List of Los Angeles Chargers seasons

Last updated

This article is part of series of
Los Angeles Chargers history
Los Angeles Chargers (1960)
San Diego Chargers (1961–2016)
Los Angeles Chargers (2017–present)
List of seasons
Qualcomm Stadium, where the Chargers played their home games from 1967 to 2016. Qualcomm Stadium.jpg
Qualcomm Stadium, where the Chargers played their home games from 1967 to 2016.

The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football franchise based in the Greater Los Angeles Area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The club was founded in 1959 by Barron Hilton and played the 1960 season in Los Angeles as part of the American Football League (AFL). [1] In the next season, the Chargers moved to San Diego. [2] In 2017, the Chargers relocated back to the Los Angeles area. [3]

Contents

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 (in 1963). [4] The second was from 1978 to 1982, when the Chargers had five consecutive winning records, four playoff appearances and three division championships. [5] The most recent spell of sustained success ranged from 2004 to 2009, with the franchise reaching the playoffs five times in six years, each time as the AFC West champion. [6] This run included their best regular season record, as they went 14–2 in 2006. [7] Their only Super Bowl appearance was in 1994 (a loss to the San Francisco 49ers) [8]

The Chargers have also experienced three notable periods of decline. For the thirteen seasons between 1965 and 1977 the Chargers never reached the postseason; they failed to post a winning record through their first eight years in the NFL (1970–77) and finished last in their division for four consecutive years from 1972 to 1975. [9] From 1983 to 1991, they never placed higher than third in their division and did not make the playoffs. [7] From 1996 to 2003, the team had no winning seasons, and posted their worst record to date, going 1–15 in 2000. [7]

The Chargers have been division champions fourteen times: five in the AFL West and nine in the AFC West. As of the end of the 2023 season, the Chargers have played 64 seasons, with a cumulative record of 483–489–11 in the regular season and 12–19 in the postseason. [7]

Seasons

Table legend
AFL champions (1960–1969) †Conference champions *Division champions ^ Wild card berth  #
Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers seasonal records
SeasonTeamLeague [7] ConferenceDivisionRegular season [7] Postseason results [10] Awards [lower-alpha 1] Head coaches [11]
FinishWLT
Los Angeles Chargers
1960 1960 AFL West^1st^1040Lost AFL Championship (at Oilers) 16–24 Sid Gillman
San Diego Chargers
1961 1961 AFLWest^1st^1220Lost AFL Championship (Oilers) 3–10 Earl Faison (ROY) [12] Sid Gillman
1962 1962 AFLWest3rd4100
1963 1963 AFL†West^1st^1130Won AFL Championship (1) (Patriots) 51–10 Tobin Rote (MVP) [13]
1964 1964 AFLWest^1st^851Lost AFL Championship (at Bills) 7–20
1965 1965 AFLWest^1st^923Lost AFL Championship (Bills) 0–23
1966 1966 AFLWest3rd761
1967 1967 AFLWest3rd851 Dickie Post (OROY) [14]
1968 1968 AFLWest3rd950
1969 1969 AFLWest3rd860Sid Gillman (4–5)
Charlie Waller (4–1)
1970 1970 NFL AFC West 3rd563Charlie Waller
1971 1971 NFLAFCWest3rd680Sid Gillman (4–6)
Harland Svare (2–2)
1972 1972 NFLAFCWest4th491Harland Svare
1973 1973 NFLAFCWest4th2111Harland Svare (1–6–1)
Ron Waller (1–5)
1974 1974 NFLAFCWest4th590 Don Woods (OROY) [15] Tommy Prothro
1975 1975 NFLAFCWest4th2120
1976 1976 NFLAFCWest3rd680
1977 1977 NFLAFCWest3rd770
1978 1978 NFLAFCWest3rd970Tommy Prothro (1–3)
Don Coryell (8–4)
1979 1979 NFLAFCWest^1st^1240Lost Divisional Playoffs (Oilers) 14–17Don Coryell
1980 1980 NFLAFCWest^1st^1150Won Divisional Playoffs (Bills) 20–14
Lost AFC Championship (Raiders) 27–34
1981 1981 NFLAFCWest^1st^1060Won Divisional Playoffs (at Dolphins) 41–38 (OT) [E]
Lost AFC Championship (at Bengals) [F] 7–27
1982 [lower-alpha 2] 1982 NFLAFC6th#630Won First Round Playoffs (at Steelers) 31–28
Lost Second Round Playoffs (at Dolphins) 13–34		 Dan Fouts (OPOY) [17]
1983 1983 NFLAFCWest5th6100
1984 1984 NFLAFCWest5th790
1985 1985 NFLAFCWest3rd880
1986 1986 NFLAFCWest5th4120 Leslie O'Neal (DROY) [18] Don Coryell (1–7)
Al Saunders (3–5)
1987 [lower-alpha 3] 1987 NFLAFCWest3rd870 Al Saunders
1988 1988 NFLAFCWest4th6100
1989 1989 NFLAFCWest5th6100 Dan Henning
1990 1990 NFLAFCWest4th6100
1991 1991 NFLAFCWest5th4120
1992 1992 NFLAFCWest^1st^1150Won Wild Card Playoffs (Chiefs) 17–0
Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Dolphins) 0–31		 Bobby Ross
1993 1993 NFLAFCWest4th880
1994 1994 NFLAFC*West^1st^1150Won Divisional Playoffs (Dolphins) 22–21
Won AFC Championship (at Steelers) 17–13
Lost Super Bowl XXIX (vs. 49ers) 26–49
1995 1995 NFLAFCWest2nd#970Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Colts) 20–35
1996 1996 NFLAFCWest3rd880
1997 1997 NFLAFCWest5th4120 Kevin Gilbride
1998 1998 NFLAFCWest5th5110Kevin Gilbride (2–4)
June Jones (3–7)
1999 1999 NFLAFCWest4th880 Mike Riley
2000 2000 NFLAFCWest5th1150
2001 2001 NFLAFCWest5th5110
2002 2002 NFLAFCWest3rd880 Marty Schottenheimer
2003 2003 NFLAFCWest4th4120
2004 2004 NFLAFCWest^1st^1240Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Jets) 17–20 (OT) Marty Schottenheimer (COY) [20]
Drew Brees (CBPOY) [21]
2005 2005 NFLAFCWest3rd970 Shawne Merriman (DROY) [18]
2006 2006 NFLAFCWest^1st^1420Lost Divisional Playoffs (Patriots) 21–24 LaDainian Tomlinson (MVP, OPOY) [22] [17]
2007 2007 NFLAFCWest^1st^1150Won Wild Card Playoffs (Titans) 17–6
Won Divisional Playoffs (at Colts) 28–24
Lost AFC Championship (at Patriots) 12–21		 Norv Turner
2008 2008 NFLAFCWest^1st^880Won Wild Card Playoffs (Colts) 23–17 (OT)
Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Steelers) 24–35
2009 2009 NFLAFCWest^1st^1330Lost Divisional Playoffs (Jets) 14–17
2010 2010 NFLAFCWest2nd970
2011 2011 NFLAFCWest2nd880
2012 2012 NFLAFCWest2nd790
2013 2013 NFLAFCWest3rd#970Won Wild Card Playoffs (at Bengals) 27–10
Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Broncos) 17–24		 Philip Rivers (CBPOY) [21] Mike McCoy
2014 2014 NFLAFCWest3rd970
2015 2015 NFLAFCWest4th4120
2016 2016 NFLAFCWest4th5110 Joey Bosa (DROY) [18]
Los Angeles Chargers
2017 2017 NFLAFCWest2nd970 Keenan Allen (CBPOY) [21] Anthony Lynn
2018 2018 NFLAFCWest2nd#1240Won Wild Card Playoffs (at Ravens) 23–17
Lost Divisional Playoffs (at Patriots) 28–41
2019 2019 NFLAFCWest4th5110
2020 2020 NFLAFCWest3rd790 Justin Herbert (OROY) [15]
2021 2021 NFLAFCWest3rd980 Brandon Staley
2022 2022 NFLAFCWest2nd#1070Lost Wild Card Playoffs (at Jaguars) 30–31
2023 2023 NFLAFCWest4th5120Brandon Staley (5–9)
Giff Smith (0–3)
Totals
1 AFL Championship
1 AFC Conference Championship
15 Division titles		48348911(1960–2023, Regular season only)
1219—(1960–2023, Postseason games only)
49550811(1960–2023, Total for all games)

Notes

  1. ↑ Only Associated Press (AP) awards are included
  2. ↑ The 1982 season was reduced to nine games by a players strike; instead of standard divisional play, the AFC teams were placed together in one fourteen-team division. [16]
  3. ↑ The 1987 season was reduced to nine games by a players strike. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Football Conference</span> One of two conferences in the National Football League

The American Football Conference (AFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL), the highest professional level of American football in the United States. The AFC and its counterpart, the National Football Conference (NFC), each contain 16 teams with 4 divisions. Both conferences were created as part of the 1970 merger between the National Football League, and the American Football League (AFL). All ten of the AFL teams, and three NFL teams, became members of the new AFC, with the remaining thirteen NFL teams forming the NFC. A series of league expansions and division realignments have occurred since the merger, thus making the current total of 16 teams in each conference. The current AFC champions are the Kansas City Chiefs, who defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2022 season's AFC Championship Game for their third conference championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Football League</span> League that merged with the NFL in 1970

The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence. It was more successful than earlier rivals to the NFL with the same name, the 1926, 1936 and 1940 leagues, and the later All-America Football Conference.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Las Vegas Raiders</span> National Football League franchise in Paradise, Nevada

The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The club plays its home games at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, and is headquartered in Henderson, Nevada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Los Angeles Chargers</span> National Football League team in Inglewood, California

The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team plays its home games at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, which it shares with the Los Angeles Rams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sid Gillman</span> American football player and coach (1911–2003)

Sidney Gillman was an American football player, coach and executive. Gillman's insistence on stretching the football field by throwing deep downfield passes, instead of short passes to running backs or wide receivers at the sides of the line of scrimmage, was instrumental in making football into the modern game that it is today. He was inducted as a coach into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983, and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989.

The AFL–NFL merger was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). It paved the way for the combined league, which retained the "National Football League" name and logo, to become the most popular sports league in the United States. The merger was announced on the evening of June 8, 1966. Under the merger agreement, the leagues maintained separate regular-season schedules for the next four seasons—from 1966 through 1969 with a final championship game which would become known as the Super Bowl—and then officially merged before the 1970 season to form one league with two conferences.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Fouts</span> American football player and broadcaster (born 1951)

Daniel Francis Fouts is an American former professional football quarterback who played for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL) throughout his 15-season career (1973–1987). After a relatively undistinguished first five seasons in the league, Fouts came to prominence as the on-field leader during the Chargers' Air Coryell period. He led the league in passing every year from 1979 to 1982, passing for over 4,000 yards in the first three of these—no previous quarterback had posted consecutive 4,000-yard seasons. Fouts was voted a Pro Bowler six times, first-team All-Pro twice, and Offensive Player of the Year in 1982. He was named a member of the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team, and elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993, his first year of eligibility.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NFL playoffs</span> Single-elimination postseason tournament from the National Football League

The National Football League (NFL) playoffs are the games that make up the single-elimination tournament held after the regular season to determine the league champion. Currently, seven teams from each of the league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs. A tie-breaking procedure exists if required. The tournament culminates in the Super Bowl: the league's championship game in which two teams, one from each conference, play each other to become champion of the NFL.

The American Football Conference – Western Division or AFC West is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division comprises the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders, and Los Angeles Chargers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Diego Chargers</span> American football team history

The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating back to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now known as the Los Angeles Chargers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oakland Raiders</span> Former professional American football team

The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raiders. Between 1982 and 1994, the team played in Los Angeles as the Los Angeles Raiders.

As with all sports leagues, there are a number of significant rivalries between teams and notable players in the National Football League (NFL). Rivalries are occasionally created due to a particular event that causes bad blood between teams, players, coaches, or owners, but for the most part, they arise simply due to the frequency with which some teams play each other, and sometimes exist for geographic reasons.

This timeline of the National Football League (NFL) tracks the history of each of the league's 32 current franchises from the early days of the league, through its merger with the American Football League (AFL). The history of franchises that began as independent teams, or as members of the Ohio League, New York Pro Football League, and other defunct leagues are shown as well.

The Chargers–Raiders rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders that has transcended two leagues and a combined five relocations. Since debuting in the inaugural AFL season, in 1960, as the Oakland Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers in the AFL Western Conference, both teams joined the AFC West in 1970 under the AFL–NFL merger.

The Chargers–Chiefs rivalry is an American football rivalry between the National Football League (NFL)'s Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs. Since the American Football League (AFL) was established in 1960, the Chargers and the Chiefs have shared the same division, first being the AFL Western Conference, and since the AFL–NFL merger, the American Football Conference (AFC) West. Following the Raiders' move to Las Vegas (Chiefs) and the Rams' return to Los Angeles, they are now the farthest apart two teams in the same division.

The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team that currently plays and competes in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers were established in 1960 and played one season in Los Angeles before moving to San Diego in 1961. The team returned to Los Angeles in 2017.

References

  1. ↑ "Grid league ready for losses". Racine Journal Times. AP. p. 17.
  2. ↑ "Chronology". chargers.com. Archived from the original on October 20, 2007. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
  3. ↑ Knoblauch, Austin (January 12, 2017). "Chargers announce decision to relocate to Los Angeles". NFL.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Chargers fly high---and Lowe, 37–26". Los Angeles Times. UPI. December 13, 1965. p. III-8 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ "Last minute factors". Scranton Times-Tribune. January 9, 1983. p. C-7.
  6. ↑ Martin, Kimberley A. (January 12, 2010). "Tall order for Jets' defense". New York Newsday. p. A46.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "San Diego Chargers Franchise Encyclopedia". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
  8. ↑ "Charger fans find solace in season". Bridgewater Courier-News. AP. January 30, 1994. p. C-2 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ Lowitt, Bruce (December 24, 1979). "Oilers, Eagles pass first tests". Lexington Herald-Leader. p. B-1.
  10. ↑ "Los Angeles Chargers playoff history". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  11. ↑ "Los Angeles Chargers coaches". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  12. ↑ "AP AFL Rookie of the Year Winners". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  13. ↑ "AP AFL Player of the Year Winners". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  14. ↑ "AP AFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Winners". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  15. 1 2 "AP Offensive Rookie of the Year Winners". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  16. ↑ "Tentative agreement reached; NFL to resume play Sunday with nine-week abbreviated season". Eau Claire Leader-Telegram . AP. February 5, 1982. p. 1B – via Newspapers.com.
  17. 1 2 "AP Offensive Player of the Year Winners". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  18. 1 2 3 "AP Defensive Rookie of the Year". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  19. ↑ Posner, Jay (October 20, 1987). "First-place team tries out driver's seat". Escondido Times-Advocate. p. D2 – via newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ "AP Coach of the Year Winners". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  21. 1 2 3 "AP Comeback Player of the Year Winners". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  22. ↑ "AP NFL Most Valuable Player Winners". pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved January 25, 2024.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.