List of San Diego Chargers seasons
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football franchise based in San Diego, California. They are members of the West Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers franchise was founded in 1959 by Barron Hilton and played the 1960 season in Los Angeles as part of the American Football League (AFL). In the next season, the Chargers moved to San Diego, becoming the San Diego Chargers.[1]
The franchise has experienced three major periods of success. The first was from 1960 to 1965, when the Chargers were AFL West champions five times and AFL champions once. The second was from 1978 to 1982, when the Chargers had winning seasons (seasons with more wins than losses) in each of these years, and won three consecutive division championships for the second time in franchise history. The most recent accomplishments range from 2004 to the present, with the franchise reaching the playoffs three times in four years. Their only Super Bowl appearance was in 1994. The Chargers have also experienced two notable periods of decline. From 1983 to 1991, they never placed higher than third in their division and did not make the playoffs. From 1996 to 2003, the team had no winning seasons, and had their worst season ever, winning only one of sixteen games in 2000.[2]
The Chargers have been division champions nine times including 2009, all of them in the AFC West. They have been conference champions six times, but only once since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. As of the end of the 2010 season, the Chargers had played 787 regular and post-season games in 51 seasons, and have appeared in the post-season sixteen times.[2]
[edit] Seasons
Note: The Finish, Wins, Losses, and Ties columns list regular season results and exclude any post-season play.
| AFL Champions (1960–1969) | Conference Champions | Division Champions | Wild Card Berth | One-Game Playoff Berth |
| NFL Season | Team's season[2] | League | Conference | Division | Regular season | Post-season results | Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Ties | |||||||
| Los Angeles Chargers | ||||||||||
| 1960 | 1960 | AFL | West | 1st | 10 | 4 | 0 | Lost AFL Championship (Oilers) (16–24) | ||
| San Diego Chargers | ||||||||||
| 1961 | 1961 | AFL | West | 1st | 12 | 2 | 0 | Lost AFL Championship (Oilers) (3–10) | ||
| 1962 | 1962 | AFL | West | 3rd | 4 | 10 | 0 | Earl Faison (AFL All-Star Game Defensive MVP) | ||
| 1963 | 1963 | AFL | West | 1st | 11 | 3 | 0 | Won AFL Championship (Patriots) (51–10) | Lance Alworth (AFL MVP) Keith Lincoln (AFL All-Star Game Offensive MVP) |
|
| 1964 | 1964 | AFL | West | 1st | 8 | 5 | 1 | Lost AFL Championship (Bills) (7–20) | Keith Lincoln (AFL All-Star Game Offensive MVP) | |
| 1965 | 1965 | AFL | West | 1st | 9 | 2 | 3 | Lost AFL Championship (Bills) (0–23) | Frank Buncom (AFL All-Star Game Defensive MVP) | |
| 1966 | 1966 | AFL | West | 3rd | 7 | 6 | 1 | |||
| 1967 | 1967 | AFL | West | 3rd | 8 | 5 | 1 | Speedy Duncan (AFL All-Star Game Defensive MVP) | ||
| 1968 | 1968 | AFL | West | 3rd | 9 | 5 | 0 | |||
| 1969 | 1969 | AFL | West | 3rd | 8 | 6 | 0 | John Hadl (AFL All-Star Game MVP) | ||
| 1970[A] | 1970 | NFL | AFC | West | 3rd | 5 | 6 | 3 | ||
| 1971 | 1971 | NFL | AFC | West | 3rd | 6 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 1972 | 1972 | NFL | AFC | West | 4th | 4 | 9 | 1 | ||
| 1973 | 1973 | NFL | AFC | West | 4th | 2 | 11 | 1 | ||
| 1974 | 1974 | NFL | AFC | West | 3rd | 5 | 9 | 0 | Don Woods (Offensive Rookie of the Year) | |
| 1975 | 1975 | NFL | AFC | West | 4th | 2 | 12 | 0 | ||
| 1976 | 1976 | NFL | AFC | West | 3rd | 6 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 1977 | 1977 | NFL | AFC | West | 3rd | 7 | 7 | 0 | ||
| 1978 | 1978[B] | NFL | AFC | West | 3rd | 9 | 7 | 0 | ||
| 1979 | 1979 | NFL | AFC | West | 1st | 12 | 4 | 0 | Lost Divisional Playoffs (Oilers) (14–17) | |
| 1980 | 1980 | NFL | AFC | West | 1st[C] | 11 | 5 | 0 | Won Divisional Playoffs (Bills) (20–14) Lost Conference Championship (Raiders) (27–34) |
|
| 1981 | 1981 | NFL | AFC | West | 1st[D] | 10 | 6 | 0 | Won Divisional Playoffs (Dolphins) (41–38 OT)[E] Lost Conference Championship (Bengals)[F] (7–27) |
Kellen Winslow (Pro Bowl MVP) |
| 1982[G] | 1982 | NFL | AFC | 6th | 6 | 3 | 0 | Won First-round Playoffs (Steelers) (31–28) Lost Second-round Playoffs (Dolphins) (13–34) |
Dan Fouts (NFL MVP) (Pro Bowl MVP) (Offensive Player of the Year) |
|
| 1983 | 1983 | NFL | AFC | West | 5th | 6 | 10 | 0 | ||
| 1984 | 1984 | NFL | AFC | West | 5th | 7 | 9 | 0 | ||
| 1985 | 1985 | NFL | AFC | West | 3rd | 8 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 1986 | 1986 | NFL | AFC | West | 5th | 4 | 12 | 0 | Leslie O'Neal (Defensive Rookie of the Year) | |
| 1987[H] | 1987 | NFL | AFC | West | 3rd | 8 | 7 | 0 | ||
| 1988 | 1988 | NFL | AFC | West | 4th | 6 | 10 | 0 | ||
| 1989 | 1989 | NFL | AFC | West | 5th | 6 | 10 | 0 | ||
| 1990 | 1990 | NFL | AFC | West | 4th | 6 | 10 | 0 | ||
| 1991 | 1991 | NFL | AFC | West | 5th | 4 | 12 | 0 | ||
| 1992 | 1992 | NFL | AFC | West | 1st | 11 | 5 | 0 | Won Wild-Card Playoffs (Chiefs) (17–0) Lost Divisional Playoffs (Dolphins) (0–31) |
Bobby Ross (AFC Coach of the Year) |
| 1993 | 1993 | NFL | AFC | West | 4th | 8 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 1994 | 1994 | NFL | AFC | West | 1st | 11 | 5 | 0 | Won Divisional Playoffs (Dolphins) (22–21) Won Conference Championship (Steelers) (17–13) Lost Super Bowl XXIX (49ers) (26–49) |
|
| 1995 | 1995 | NFL | AFC | West | 2nd | 9 | 7 | 0 | Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Colts) (20–35) | |
| 1996 | 1996 | NFL | AFC | West | 3rd | 8 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 1997 | 1997 | NFL | AFC | West | 5th | 4 | 12 | 0 | ||
| 1998 | 1998 | NFL | AFC | West | 5th | 5 | 11 | 0 | ||
| 1999 | 1999 | NFL | AFC | West | 4th | 8 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2000 | 2000 | NFL | AFC | West | 5th | 1 | 15 | 0 | ||
| 2001 | 2001 | NFL | AFC | West | 5th | 5 | 11 | 0 | ||
| 2002 | 2002 | NFL | AFC | West | 3rd | 8 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2003 | 2003 | NFL | AFC | West | 4th | 4 | 12 | 0 | ||
| 2004 | 2004 | NFL | AFC | West | 1st | 12 | 4 | 0 | Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Jets) (17–20 OT) | Marty Schottenheimer (NFL Coach of the Year) Drew Brees (NFL Comeback Player of the Year) |
| 2005 | 2005 | NFL | AFC | West | 3rd | 9 | 7 | 0 | Shawne Merriman (Defensive Rookie of the Year) | |
| 2006 | 2006 | NFL | AFC | West | 1st | 14 | 2 | 0 | Lost Divisional Playoffs (Patriots) (21–24) | LaDainian Tomlinson (NFL MVP) (Offensive Player of the Year) |
| 2007 | 2007 | NFL | AFC | West | 1st | 11 | 5 | 0 | Won Wild Card Playoffs (Titans) (17–6) Won Divisional Playoffs (Colts) (28-24) Lost Conference Championship (Patriots) (12–21) |
|
| 2008 | 2008 | NFL | AFC | West | 1st | 8 | 8 | 0 | Won Wild Card Playoffs (Colts) (23–17 OT) Lost Divisional Playoffs (Steelers) (24–35) |
|
| 2009 | 2009 | NFL | AFC | West | 1st | 13 | 3 | 0 | Lost Divisional Playoffs (Jets) (14-17) | |
| 2010 | 2010 | NFL | AFC | West | 2nd | 9 | 7 | 0 | ||
| 2011 | 2011 | NFL | AFC | West | 2nd | 8 | 8 | 0 | ||
| Total | 392 | 385 | 11 | (1960–2011, Regular season only) | ||||||
| 10 | 16 | N/A[I] | (1960–2011, Post-season games only)[J] | |||||||
| 402 | 401 | 11 | (1960–2011, includes both Regular season and Playoffs; 1 AFL Championship)[J] | |||||||
[edit] Footnotes
- A As a result of the AFL-NFL merger, the league was broken into two conferences; the AFL teams moved into the American Football Conference.
- B This season included the Holy Roller game.
- C The Chargers finished ahead of Oakland in the AFC West based on better net points in division games.
- D The Chargers finished ahead of the Denver Broncos based on better divisional record.
- E This game is known as The Epic in Miami.
- F This game was known as the Freezer Bowl.
- G The 1982 season was shortened by a strike, so the league was divided up into two conferences instead of its normal divisional alignment.
- H The strike of 1987 reduced the regular season schedule from sixteen to fifteen games.
- I Ties can not occur in the playoffs.
- J The 2009 season's playoffs took place in 2010.
[edit] References
- General
- "San Diego Chargers (1960-Present)". Sports Encyclopedia. http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nfl/sandiego/chargers.html. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
- "San Diego Chargers Season Records". Rauzulu's Street. http://rauzulusstreet.com/football/profootball/sandiego.html. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
- "HickokSports.com". HickokSports.com - History - NFL Rookie of the Year Awards. http://www.hickoksports.com/history/nflroy.shtml. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
- "NFL.com - History - Yearly Standings". National Football League Official website. http://www.nfl.com/standings. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
- "chargers.com - History - Record Book". The National Football League - San Diego Chargers. http://www.chargers.com/history/. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
- "San Diego Chargers (1970 - )". databasefootball.com. http://www.databasefootball.com/teams/teampage.htm?tm=LAC&lg=afl. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
- Specific
- ^ "Chronology". chargers.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071020031043/http://chargers.com/history/chronology/. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
- ^ a b c "San Diego Chargers Franchise Encyclopedia". pro-football-reference.com. http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/sdg/. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
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