The 1979San Diego Chargers season was the team's 20th season, and tenth in the National Football League. Their 12–4 record was tied for the best in the league in 1979. The 1979 Chargers finished in first place in the AFC West after having finished 9–7 in 1978. The Chargers made the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. Chargers quarterbackDan Fouts threw for more than 4,000 yards, and wide receiversCharlie Joiner and John Jefferson both gained more than 1,000 yards receiving. The Chargers became the first AFC West champion to run more passing plays then rushing. The season ended with a playoff loss to the Houston Oilers. As part of a marketing campaign, the Chargers created their fight song, "San Diego Super Chargers". The 2006 edition of Pro Football Prospectus, listed the 1979 Chargers as one of their "Heartbreak Seasons", in which teams "dominated the entire regular season only to falter in the playoffs, unable to close the deal." Said Pro Football Prospectus of the team, "the creative Don Coryell always designed potent offenses, but the San Diego defense didn't catch up until 1979.... In their first playoff game, the Chargers hosted a Houston Oilers team missing running backEarl Campbell and quarterback Dan Pastorini and fell on their faces. Fouts threw five interceptions and no touchdowns, and the Chargers blew a third quarter lead and lost 17–14. The Chargers would not have the best record in the NFL again until the 2006 season. They would not have another top ten defense in points allowed until 1989. They would not win 12 games in a season until 2004. Their best shot at glory went horribly awry, thanks to the worst game in the illustrious career of Dan Fouts."
On opening day in The Kingdome on September 2, the Chargers beat the Seattle Seahawks 33–14. Clarence Williams rushed for 2 touchdowns. Rolf Benirschke kicked 4 field goals, and Dan Fouts passed for 224 yards. In week 2, Fouts had 3 touchdowns and linebacker Woodrow Lowe returned a Ken Stabler pass 32 yards for a score as San Diego beats the Oakland Raiders 30–10. The next week, San Diego got a come-from-behind win over the Buffalo Bills as Clarence Williams picked up 157 yards on 18 carries and had a team-record 4 rushing TDs. In week 4, Chargers lost to the New England Patriots 27–21. Patriot linebacker Steve Nelson preserved the victory with an interception of a Dan Fouts pass on the New England 2-yard line with 1:37 remaining in the game.
Schedule
Standings
Playoffs
AFC Divisional Game: Houston Oilers 17, San Diego Chargers 14
Hou - Mike Renfro 47 yard pass from Gifford Nielsen. Oilers 17-14
Fourth quarter
No scoring
Turnovers-
Hou - 1
SD - 5
A week after a game, Sports Illustrated published an article entitled "The Stolen Signals Caper." For the season, San Diego's standard game method was for Offensive CoordinatorJoe Gibbs to stay upstairs in the booth and phone plays down to Head Coach Don Coryell and Jim Hanifan on the sidelines. The two of them would confer, and then Hanifan would signal in the plays using hand signals much like baseball teams use. Houston Defense Coordinator Eddie Biles broke the code. And the Oilers did not overplay their hand. Biles merely signaled the play to Oiler Middle LinebackerGregg Bingham who called the Houston defense on the field. Bingham stated, "My job was to put us into the right defense—I guess you'd say the perfect defense." One result is that Houston Strong SafetyVernon Perry intercepted four of Fouts' passes, three of them while playing double coverage against the Chargers. Oiler J.C. Wilson also had one interception. The article stated, "People who have been around the Chargers for years said they had never seen him throw into so much double coverage."
