The San Diego Chargers season was the franchise's eleventh overall season and first season in the National Football League (NFL). As a result of the NFL-AFL Merger, where the league was broken into two conferences, each member of the American Football League was moved into the American Football Conference.
San Diego's 5–6–3 record was the first of seven consecutive losing seasons for the franchise. The 1970 Chargers are the last NFL team to record three ties in a single season, a record which will likely stand, as since the NFL adopted overtime for regular season games in 1974 no team has recorded more than one tie in a season.
Offseason
NFL draft
Undrafted free agents
+ 1970 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeEd RoseboroughQuarterbackArizona StateReg SharleyLinebackerMemphis StateKarl SneiderWide receiverAugsburgJames SnowLinebackerUSCLeeVone SpencerLinebackerPrairie View A&MBill StansfieldDefensive tacklePenn StateBen StephensDefensive backGramblingDan ThatcherKickerOccidentalLee ThomasDefensive endJackson StatePaul TollefsonTackleUC Santa Barbara
Roster
Preseason
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 August 8 Dallas Cowboys L 10–20 0–1 San Diego Stadium 2 August 15 New York Giants W 30–27 1–1 San Diego Stadium 3 August 24 Chicago Bears W 14–9 2–1 San Diego Stadium 4 August 29 Los Angeles Rams L 14–16 2–2 San Diego Stadium 5 September 5 vs. St. Louis Cardinals W 38–27 3–2 Municipal Stadium (Cleveland) 6 September 12 at New Orleans Saints L 14–20 3–3 Tulane Stadium
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap 1 September 20 Baltimore Colts L 14–16 0–1 San Diego Stadium 47,782 Recap 2 September 27 Oakland Raiders T 27–27 0–1–1 San Diego Stadium 42,109 Recap 3 October 4 at Los Angeles Rams L 10–37 0–2–1 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 69,564 Recap 4 Green Bay Packers L 20–22 0–3–1 San Diego Stadium 53,064 Recap 5 October 18 at Chicago Bears W 20–7 1–3–1 Wrigley Field 45,278 Recap 6 October 25 Houston Oilers T 31–31 1–3–2 San Diego Stadium 41,427 Recap 7 November 1 at Cleveland Browns W 27–10 2–3–2 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 80,047 Recap 8 November 8 Denver Broncos W 24–21 3–3–2 San Diego Stadium 48,327 Recap 9 November 15 at Boston Patriots W 16–14 4–3–2 Harvard Stadium 30,597 Recap 10 November 22 at Oakland Raiders L 17–20 4–4–2 Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum 54,594 Recap 11 November 29 at Kansas City Chiefs L 14–26 4–5–2 Municipal Stadium 50,315 Recap 12 December 6 Cincinnati Bengals L 14–17 4–6–2 San Diego Stadium 41,461 Recap 13 December 13 at Denver Broncos T 17–17 4–6–3 Mile High Stadium 50,959 Recap 14 December 20 Kansas City Chiefs W 31–13 5–6–3 San Diego Stadium 41,379 Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1: vs. Baltimore Colts
Week 2: vs. Oakland Raiders
Week 3: at Los Angeles Rams
Week 4: vs. Green Bay Packers
Week 5: at Chicago Bears
Week 6: vs. Houston Oilers
Week 7: at Cleveland Browns
Week 8: vs. Denver Broncos
Week 9: at Boston Patriots
Week 10: at Oakland Raiders
Week 11: at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 12: vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Week 13: at Denver Broncos
Week 14: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Standings
Awards Walt Sweeney and Gary Garrison were named to the AFC Pro Bowl squad; No Chargers were named All-Pro by the Associated Press, though Sweeney was named the best in his Conference. Babich was a runner-up for the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year award, receiving at least one vote.
References