The 1983 San Diego Chargers season was the franchise’s 14th season in the National Football League (NFL) and its 24th overall. The Chargers fell from their 1982 6–3 record to 6–10. It was their first losing season since 1976, to date the most points the Chargers have surrendered in a sixteen-game season, and began an era in the wilderness for the Chargers, who would not place higher than third in the AFC West, nor win more than eight games in a season, until 1992.
Despite San Diego’s disappointing 6–10 record, they led the NFL in passing yardage for the sixth consecutive season, which remains an NFL record.
This was the last season for the Chargers before Gene Klein, the team's owner since 1966, sold the team to Alex Spanos.
Offseason
NFL draft
Personnel Staff
Roster
Preseason
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 August 6 at Los Angeles Rams L 20–34 0–1 Anaheim Stadium 2 August 13 Philadelphia Eagles L 20–21 0–2 Jack Murphy Stadium 3 August 20 San Francisco 49ers W 24–7 1–2 Jack Murphy Stadium 4 August 26 Los Angeles Rams W 27–17 2–2 Jack Murphy Stadium
Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 September 4 New York Jets L 29–41 0–1 Jack Murphy Stadium 51,004 Recap 2 at Kansas City Chiefs W 17–14 1–1 Arrowhead Stadium 62,150 Recap 3 September 18 at Seattle Seahawks L 31–34 1–2 Kingdome 61,714 Recap 4 September 25 Cleveland Browns L 24–30 (OT) 1–3 Jack Murphy Stadium 49,482 Recap 5 October 2 at New York Giants W 41–34 2–3 Giants Stadium 73,892 Recap 6 October 9 Seattle Seahawks W 28–21 3–3 Jack Murphy Stadium 49,132 Recap 7 October 16 at New England Patriots L 21–37 3–4 Sullivan Stadium 59,016 Recap 8 October 23 at Denver Broncos L 6–14 3–5 Mile High Stadium 74,581 Recap 9 Washington Redskins L 24–27 3–6 Jack Murphy Stadium 46,114 Recap 10 November 6 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 3–26 3–7 Three Rivers Stadium 58,191 Recap 11 November 13 Dallas Cowboys W 24–23 4–7 Jack Murphy Stadium 46,192 Recap 12 November 20 at St. Louis Cardinals L 14–44 4–8 Busch Memorial Stadium 40,644 Recap 13 November 27 Denver Broncos W 31–7 5–8 Jack Murphy Stadium 43,650 Recap 14 Los Angeles Raiders L 10–42 5–9 Jack Murphy Stadium 47,760 Recap 15 December 11 Kansas City Chiefs W 41–38 6–9 Jack Murphy Stadium 35,510 Recap 16 December 18 at Los Angeles Raiders L 14–30 6–10 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 57,325 RecapNote: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Game summaries
Week 1: vs. New York Jets
New York's rushing attack controlled the game as San Diego opened their season with a loss. Benirschke missed a 46-yard field goal on San Diego's opening drive, but they took the lead with a touchdown late in the first quarter. They converted three 3rd downs, with Duckworth's juggling 32-yard catch on 3rd and 10 from the Jets 33 followed immediately by Muncie's scoring run. New York responded with thirteen points on their next three drives, while San Diego went three-and-out once and lost a fumble at midfield through Joiner. The Jets led 13–7 at halftime.
Early in the second half, Brooks broke away around left end for a 61-yard run on 3rd and 1 from the San Diego 34-yard line before being caught at the New York 5. San Diego failed to advance further and took a field goal. New York converted a 4th down on their next drive, which took seven minutes and ended with a touchdown. Fouts had back-to-back 22-yard completions to Winslow and Joiner as the Chargers quickly responded with Muncie's second touchdown. New York were soon forced to punt, but Brooks fumbled the return and the Jets recovered; they converted the turnover into a 1-yard touchdown run on 4th and goal. Fouts completed all five of his passes as the Chargers again responded, this time with Duckworth's 29-yard touchdown catch on 3rd and 15. The ensuing kickoff had to be retaken as the television network were not broadcasting, and Kirk Springs returned the second kick 64 yards to set up another touchdown. San Diego needed only three Fouts passes to produce their third consecutive touchdown drive: 21-yard completions to Chandler and Duckworth, then Joiner's 33-yard touchdown. The Jets punted, giving San Diego's offense a chance to give their team the lead. They took over at their own 5-yard line with under three minutes left, and Fouts' second pass was intercepted. New York scored the clinching touchdown, and Fouts was intercepted again before the game finished.
The Jets' runners accounted for a combined 51 carries, 251 yards and 3 touchdowns; they converted four short 4th downs and New York kept possession of the ball for 36:31. San Diego had more total offense yardage (488 to 391), but committed four of the game's five turnovers.
Week 2: at Kansas City Chiefs
Chandler's late touchdown gave the Chargers their first win. Tim Fox's interception five minutes into the game set up his offense at the Kansas City 35-yard line; they could only move the ball two yards, but Benirschke made a 51-yard kick to put them ahead. The Chargers had another good scoring chance later in the opening quarter, but Muncie lost a fumble on 1st and 10 from the Chiefs 16. In the 2nd quarter they moved from their own 36 to a 4th and 1 at the Chiefs 2, but Brooks was stopped for no gain and they again came away with no points. Kansas City then drove 97 yards, converting a 3rd and 17 and taking the lead through Anthony Hancock's touchdown on the next play. A Fouts pass was intercepted but then fumbled back with a minute left in the half, allowing a Benirschke field goal try. He missed wide left from 46 yards out and the Chiefs led 7–3 at the break.
Earnest Jackson misplayed the opening kickoff of the second half and was tackled at his own 4-yard line. San Diego's offense put together a 15-play, 96-yard drive, with Muncie producing a air of 3rd-down conversions and scoring on the second of them. The Chargers' next drive covered 81 yards on 14 plays, but ended with another missed scoring opportunity: on 3rd and goal from the 2, Muncie gained one yard before fumbling into the end zone, where Kansas City recovered. The Chiefs drove 80 yards the other way and retook the lead on a trick play, with wide receiver Carlos Carson throwing the touchdown. San Diego took over on their own 20 with three minutes left, but needed only five plays to retake the lead. Fouts completed all four of his passes for 76 yards, including a 36-yard gain by Brooks on a screen pass and Chandler's winning catch in the end zone. Green stopped a Chiefs run for no gain on 4th and 1 with a minute to play, and San Diego ran out the clock.
The Chargers had the ball in Chiefs territory on all eleven of their drives. San Diego's offense had an uncharacteristic focus on the run, with Muncie rushing 27 times for 110 yards and Brooks 23 times for 86 yards; they had 51 rushing plays in total and only 26 passes.
Week 3: at Seattle Seahawks
Seattle beat the Chargers by dominating time of possession and surviving a late rally. Seattle scored a touchdown on the game's opening possession, and were threatening again when Fox intercepted an overthrown Jim Zorn pass at the Chargers 26-yard line. Fouts passed on the next five plays, completing four of them for 76 yards; a well-covered Joiner made a juggling catch for the touchdown. Fouts was intercepted twice through the rest of the first half, leading to ten Seattle points. Late in the 2nd quarter, Joiner had a 24-yard catch and also drew a further 15 yards for a late hit. San Diego reached a first and goal at the 8, but had to settle for a field goal and trailed 17–10 at halftime.
The Seahawks extended their lead in the 3rd quarter through a field goal and Paul Moyer's interception and return of a tipped Fouts pass. On the following drive Chandler's 33-yard catch to the Seattle 14 was nullified because Fouts had crossed the line of scrimmage before throwing the ball, forcing the Chargers to punt. Seattle lost a fumble soon afterwards, but retained possession when Johnson was ruled to have impeded a Seahawk attempting to make a recovery. Johnson himself recovered another fumble later in the drive, giving San Diego possession at their own 35. They drove from there to score on Sievers' 26-yard catch, but Seattle came straight back with Zorn's touchdown pass to Steve Largent and led by seventeen points with under nine minutes to play. San Diego needed barely a minute to begin their comeback via Duckworth's 44-yard touchdown on a 3rd and 10. Three minutes later, Linden King knocked the ball from Zorn's hands and Rick Ackerman recovered. Fouts immediately found Sievers open near the goal line to reduce the deficit to three points. San Diego were however unable to get the ball back on offense, as Seattle converted a pair of short third down situations and ran out the final four minutes of the game.
San Diego possessed the ball for only 20:56 as Seattle rushed 56 times for 206 yards and a touchdown. The Chargers outgained Seattle by 431 yards to 368.
Week 4: vs. Cleveland Browns
San Diego slipped to 1–3 with an overtime defeat. There were only six possessions in the first half. The Chargers attempted field goals at the end of their first two drives, with Benirschke converting from 37 yards and missing from 41; Cleveland responded with a pair of touchdown drives that consumed over fifteen minutes. San Diego scored on their next drive, Duckworth drawing a 31-yard pass interference penalty and Fouts finding Sievers in the end zone on 3rd and 10 from the 15. Cleveland drove from their own 35 to the Chargers 1-yard line with five seconds left in the half. They opted to run another play, but a pass from Brian Sipe to Ozzie Newsome fell incomplete with Green on the coverage, and time ran out with the Browns up 14–10.
Cleveland needed only six plays to extend their lead in the second half but San Diego came straight back, with Chandler gaining 29 yards on a 3rd and 3 before scoring in tight coverage after the ball was tipped in the air at the goal line. Cleveland were then forced to punt (the first time either side had done so), and San Diego took over at their own 47. Muncie caught a 16-yard pass, then fumbled after a 3-yard run with Don Macek recovering to preserve possession. Fouts found Chandler for his second touchdown on the next play. Winslow had catches of 24 and 28 yards on the next two drives, each one leading to a field goal try: Benirschke was short from 49 yards, then had a 34-yarder blocked. The missed opportunities proved important, as Cleveland forced San Diego to punt from their own 10-yard line with two minutes left, then put together a 28-yard drive that ended with a game-tying field goal with 18 seconds left; Andre Young broke up a potential touchdown pass one play before the kick.
The game went into overtime, where Cleveland won the coin toss, received the ball and scored quickly. Sipe converted a 3rd and 7 with a 12-yard pass, then threw the 48-yard game-winner on the next play.
Benirschke was 1 of 4 on field goal tries. San Diego had two 100-yard receivers: Chandler caught 6 passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns, while Winslow caught 8 for 108.
Week 5: at New York Giants