackles respectively – the most any other player had was 63. Kicker John Carney, who had been injured for most of the previous season, returned and converted 26 attempts out of 30.
The ineffective offense and rookie Leaf's obnoxious behavior toward teammates damaged morale; outside linebacker Lew Bush recalled Strong safety Rodney Harrison described the season as
Following the season, Oregon State head coach Mike Riley was named Chargers' head coach.
Offseason
NFL draft
Supplemental draft
Undrafted free agents + 1998 undrafted free agents of note Player Position CollegeJeff BakerQuarterbackWisconsin–La CrosseJeremy EarpWide receiverWisconsin–La Crosse
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Preseason
WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance 1 August 8 San Francisco 49ers W 27–21 1–0 Qualcomm Stadium 2 August 15 St. Louis Rams W 41–27 2–0 Qualcomm Stadium 3 August 22 at Indianapolis Colts W 33–3 3–0 RCA Dome 4 August 28 at Minnesota Vikings L 28–42 3–1 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 6 Buffalo Bills W 16–14 1–0 Qualcomm Stadium 64,037 2 September 13 at Tennessee Oilers W 13–7 2–0 Vanderbilt Stadium 41,089 3 September 20 at Kansas City Chiefs L 7–23 2–1 Arrowhead Stadium 73,730 4 September 27 New York Giants L 16–34 2–2 Qualcomm Stadium 55,672 5 October 4 at Indianapolis Colts L 12–17 2–3 RCA Dome 51,988 6 October 11 at Oakland Raiders L 6–7 2–4 Network Associates Coliseum 42,467 7 October 18 Philadelphia Eagles W 13–10 3–4 Qualcomm Stadium 56,967 8 October 25 Seattle Seahawks L 20–27 3–5 Qualcomm Stadium 58,512 9 Bye 10 November 8 at Denver Broncos L 10–27 3–6 Mile High Stadium 74,925 11 November 15 Baltimore Ravens W 14–13 4–6 Qualcomm Stadium 54,388 12 November 22 Kansas City Chiefs W 38–37 5–6 Qualcomm Stadium 59,894 13 November 29 Denver Broncos L 16–31 5–7 Qualcomm Stadium 66,532 14 December 6 at Washington Redskins L 20–24 5–8 Jack Kent Cooke Stadium 65,713 15 December 13 at Seattle Seahawks L 17–38 5–9 Kingdome 62,690 16 December 20 Oakland Raiders L 10–17 5–10 Qualcomm Stadium 60,716 17 December 27 at Arizona Cardinals L 13–16 5–11 Sun Devil Stadium 71,670Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1: vs. Buffalo Bills
A missed field goal allowed the Chargers to escape with a win on Ryan Leaf's debut. Leaf had an uncertain start, fumbling his first snap (the Chargers recovered), and throwing an interception in Bills' territory. The San Diego defense, however, allowed only 73 yards in the first half, and the Chargers led 3–0 at the break.
Leaf found Bryan Still for 67 yards on the first play of the 3rd quarter, and hit the same player on a fade route two plays later for his first NFL touchdown pass. However, with San Diego up 13–7 in the 4th quarter, Leaf threw his second interception, setting up Buffalo for a 31-yard drive culminating when Doug Flutie and Andre Reed combined for their second touchdown pass of the day. John Carney's 54-yard field goal on the next possession clipped the upright but still went through, restoring the lead.
Buffalo faced a 4th and 26 on their final possession, but a 36-yard pass interference penalty on Terrence Shaw kept the drive going. Seven plays later, Steve Christie, who had earlier missed from just 21 yards out, pushed a 39-yarder wide left with three seconds left, and the Chargers had the win.
This game constituted the first time since 1985 that the Chargers played the Buffalo Bills.Buffalo Bills v San Diego Chargers The reason for this is that before the admission of the Texans in 2002, NFL scheduling formulas for games outside a team's division were much more influenced by table position during the previous season.
Week 2: at Tennessee Oilers
Another strong defensive performance gave San Diego their second win. The lone Tennessee score was aided by a fake punt on 4th and 10; after Natrone Means put the Chargers up 13–7 in the 3rd quarter, the Oilers failed to cross midfield in their final four possessions. Ryan Leaf had a cleaner game, passing for 179 yards with no turnovers, while rushing for 31 yards, including a 20-yard scramble that set up Means' touchdown. Leaf became the first rookie to start 2–0 since John Elway in 1983, but would win only twice more in his entire career.
Week 3: at Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs' defense brought Ryan Leaf savagely back down to earth, as he posted the only 0.0 passer rating by any QB during the 1998 season. Leaf completed 1 pass in 15 attempts for 4 yards, with no touchdowns and two interceptions – he also lost three fumbles, committing five turnovers on the Chargers' first seven possessions. With a pair of sacks pushing them to minus-19 net passing yards, the Chargers had the worst total by any NFL team for 13 years.
Natrone Means was the lone bright spot on offense; he ran 22 times for a career-high 165 yards, and prevented the shutout with a career-long 72 yard touchdown run.
Week 4: vs. New York Giants
Leaf struggled again, throwing interceptions on three consecutive first half possessions as the Giants built a 21–0 lead. An improvement saw John Carney hit three field goals in quick succession, sandwiched around the halftime break, closing the gap to 12 points. However, Leaf then threw a fourth interception, this one returned by Percy Ellsworth for a touchdown. The rookie QB was then benched for Craig Whelihan, who promptly hit Charlie Jones for a 41-yard touchdown, but could get the team no closer. This would be the Chargers last loss to the Giants until 2025.
Week 5: at Indianapolis Colts
This game featured the first two picks in the 1998 NFL draft. Ryan Leaf had previously outplayed Peyton Manning in a preseason game, but this was their first and only competitive meeting.
Manning had the better start, hitting Marshall Faulk for the opening score after Leaf had been intercepted; a trick play on the conversion made it 8–0 to the Colts. The defenses took over from there, with two field goals each the only scores until the final few minutes. Then Leaf found Charlie Jones for a 56-yard completion down to the one, and Means ran it in on the next play. However, Leaf's two-point conversion pass fell incomplete, leaving the score at 14–12. Indianapolis recovered an onside kick attempt and added a field goal, before stopping San Diego on downs with 33 seconds remaining.
The win was Peyton Manning's first in the NFL. The two quarterbacks had nearly identical stat lines, each completing 12 of 23 passes while throwing one interception. Leaf had a small yardage advantage (160 to 137), while Manning had the game's lone touchdown pass. Means rushed for 130 yards on 31 carries.
Week 6: at Oakland Raiders
A late lapse cost the Chargers victory in a game of uncommon defensive dominance. The Raiders' Leo Araguz set an NFL record by punting 16 times in the game, with 14 of these coming after going three-and-out. Starting QB Donald Hollis completed only 12 passes out of 35 for 101 yards and an interception, while their rushing attack was limited to 18 yards on 18 carries.
San Diego's offense fared little better. They opened the scoring with a John Carney field goal, but that came after a 56-yard punt return by Latario Rachal set them up at the Raiders' 20. Ryan Leaf completed 7 of 18 passes for 78 yards, with three passes picked off. After the last of these, he was pulled in favour of Craig Whelihan, who threw a further interception on his second passing attempt. On their next possession, the Chargers quit attempting to pass entirely, calling nothing but runs on a 13 play, 68-yard drive that took up most of the 4th quarter, and led to Carney's second field goal.
Following an exchange of punts, the Raiders took over on their own 32, where they faced a 3rd and 10 with 1:38 remaining. Backup QB Wade Wilson, who had missed on his first six passes, then found James Jett behind the defense for the winning touchdown. San Diego tried to respond, but on a 4th and 6 from the Raiders' 38, Means was stopped inches short of a first down and Oakland ran out the clock.
Means was again the lone highlight on offense for the Chargers, gaining 101 yards on 37 carries, while his 167 combined yards rushing and receiving accounted for over 85% of the Chargers 195 yards of total offense. For the Raiders, over 42% of their 159 yards came on the winning play.
Head coach Kevin Gilbride was fired three days after the game. Quarterbacks coach June Jones took his place for the remainder of the campaign.
The NFL released highlights of the game, titled "The UGLIEST Win EVER!"Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
Week 7: vs. Philadelphia Eagles
In a familiar story, it was Natrone Means (112 yards) and the defense who led San Diego as they broke their four-game losing streak. Means rushed four times for 32 yards on the game's opening possession, leading to a field goal; on the first Charger drive of the second half, he carried four times for 43 yards and a touchdown. Leaf passed for only 83 yards, and lost 55 yards in sacks, but threw no interceptions, and San Diego won the turnover battle for the first time all season (4–1). Norman Hand intercepted a tipped pass to set up the game-winning field goal, and Junior Seau ended the final Eagles threat when he recovered a fumble caused by Charles Dimry.
Week 8: vs. Seattle Seahawks