NFL Old School Game of the Week: Chargers Keep Playoff Hopes Alive with Win over Buccaneers

 

Rolf Benirschke kicks the game-winning field goal for the Chargers in their 1981 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Week 15 meeting between the San Diego Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers had playoff implications for both teams even though they were in different conferences.

The Chargers came into the game with a 8-6 record, one game behind the Denver Broncos in the race for the AFC West division title, which San Diego had won the previous two seasons.

The Chargers were led by head coach Don Coryell, whose pass-oriented offense was lead the NFL in passing yards every year since Coryell became the Chargers' head coach early in the 1978 season.

At the controls of the "Air Coryell" offense was quarterback Dan Fouts who was in the middle of his third straight 4,000 yard passing offense, whose targets featured tight end Kellen Winslow, wide receivers Charlie Joiner and Wes Chandler, and running backs James Brooks and Chuck Muncie, help lead San Diego to an average of 32 points per game up to this point in the '81 season.

Despite their dominant offense, the chargers' defense was one of the worst in the league having given up an average of 25.5 points per game.

If the Chargers were going to win the AFC West for the third year in a row, they would some help from their defense to go along with their high-powered offense.

While the Chargers were trying to stay alive in the race for the NFL postseason, the Buccaneers were just one win away from clinching a playoff spot as a win over San Diego would give the 8-6 Buccaneers the NFC Central division title.

The Buccaneers were led by head coach John McKay, who had been the Buccaneers' head coach since their inception in 1976 which started with Tampa Bay losing its first 26 games of their existence, before McKay turned it around and help lead Tampa Bay to the NFC Championship Game after a 10-6 season in 1979 where the Bucs won the NFC Central division title.

The Buccaneers' strength was their defense which led by All-Pro defensive end Lee Roy Selmon and rookie linebacker Hugh Green, as Tampa Bay gave up an average of 16.2 points per game through the first 14 weeks of the 1981 NFL season.

On offense, the Buccaneers were led by quarterback Doug Williams, who had thrown for 3,070 yards up to this point in the season with his favorite target being wide receiver Kevin House who had caught 52 passes for 1,031 yards and eight touchdowns.

After both teams went three-and-out to start the game, the Chargers would get the ball at their 48-yard-line as two runs by Muncie for 16 yards and a nine-yard pass from Fouts to Joiner moved San Diego to the Tampa Bay 27-yard-line when Fouts fired a 27-yard touchdown pass to tight end Eric Seivers to give the Chargers a 7-0 lead.

The Buccaneers would start their next possession at their 27-yard-line as they overcame a 3rd & 12 situation when Williams scrambled for 17 yards to give Tampa Bay a 1st down at their 42-yard-line.

That is when Williams completed a short pass to wide receiver Theo Bell, who caught the ball at the Tampa Bay 46-yard-line, then outran the Chargers defense for a 58-yard touchdown that with the extra point tied the game at seven with 7:03 left in the first quarter.

The two teams would exchange punts until early in the second quarter when the Chargers took over at their 10-yard-line as they would drive down the field behind the Fouts-to-Joiner connection.

The drive would begin with Fouts hitting Joiner for 22 yards as the two would hook up again on 3rd & 11 for 16 yards to put San Diego at its 47-yard-line.

The Chargers would drive to the Tampa Bay 29-yard-line when Fouts find Joiner on back-to-back plays, totaling 21 yards to set up a eight-yard touchdown run by running back John Cappelletti to cap off the 12-play 90-yard drive and give San Diego a 14-7 lead midway through the second quarter.

Following a Tampa Bay punt, the Chargers got the ball back at their three-yard-line with 5:03 to go before halftime as they would once again drive down the field with Fouts' favorite target on this drive being  Chandler as the two hooked up on four completions for 57 yards to help San Diego advance to the Buccaneers' 15-yard-line.

However, the Chargers could not punch into the end zone as Fouts would be intercepted by Buccaneers free safety Cedric Brown to end the 17-play, 82-yard drive as Tampa Bay would take over at their 20-yard-line with 35 seconds left in the first half.

The Buccaneers would drive to the Chargers' 40-yard-line until time ran out in the first half with San Diego still ahead 14-7 but with Tampa Bay set to get the ball to start the second half.

Buccaneers quarterback Doug Williams completed 22 of 35 passes for 321 yards and threw one touchdown but two interceptions.

Tampa Bay would start their initial possession of the second half at its 29-yard-line as a 17-yard pass from Williams to House was the longest play of the 10-play, 41-yard drive that culminated with a 49-yard field goal by Bill Capece that cut the Chargers' lead to 14-10 with 10:17 left in the third quarter.

After both teams punted on their ensuing possessions, the Chargers got the ball back at their 20-yard-line as they moved to the Tampa Bay 42-yard-line until Brooks fumbled the football which was recovered by Brown to give the Buccaneers the ball at their 38-yard-line.

Tampa Bay would advance to the San Diego 39-yard-line until running back James Owens fumbled the football as Chargers free safety Glen Edwards would make the recovery as San Diego would take over at its 33-yard-line with 31 seconds to go in the third quarter.

From there, the Chargers would drive 67 yards in seven plays as passes of 22 yards to Dwight Scales and 20 yards to Chandler would help set up a two-yard touchdown run by Brooks to extend San Diego's lead to 21-10 with 11:52 to go in the fourth quarter.

Needing a touchdown, the Buccaneers would move down the field on the right arm of Williams who would complete five straight passes for 72 yards to set up James Wilder's eight-yard touchdown run to cut the Chargers' lead to 21-16 as Capece would miss the extra point which would prove costly when it came to the outcome of the game.

The Chargers would get the ball back at their 24-yard-line as Fouts would throw his second interception of the game as linebacker Dave Lewis would pick off the pass and return it 10 yards to the San Diego 23-yard-line.

It would take the Buccaneers one play to cash in on the turnover as Williams pitched the ball to Wilder, who took around the right side for a 23-yard touchdown, his second in a span of 27 seconds, that with Capece's extra point gave Tampa Bay its first lead of the game at 23-21 with 8:06 left in the fourth quarter.

It seemed like the control of the game was now in the hands of the Buccaneers, especially after Lewis recovered a Cappelletti fumble to gave Tampa Bay the ball at the San Diego 36-yard-line with a chance to put the game out of reach with 6:28 to go in the fourth quarter.

But after a two-yard run by Jerry Eckwood, disaster would strike for the Buccaneers as Williams completed a pass to Jimmie Giles, only for Edwards to pop the ball into the air when he made contact with the tight end leading to an interception by Chargers linebacker Woodrow Lowe to give San Diego the ball back at its 29-yard-line and 5:39 left on the clock.

Following an incomplete pass to start the drive, Fouts would find Winslow for 10 yards and a 1st down as a three-yard run by Brooks and an incomplete pass would set up 3rd & 7 when Fouts completed a 15-yard pass to Joiner to give the Chargers a fresh set of downs at the Tampa Bay 43-yard-line.

A seven-yard pass from Fouts to Winslow followed by two runs by Cappelletti for two yards would set a 4th & 1 when Coryell decided to go for the 1st down which he got when Fouts found Winslow for three yards and a 1st down at the Tampa Bay 31-yard-line.

After Brooks was dropped for an one-yard loss on 1st down, Fouts would complete two straight passes to Winslow for a total 14 yards to put the Chargers at the Tampa Bay 18-yard-line and in range for a potential game-winning field goal by Rolf Benirschke.

San Diego would go conservative as they ran the ball three straight times, picking up seven yards before calling on Benirschke to attempt a 29-yard field goal that would give the Chargers the lead.

Benirschke's kick would just sneak past the right upright to end the 16-play, 60-yard drive and give San Diego a 24-23 lead with just 45 seconds to go in the game.

Chargers quarterback Dan Fouts completed 33 of 49 passes for 351 yards and throw one touchdown to go along with two interceptions.

The Buccaneers would get the ball back at their 29-yard-line as they could only move eight yards before Williams fired a desperation Hail Mary pass on the final play of the game which was intercepted by Edwards to seal the 24-23 win for the Chargers and deny Tampa Bay's chances of clinching the NFC Central division title on this day.

Despite the loss, the Buccaneers would get a reprieve on wining the NFC Central division title as the following week they defeated the Detroit Lions 20-17 in a winner-take-all game to earn Tampa Bay its second trip to the NFL Playoffs in three years(To read about that game, click on the link which is highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2023/10/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-bucs-beat.html).

However, the Buccaneers would be eliminated in the divisional round of the NFC Playoffs by the Dallas Cowboys in a 38-0 rout.

As for the Chargers, they would end up winning the AFC West for the the third year in a row as a 23-10 win over the Oakland Raiders coupled with a 35-24 loss by the Broncos to the Chicago Bears in the final week of the regular season, caused San Diego and Denver to finish with identical 10-6 records, with the tiebreaker going to the Chargers as they finished with a better division record than the Broncos.

The Chargers would play the Miami Dolphins at the Orange Bowl in one of the greatest games in NFL history as they would Benirschke would kick a 29-yard field goal in overtime to give San Diego a 41-38 win in the "Epic in Miami" as the Chargers advanced to the AFC Championship Game for the second consecutive year.

But the Chargers' Super Bowl dreams would end in the "Freezer Bowl" as they lost 27-7 to the Cincinnati Bengals in a game where game-day temperature was nine degrees below zero with a wind chill of -59.