The 1978 San Diego Chargers season was the team's 19th season, and ninth in the National Football League.
The Chargers improved on their 7–7 record in 1977. This season included the "Holy Roller" game. It was Don Coryell's first season as the team's head coach, replacing Tommy Prothro after four games, and the team's first 16-game schedule.
Said the 2006 edition of Pro Football Prospectus,Pro Football Prospectus 2006 (), p.73-75 "The Chargers were one of the worst franchises in the NFL before they hired Don Coryell four games into the 1978 season. The Chargers were 1–3 at the time, but finished 8–4 under Coryell, winning seven of their last eight games for the franchise's first winning record since 1969. Blessed with Hall of Famer Dan Fouts, the creative Coryell always designed potent offenses, but the San Diego Defense didn't catch up until 1979...."
New head coach Coryell lost three out of his first four games before ending the season by winning seven out of the last eight.
Fouts had lost the starting job in Prothro's last game in charge, but grew in confidence as the season progress — 917 of his 2,999 passing yards came in the final three games alone. He had more attempts, completions, yards and touchdowns than in any of his five previous seasons in the NFL, and posted a league-leading 7.9 yards per attempts. Rookie John Jefferson had a strong year, with 56 catches for 1001 yards. He also scored a league-leading 13 receiving touchdowns, tying a rookie record set in 1952 by Billy Howton.
San Diego brought in Lydell Mitchell to strengthen the running game; in each of the three previous seasons, he had rushed for over 1,000 yards with Baltimore. While less effective in a Charger uniform, he did post 820 yards, while adding 500 more on a team-leading 57 catches. Hank Bauer was used as a short-yardage specialist, 6 of his 9 touchdowns were runs of 1 or 2 yards.
The defense slipped slightly, from 6th to 8th in terms of yardage, but remained a solid unit. Fred Dean had 13.5 sacks, and Mike Fuller ran one of his four interceptions back for a touchdown. Second-year kicker Rolf Benirschke made 18 kicks out of 22; his success rate of 81.8% was the second best in the league.
Offseason
NFL draft
Early-season resignation of head coach Tommy Prothro and hiring of Don Coryell
The previous season Prothro had told team owner Gene Klein that he would coach for only one more year. After the team's third loss in a row, Prothro stayed at the stadium until almost midnight watching game films, and it was during this time that he decided to resign. In a public statement, he said, "I still believe this is a good football team and it is a playoff contender. However, after disappointing losses to Oakland and Denver and the disaster against Green Bay, I feel a fresh approach and a rude awakening may be what this team needs." Klein asked Prothro to stay on in an open-ended position to work in such areas as drafting and trading.Prothro Out, Coryell Hired, Washington Post, Sept. 26, 1978.
The Chargers hired former St. Louis Cardinal Coach Don Coryell who had been asked to step down from an active role by St. Louis at the end of the last season. Because he still had two years left on his contract with St. Louis, the Chargers agreed to give St. Louis a third-round draft pick to fully release Coryell from the Cardinals. Coryell had previously coached at San Diego State University from 1961 to 1972 before going to St. Louis. He said, "I'm pleased with the opportunity to coach again in San Diego because it's like a dream come true."
Roster
Preseason
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 at Seattle Seahawks L 9–17 0–1 Kingdome 58,853 2 at Los Angeles Rams W 17–0 1–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 45,497 3 New York Jets L 10–23 1–2 San Diego Stadium 42,100 4 at New York Giants W 17–6 2–2 Giants Stadium 37,652
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 September 3 at Seattle Seahawks W 24–20 1–0 Kingdome 55,778 Recap 2 September 10 Oakland Raiders L 20–21 1–1 San Diego Stadium 51,653 Recap 3 September 17 at Denver Broncos L 14–27 1–2 Mile High Stadium 74,983 Recap 4 September 24 Green Bay Packers L 3–24 1–3 San Diego Stadium 42,755 Recap 5 October 1 at New England Patriots L 23–28 1–4 Schaefer Stadium 60,781 Recap 6 October 8 Denver Broncos W 23–0 2–4 San Diego Stadium 50,077 Recap 7 October 15 Miami Dolphins L 21–28 2–5 San Diego Stadium 50,637 Recap 8 October 22 at Detroit Lions L 14–31 2–6 Pontiac Silverdome 54,031 Recap 9 October 29 at Oakland Raiders W 27–23 3–6 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 52,612 Recap 10 November 5 Cincinnati Bengals W 22–13 4–6 San Diego Stadium 43,639 Recap 11 November 12 Kansas City Chiefs W 29–23 (OT) 5–6 San Diego Stadium 41,395 Recap 12 November 19 at Minnesota Vikings W 13–7 6–6 Metropolitan Stadium 38,859 Recap 13 November 26 at Kansas City Chiefs L 0–23 6–7 Arrowhead Stadium 26,248 Recap 14 Chicago Bears W 40–7 7–7 San Diego Stadium 48,492 Recap 15 December 10 Seattle Seahawks W 37–10 8–7 San Diego Stadium 49,975 Recap 16 December 17 at Houston Oilers W 45–24 9–7 Houston Astrodome 49,554 RecapNote: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1: at Seattle Seahawks
Rookie wide receiver John Jefferson had a successful debut as the Chargers won their opener. Two of Jefferson's three receptions went for touchdowns, and the Chargers led 17–13 after three quarters. A fumbled snap by Seattle quarterback Jim Zorn then gave San Diego a chance to increase their lead, but Fouts was picked off in the end zone when he looked for Jefferson once more. Seattle soon reached a 1st and 10 at the Charger 45, whereupon defensive tackle Gary "Big Hands" Johnson made his first career interception, picking off an ill-advised cross-field pass from Zorn and running it back 52 yards for the game's crucial touchdown. By the time Seattle scored again, only 6 seconds remained.
Week 2: vs. Oakland Raiders
San Diego began on the front foot, seeing a short Benirschke field goal blocked before Pat Curran opened the scoring when he grabbed a deflected Fouts pass in the end zone. Oakland soon tied the scores, but a pair of Hank Bauer runs put the Chargers up 20–7 early in the 4th quarter (Benirschke missed the extra point after the first of these). Ken Stabler had been kept in check up to this point, throwing three interceptions, including two snagged by Glen Edwards on consecutive 3rd quarter attempts. However, he threw his second touchdown of the game with 8:26 to play, then led his team to a 2nd and 10 at the San Diego 14 with 10 seconds to play.
From there, Oakland won the game with the controversial "Holy Roller" touchdown.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine:
Week 3: at Denver Broncos
A strong 2nd quarter proved insufficient for the Chargers. They trailed 7–0 early in the 2nd, when Dan Fouts hit Charlie Joiner for 42 yards down to the Denver 13. An interception foiled that threat, but Fouts rebounded with consecutive touchdown drives, scoring himself on the first and hitting Jefferson from 20 yards for the second. San Diego led 14–7 at the break, and it was still 14–13 late in the game. However, Rick Upchurch returned a punt 75 yards for the winning score with 3:17 on the clock. Denver then stopped the Chargers on downs and added an insurance touchdown.
Week 4: vs. Green Bay Packers
Tommy Prothro resigned after a poor performance in which San Diego had eleven turnovers, one short of the NFL record. The game was scoreless when Lydell Mitchell fumbled on 1st and 10 from the Packer 15. That was the first of a string of seven consecutive Charger drives which ended in turnovers, including five lost fumbles. James Harris, who got the start over Dan Fouts, threw a pair of interceptions as well as losing the ball once when sacked.
Green Bay led only 7–0 at the break, but the miscues continued in the second half. Punter Jeff West, who had earlier dropped a lost a snap for one of the Charger turnovers, saw a punt blocked and returned for a touchdown. Dan Fouts replaced Harris and lost a fumble, before throwing two interceptions, the latter of which was run back for a touchdown. Finally, 3rd string quarterback Cliff Olander came in and added one more interception to the tally.
San Diego conceded only 9 first downs and, thanks to a new club record ten sacks, only 9 net passing yards. Louis Kelcher and Fred Dean each had 2.5 sacks, while Gary Johnson and DeJurnett had 2.0 each.
Week 5: at New England Patriots
Don Coryell's first game in charge ended in defeat after San Diego didn't hold a second-half lead. The pass-oriented "Air Coryell" offense wasn't in evidence yet — San Diego ran the ball 38 times against 23 pass plays, with Hank Bauer gaining a career-high 60 yards. The touchdowns came through the air, though, Dan Fouts finding Pat Curran from 3 yards out, and Jefferson from 21 and 40, Jefferson's first score being set up by a Don Goode interception.
Those success left San Diego up 20—7 early in the 3rd quarter, but later Fouts was picked off to set up a Patriots touchdown, and Benirschke missing a 38-yard field goal. New England later took the lead with an 80-yard touchdown drive. Though Benirschke made amends with a 41-yard kick to put San Diego up 23–21, New England then went 73 yards for the game-winning points, which came with 31 seconds to play.
Dan Fouts finished 14 of 18 for 173 yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception.
Week 6: vs. Denver Broncos
The first win of the Don Coryell era was one of only two shutouts during his eight-year tenure. Fouts began poorly, with an interception on the game's third play, but bounced back to lead his team 85 yards on their next drive, with Don Woods going in from a yard out for the opening score. A fumble by Denver quarterback Craig Morton set up a touchdown reception by Bauer early in the 2nd quarter, and Benirschke added three field goals as the Chargers coasted home.
Denver had particular trouble passing, with three quarterbacks combining for only 8 completions from 30 attempts. The trio threw one interception each, to Glen Edwards, Louie Kelcher and Mike Fuller.
Week 7: vs. Miami Dolphins
A trio of Lydell Mitchell touchdowns were not enough for the Chargers to overcome five turnovers. The Chargers had 1st and Goal at the 4 when Fouts was sacked, losing a fumble that A. J. Duhe returned 68 yards to set up the game's opening touchdown; it was 14–0 shortly after another Fouts fumble. The quarterback rebounded with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell, but the Dolphins restored their 14-point lead after successfully gambling on 4th and goal from the 1 on the final play of the half.
In the 3rd quarter, Mitchell added a pair of 1 yard rushing scores, either side of another Miami touchdown, and San Diego trailed by just seven points entering the final period. However, they got no further than the Miami 44 on their final three possessions.
Fouts finished 22 of 30 for 313 yards and a touchdown, but threw a pair of 4th quarter interceptions to go with his earlier fumbles. Mitchell had 77 yards rushing and 64 receiving.
Week 8: at Detroit Lions
A weak performance on rush defense saw the Chargers slip to a one-sided defeat. Detroit used a variety on runners while piling up 273 yards on the ground, from 39 carries. This enabled the Lions to score four touchdowns and a field goal from their first six possessions, all but winning the game in the first half. Fouts threw a 55-yard touchdown pass to Lydell Mitchell, briefly tying the scores at 7–7, but was intercepted three times in the first half. Two of these occurred only seven seconds apart: the Lions tried a field goal immediately after the first interception, but missed, and Fouts threw another as time expired in the half. James Harris came on in relief in the third quarter, and managed a consolation touchdown pass to Joiner.