I just now realize that if SD doesn't get upset by Houston in the playoffs, they wld have had home field against Pitt in the AFC Championship Gm. That still boggles my mind that SD lost to Houston who was without Earl Campbell and Dan P.
@@guyhill6269 that I don’t know. But if you are missing Earl Campbell which was about 60% of the offense, your best WR, Campbell’s backup Rob Carpenter played hurt, and faced a team putting up points like a video game…and still won due to five ints from a QB not known for throwing them..something was up.
More like way worse. No team in NFL history has, over a six year time period (1980-1985), lost more games than San Diego did despite scoring 24 or more points. A high school football team could have moved the ball up and down the field against them. If they had merely had a mediocre defense (instead of one of the worst in history), they probably would have won at least two Super Bowls.
idk if they traded away Fred dean to SF or let him go via free agency but after he left their defense sucked and bringing tom bass in as the DC was the cherry on top LMAO what a joke he was !
@@shaheed5103 It's been widely known for years that the reason for that was that, before the game, the Oilers figured out that Fouts had the habit of having one foot positioned noticeably behind the other whenever he was about to execute a pass play. They knew when it was coming.
@@SingleTax Houston's defensive coaches deciphered the hand signals the Chargers used to send in the plays. But what really hurt San Diego was two things: 1) Winslow was out for the season, and Joiner and Jefferson were playing injured (Jefferson missed the last game due to a shoulder injury and Joiner was badly concussed -knocked out cold- in that game). 2) The Oilers defense was the best in the NFL at creating turnovers.
Chargers gave the Steelers a run for the money in this 1979 contest just enough for the San Diego (now Los Angeles) to have their fun on the Steel Curtains. Now, with that being said I would litteraly would like to ask to bring back the Air Coryell English Royal and Sunny Gold throwback uniforms as a tribute to the 40th anniversary season of Charger Power uniforms,in one or two selected regular season games, or as part of the color rush series. Don't forget the Los Angeles Rams too. The bluer, the yellower, the powerful can get. The trouble with the Chargers nowadays is I am still disgusted in Dean Spanos move, because that's San Diego's home for previously 56 years. Otherwise thanks for the upload video. Bring back the '70s vintage uniforms will make me and other fans very happy. They can still keep their powder blue uniforms, of course 😎🏈🍹🍔🍟🇺🇸
Probably, but his defense would give up 61. If the chargers had an average defense v one of the worst in the league they probably win a few SBs. When SD got into a rhythm they were virtually impossible to stop. The chargers had Great talent in offense.
This was but one of the greatest playoff games never played in the 1970's: Pittsburgh at San Diego, 1979. Here's a gem of a story from an ESPN colleague, who produced a few feature stories on the 1970's Steelers. Apparently, Noll placed a call to the Oilers coaching staff prior to the divisional playoff game between Houston and San Diego. In film review of this game, he noticed that Fouts shifted his feet between running and passing plays. With that knowledge in hand, the Oilers playing without Earl Campbell, Ken Burrough, and Dan Pastorini, pulled off one of the more underrated upsets in the divisional round. Would the Steelers have beaten the Chargers in Act II? My gut says yes but it would have been close. That Chargers team was the one match up nightmare that the Steelers had in their great run.
there was always talk that the oilers were stealing play signals during their game , they pretty much knew the chargers plays I remember watching that game it sure looked like Houston knew what san diego was going to do on offense
daniel shook you might be right... but hell everybody in the league knew what they were going to do it was just a matter of stopping it.... the fact is the Chargers didn't play well from behind. for a passing team you would think it would be the other way around but they always had trouble when they didn't have the advantage in the giveaway takeaway department....
Wonder if Noll did that to help himself as much as the Oilers. As a result of this game the Chargers had home field throughout the playoffs and the Steelers would have had to go back to San Diego for the AFC title.
The Steelers went into this game having blown out their 4 previous opponents. They were due for a tough match. After the game, Bradshaw told Sports Illustrated, "When we're bad, we're terrible!" It should be noted though, that following this loss, the Steelers finished the remainder of the regular season season 6-1 to finish 15-4, including the Super Bowl win. The Chargers, on the other hand, were incapable of beating Houston in the playoffs, a Houston team that had no Earl Campbell or Dan Pastorini. In the 1979 AFC Championship, the Steelers beat the Oilers with Campbell and Pastorini, and beat them decisively. The Chargers never won anything in that era, and still haven't.
THIS was the game that changed my LIFE!! I have an older brother who tormented me my entire life,who constantly boasted that the Steelers were the toughest team on the PLANET and could not be beat!! As a lifetime Detroiter,I always pulled for the Lions,and he'd mock:"Jack Lambert and L.C Greenwood would MANGLE Gary Danielson!! LOOK at the muscles on their arms!! NObody can penetrate the"Steel Curtain"!!" At one point,tired of his boasting,I declared:"Alright man;the FIRST team that I see beat your Steelers will be"MY team"for LIFE!!" The following Sunday,we stayed home from church,and watched the Lions down by 17 in the 3rd,before switching to the"late game"to see the Steelers being"ABUSED"28-7 by a team emblazoned with lightning-bolts that I never knew existed!! Been the biggest Chargers fan ever SINCE!! Own throwback jerseys of Fouts,Jefferson,Chandler,Winslow,Dean,Kelcher AND Muncie!! My brother was in veritable SHOCK when the final score flashed on the screen:San Diego 35 Pittsburgh 7!!
i was at that game,..newly aquired ex-Steeler defensive back Glen Edwards returned an interception on Bradshwaw for a Charger TD. My dad got 6 free tickets to the game & 2 other games (Bills & Broncos) since he worked at Big Bear Markets and knew CEO John Maybee, minority shareholding owner of the Chargers. Future Collegiate players Sean Saulisbury & Mike Dabosinskas attended that game too, as High School fans, , as i recall.
The Pittsburgh Steelers had the living shit beat out of them in this game! Had the Houston Oilers not beaten these Chargers in the Divisional Playoffs, the Steelers would be back there in San Diego playing for AFC Championship.
Yes. That was hard to watch. However everyone had their kryptonite. The chargers gave the Steelers fits from 1979-1985. Beat the Steelers like five straight.
Chargers choked to Houston mel Renfro put the dagger in San Diego plus if thet did beat Houston they wasn't beating pittsburgh twice even ali lost to Frazier but came back and beat the hell of him chargers choked 4 years a row
@@samuelhain2712 Lol, hilarious! It was a popular term in the 70's. Back then people would either say "Beat the living shit out of them" or "Beat the living hell out of them".
@@utahsilvey5930 Considering how those Chargers "choked' to the Raiders in their own back yard the following year for the AFC Championship, I wouldn't put it past the Steelers pulling one off in San Diego had those Chargers beat Houston in the Divisional Playoff.
The 79’ Steelers were just as good as they had been in previous years due to their depth on the roster, the only problem was they were turning over the ball way more than they ever had before. Despite leading the league with 52 turnovers, Pittsburgh still had the best record in the league and the number one ranked offense with the 2nd ranked defense. Let’s not forget, Glen Edwards was part of that San Diego secondary, he was part of Pittsburgh’s first two super bowl teams in the 70s and knew the Steelers pretty well. Also Dan Fouts was held to 137 yards and under 50% completion rate, Bradshaw’s 5 interceptions were definitely a factor, however it was a legit win by San Diego. For everyone saying the Chargers usually beat the Steelers back then, that may have been true going into the 80s when the Steelers’ run was basically over, but throughout the 70s decade Pittsburgh usually beat San Diego: 1971: 21-17 1972: 24 - 2 1973: 38-21 1975: 37-0 1976: 23-0 1977: 10-9 Dan Fouts played in all of those games except for the 71’ and 72’ matchups.
Brandon Nist yeah. It looks like Noll changed very little going into this game v a SD defense with inside information on the Steelers passing game. Bradshaw played horrible as if SD knew where the ball was going. But the chargers were a good team and this game was the beginning of a SD run v the Steelers that lasted until the late 80s.
@@Biggdoom344 Not only did Bradshaw play terrible, the entire team played awful. L.C. Greenwood said in the 1979 America's Game series they were defeated before the game's opening kickoff
Keith Clark of all the Steelers SB winning teams, this one was the hardest to figure out. I remember them falling behind to St. Louis 21-7 due to four first half turnovers, even though they won. Would have beat a good Philadelphia team on the road, but Franco Harris fumbled at the goal line going into the end zone. They got waxed by an 0-8 bengals team. This team to me was bored. They demolished teams like Denver and Washington, but then would look terrible the next week. Come playoff time, they smashed Miami and rolled over a good Houston team that didn’t score an offensive TD. The SB win over the rams was a summary of their season. Turnovers kept the game closer than it should have been, then finding a way to pull it out. Statistically, this team was better than the 78 team, but due to sloppy and inconsistent play, the 79 team is generally regarded as Nolls weakest SB champ. I think the 74 team, a team that got hot at the right time, was the weakest.
@@Biggdoom344 The 74 team was was dealing with inconsistent play at quarterback until the road game at New England. After that victory over the Patriots, Bradshaw and the Steelers did not lose again until 1975 home opener vs Buffalo in week 2
Steelers got smoked but had like seven or eight turnovers. Chargers came into this game lit with something to prove and they proved it. The chargers were a great regular season team but always choked in the playoffs. It’s hard to imagine the chargers beating the Steelers in a rematch because the chargers never beat anybody with the $$$ on the table.....then or now.
Chargers beat the eventual conference champions Steelers and Rams by a combined score of 75-23 in the reg season...but eventually lost to their old AFL nemesis Houston Oilers in the divisional round..the chargers had a really nice 3 year run from 1979 to 1981, going to the AFC title game 2 consecutive years in 80 & 81 but just couldn't get it done...had a chance for an all California SB in 1979 & 81
ha ha stop crying...Steelers have always been well known cheaters. they're no America's Team....PAL. The Fabulous Cowboys were the REAL Dynasty of the 1970's..the most exciting team of the 70's ..Landry created "the Shotgun" the Flex defense..etc...Chuck Noll was fugazi. Dumbest team of the 70's. Raiders were continuously screwed by the NFL because of that ASHTRAY Pete Rozelle.
Yeah and not just because of his awesome play but also for his sunshiny personality and that he was always a great teammate. Hard to like someone like Odell Beckham who acts like a douche.
Jefferson was one of the best Wr in the league. The. NFL hated his agent and made an example of Jefferson. He was never the same playing for the packers.
This was the year Air Coryell & Dan Fouts had a defense. With their solid DL there was no blitz, they rushed 4 and let their LB's drop back into pass coverage making things difficult for Bradshaw. This should've been the Championship game match-up, but the Chargers under-estimated a banged-up Oilers squad with a back-up QB and hobbled Earl Campbell so they lost in the divisional. The biggest shame in football is that Fouts never got to see a Super Bowl, he's one of the best QB's ever. Ranks right up there with Marino, Elway & Montana.
I'm a RAIDERS fan but during the seventies growing up I was an elementary school so I was a Steelers fan because my dad & my older brother Are... It's amazing that the Steelers didn't put up 50 against the Chargers defense but what's a shame Charger's defense Just a match half of what their offense could do.!! Defense Played Half this well Throughout the season they would have won 1 Super Bowl with Chuck munchy John Jefferson Charlie joyner Kellen Winslow and then West Chandler but they should never got rid of JJ sorry..& It's naturally a strong offense of mine but watching these old games I forgot how great the steelers actually were It's not only that they were so deep at every position LB 5 and 6 DEEP defensive line 6/7 ,WR 4 deep.. LITERALLY EVERY POSTION.. DB 6 ,OLINE 7 ETC ETC ETC
Pittsburgh flew out west to San Diego with a 4 game winning streak which saw them DEMOLISH Denver 42-7, Dallas 14-3, Washington 38-7, and Kansas City 30-3. Pittsburgh was exhausted which showed in their play
Jeffrey T. Steptoe It would’ve been, and it would be played there in San Diego had the Chargers taken care of business At Home with Houston in the Divisional Playoff!
This team beat both super bowl contestants, Rams and Steelers that season then got sloppy with offensive sideline signals vs Houston in the playoffs by not making it more difficult. Remember Chargers scored on opening drives in each half of that playoff game then was shut down. Houston later stated they stole their offensive signals. Smart.
The oilers of the late 70's were a really team,especially since they made the AFC championship game two years in a row as a wild card. So you have to give them some credit because they could have appeared in a super bowl if not for the Steelers getting in their way. Besides,nobody else in the AFC seemed capable of beating them in the playoffs.
What’s odd vs Houston is the blocked field goal. But in the last 3 games of season, SD lost to Atlanta at home by an FG and was held to 17 vs Denver at home. And then Houston. The blocked FG would have made it 10-3 but the block gave Houston a 5 yard touchdown drive to have 10-7 halftime lead. I think that’s true. Winslow was out w/injury so from then on SD wanted 3 Tight ends hence Eric Sievers, Holohan w/ Kellen) but Houston was a seasoned playoff team having won road games in he previous 2 years.
Best in 1979 perhaps... in NFL history? You seem to be forgetting Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Marvin Harrison, Steve Largent, Lance Allworth, Michael Irvin, Cris Carter, Andre Reed, Fred Biletnikoff, Dave Casper, Gronk and that's just for starters.
@@thedarkstranger963 I'd start Swann and Stallworth over any other pair of receivers for an all-time team. As individuals and as a tandem no receivers played as big in big games save for Rice...and he still only has 3 rings to their 4 each.Keep your stats and quantity of catches, I wlll take titles and quality of catches.
Yea my Steelers had their ass handed to them on this game I believe they lost 35 7 Charges had home field throughout the playoffs and lost to the Oilers what a shame
California based teams were so competitive in this era...the Rams made the Super Bowl this year...the Raiders won the SB the next year, playing the Chargers in the AFC title game..then the next year, the 49ers and Chargers both played in the title game with the 49ers winning the SB...for 3 consecutive years a California based team made the SB, Rams -79, Raiders-80, 49ers-81... and 2 out of those 3 years we almost had an all California SB, in 1979 & 1981, but Chargers couldn't get it done..
Nothing went right for Pittsburgh that day in San Diego. Steelers defense coming off 4 weeks where they Dominated Denver (42-7), Dallas (14-3), Washington (38-7), and Kansai City (30-3). They were exhausted flying out to San Diego
Pittsburgh entered this game tired and exhausted and flew in Saturday afternoon from Pittsburgh. In The team's previous four games, the Steelers demolished the Broncos 42-7, the Cowboys 14-3, the Redskins 38-7, and the Chiefs 30-3. The defense gave up ONLY 2 touchdowns in their last 16 quarters of play while outscoring their opponents 124-20.
Pitt was feast or famine that year. Thank god it was mostly feast. They were 42 takeaways against 52 turnovers -10 that year. Still went 12-4 and won the superbowl. If you look at the stats for this game, pittsburgh had more passing yards, a little less rushing. Bradshaw and his 5 interceptions were the difference.
That was absolutely NOT a pick six by Lowe, he was either down at the 1 or the steelers recovered it in the end zone, but clearly not a TD. Replay would of wiped it out.
This was one of Bradshaws worst games after he won the first SB. He had to be concussed or something because SD had a mediocre defense. Steelers had 8 turnovers this game and to this day is the only team to win a SB and lead the league in turnovers
@@Biggdoom344 believe it or not the chargers were 5th overall and 2nd scoring defense. this was before they got rid of guys like fred dean and big hands johnson
Scott Davidson LOL, the Chargers had about 218 yards of total offense that day. The real melting came when SD lost to Houston in the playoffs. The Oilers were missing like 17 starters to injury that day.
Had the Houston Oilers not beat this Chargers Team in San Diego, the Steelers would’ve gone to San Diego for The 1979 AFC Championship Game after the way the Chargers anhiliated these Steelers that day.
I still remember the N.F.L. magazine predictions for that yr and for the following 2. The Superbowl will be run by Charger power. As a 12 yr.old I thought this game would guarantee it for 79-82. Of course Air Coryell was always just a dream. For a kid. Because, of the Holy Roller play they missed the playoffs in 78. They crushed their opponents in their last 4 games including the playoff bound Houston Earlers, 45-24, in 78. This team will win Superbowl XIV everybody predicted. They had crushed the Rams 40-21. Now the Steelers 35-7. The 2 Superbowl contenders. Everything was set. Including home field advantage. Then in the early 80,s I would root for Dan Marino. Oh well! How silly! So I settled on the 49ers. For that cheapskate owner Eugene Klein to allow Fred Dean and John Jefferson to leave because he was El Cheapo did not help matters much either.
Just because you beat the brakes off of a team during the regular season doesn't mean that you will beat them in the playoffs. Just look at the Rams who got clobbered by the Cowboys in the regular season of 1979 but then beat them in playoffs on a last minute touchdown pass. So I don't always put much stock into the regular season. It isn't like the playoffs where everybody plays at their absolute best because they know there won't be another game next week if they don't win the one they're playing.
The Cowboy offense could manage only a field goal against the Steelers in their regular season game, while the Charger offense scored four touchdowns. Some teams simply matched up better against the Steelers than others did, and I think that was the case here.
That January 1982 game in Cincinnati in beserk conditions didn't help at all. Yeah, those are the breaks, but who knows what would have happened in even somewhat normal tempature.
@@anthonybrancale4855 According to long-time Dolphins G Bob Kuechenberg, it wouldn't have mattered, because he said during a Chargers-Bengals game he was an NBC analyst for in 1985 that he felt that, had the Dolphins won that epic game in Miami, that they wouldn't have had much of a chance, either, because of how emotionally spent both teams were after that game in the Miami sauna that went nearly five full quarters.
If you believe Kuechenberg, it wouldn't have mattered if they had a perfect day in Cincinnati. His point was that both the Chargers and his Dolphins were so emotionally spent, that neither team would have have anything left in the tank to battle a Bengals team that had already proved how good they were when they walloped the Chargers 40-17 in San Diego a couple of months earlier. That stated, the icy weather certainly would have been a factor, though the Dolphins were clearly a team better suited for those conditions than the high-flying, pass-happy Chargers were.
The Chargers beat all those teams one time or another that ended up winning Super Bowls in that era. They were just as good as those teams if not better. They should have 3 rings!
Yeah it was a very flukey loss to the Raiders in the '80 championship game. A narrow 7-point win where the first Raider TD (accounting for the 7 points) was a total fluke play. Fouts also threw two brilliant TD passes that were dropped in the 4th quarter. Then they draw the coldest day in NFL history for the '81 championship game...another fluke circumstance. This team was awesome as fuck...they had the first Brett Favre, the first Gronk, the first OBJ and the first 'Beast-Mode'. (Fouts, Winslow, Chandler & Muncie) They just needed their Reggie White - some Hall-level defensive player and they would have had two or three rings. Let's look at what they did from '79-82...they literally defeated EVERY defending Super Bowl champion during those four seasons: 1979: Chargers 35, Steelers 7 1980: Chargers 26, Steelers 17 1981: Chargers 55, Raiders 21 1981: Chargers 23, Raiders 10 1982: Chargers 41, 49ers 37 1982: Chargers 50, Bengals 34 Yes, my friend, this is truly exceptional evidence that the Chargers were no mere 'also-rans'. They went 5 for 5 blowing out ALL defending Super Bowl champs from 1979-1982 and for good measure blew-out the defending AFC champion Bengals in '82. They beat the champion 49ers in Candlestick park in a game where Montana played BRILLIANTLY but Fouts out-dueled him. (Watch that one it's better than any Super Bowl you ever saw.) NFL playoffs are single-game elimination so there's going to be some teams that were worthy of a ring but fate just didn't allow it. Chargers were WAY up on that list!
@@johnellizz the chargers were the regular season champs. But Coryell never won when it counted in St Louis or SD. His teams were known to fall apart in the post season.
@@johnellizz Now I will debate you. Beating the DEFENDING Super Bowl champ the year after they won is not beating the Super Bowl year team so it’s not as impressive. That being said they beat the 1979 Steelers and 1980 Raiders the year both won. Great. The 1981 Raiders were hurt and not a great team. The 1982 49ers were 3-6. You left out that Winslow got hurt in 1979 and missed the rest of the season. But the 1979 team had a crap running game. And WTF losing at home to the Oilers without Pastorini or Campbell?! That is simply unacceptable. The 1980 Raiders outclassed the Chargers ON THE ROAD in the AFC title building a huge lead and then you conveniently leave out that the Raiders ran the clock out for the second half of the 4th quarter. A true champion does that. A choke team lets it happen and makes excuses. 1981 you got screwed with the cold but the Bengals had to deal with the cold too. 1982 Chargers got past Pittsburgh but the Air Coryell run died at the hands of the Killer B’s of Miami. You say the needed a HOF defensive player like Reggie White. Hello?!! Fred Dean! Are you sure you are a fan? They were a fun team to watch for sure but like most offensive teams they lose when it counted most.
@@Ram44 I'll debate if Tom Brady is fake. That's what I'm all about these days. *The Impossible World Of Brady* Tom won 87 of his first 100 games at home in the NFL. It is totally impossible to go 87-13 against NFL teams. Roughly, it is equivalent to going 14-2 for six consecutive seasons. Yet no NFL team has ever posted more than two such seasons in a row. Even with the minor advantage of the home field in every game of a season you could not do this 6 times in a row haha. (In the NFL, home teams usually win in between 55 and 60 percent of the time.) Is it even possible to win 87 of 100 games in ANY sport? The only example is the 72-10 Chicago Bulls, who won 87 of 100 games in the NBA reg. season & post season combined. The Bulls had Michael Jordan...the Patriots had Tom Brady... However, the comparison is invalid for explaining the dominance of the Patriots... Michael Jordan played both offense and defense for entire games. And Jordan was 1 of just 10 starting players in those games. Tom Brady plays only offense...he plays only half of every game. And Brady is 1 of 44 starting players in those games. And Jordan can score all by himself in his sport. Tom can do nothing by himself in football. So as improbable as Jordan's accomplishment was, it was literally nothing compared to Tom's accomplishment. One was improbable, the other, impossible.
If I'm a Steelers fan that season, I breathe a *major* sigh of relief when the Chargers choke against the Oilers in the divisional playoffs -- especially since the AFC championship game would have taken place in San Diego had they won.
I agree,... but as a team you HAVE to take care of business and not look ahead... the Houston Oilers were resilient and wanted a rematch with the Steelers... yes, the Chargers WERE the better team it on that given Sunday the Oilers beat SD.. "ifs" or "what could have been " is not part of NFL history... it is what it is... sad to say that SD's best chance was in 1980 and 1981...at that time the Pittsburgh Steelers were old and irrelevant at that point... Chargers just choked... Chargers could have been in the Super Bowl in 1981 and 1982 but never fully played to their potential... sad to see that, even as a Steelers fan I was convinced SD would win one SB in the early 80's
@@pst702 I'm not sure the Chargers choked as much as inexperience got the best of them, both in 1979 (vs. HOU) and '80 (vs. OAK). And in 1981, the plain truth was that the Bengals were a superior team, as evidenced by the 40-17 rout in San Diego. But one overlooked thing about what happened in the 1980 AFC Championship Game is that, in the one regular season match-up the Chargers and Raiders had when Jim Plunkett was pressed into service, the Raiders easily beat the Chargers 38-24 (Dan Pastorini was the QB in the game the Chargers won), so when they met in the AFC Championship Game, it again might have been a case of the Raiders being a superior team, because they jumped out to a 28-7 lead late in the second quarter, a deficit that even Air Coryell couldn't overcome.
This would be the Steelers last Super Bowl run together. Bradshaw's arm was giving way to age. I believe he led the Steelers to 9 turnovers in a 35-7 loss to the Bengals
three AFC division titles and two playoff wins no AFC championships to speak of .Dan Fouts didn't play his best games in the championship games vs Oakland & Cincinnati
Anyone who wanted to keep ken Stabler out of the hall of fame for his turnover touchdown ratio really should watch fouts and Bradshaw they turned it over a lot too. It was the style of the game at the time defenses could beat up recievers leading to a lot more int's as well as the lack of west coast style offense creating more deep passes
I Remember Being A Young Steelers Fan At 9 Years Old Crying After My Uncle Was Laughing At Me While The Chargers Beat Up My Team On Monday Night Football !!
ukcatfan383 Oh yeah without a doubt . Green Bay back then had subpar Quarterbacks at best on the other hand Dan Fouts passed the ball like running it would get him fined .And strangely enough you never heard from John Jefferson when he went to Green Bay that is sad because he was a highlight film .
Yeah, but watch the 1980 AFC title game against Oakland. Jefferson dropped at least three passes, including one in the end zone. He wasn't as clutch as Swann.
Yeah that's mind boggling that he played so poorly in that game. I have never seen him drop a ball in another game besides that one. With him looking for a big pay day it almost makes you wonder?
Of all the teams from the Fouts era Chargers the 79 and 80 teams were the best equipped for the Super bowl.Somehow the Oilers beat them in playoffs that year and the following year I hoped and prayed they would beat the Raiders but didn't happen.They stood no chance in the Arctic game against Bengals in 81 and the following year the Dolphins smashed them in 82
I was only about 11 years old when the Chargers traded John Jefferson to Green Bay for I believe 2 first round draft picks. I do not recall why he wanted out of SAN DIEGO, I think it was more money. After being traded to the Packers, Jefferson became a flop in GREEN BAY. The Packers did not have a great QB like DAN FOUTS. So without a good quarterback, Jefferson faded away. I do remember the Chargers getting , BILLY RAY SMITH, and, JAMES BROOKS, with those drat picks. But, when he was with the Chargers, JJ, Was beyond unbelieveable.
Maybe Pittsburgh goes back in to San Diego and beats them in the AFC title game. I just would've liked to see the Bolts get another crack. They were the only team I think that could've beaten Pittsburgh that year. Not Houston. Not Dallas. Not the Rams. And not Tampa.
absolutely.....people struggled to stop Air Coryell that year. They caught everyone by surprise. I was born into Chargers season seats and was 9 at the time. The place erupted on woody lowe's pick six. that was a great day...it made the loss vs Houston in the playoffs all the more shocking because Pittsburgh was going to lose again if they came back...How they didnt get one trip to the Super Bowl from '79-'81 is headscratching
The Chargers couldn't even get past an undermanned Oilers team in the divisional round of the playoffs so what makes you think that they would have beaten the Steelers in the playoffs,a team that was clearly better than the Oilers. Besides,I don't think Terry Bradshaw would have thrown five interceptions in the AFC championship game.
it wouldnt have mattered- 35-7 is an ass beating. he'd throw three....and pittsburgh wouldnt have been at home as the Chargers had the best record in the AFC....and they throttled pittsburgh in every phase of that game. Granted, it would have been a much different game in the playoffs. The sTeelers were banged up as well in this game..i get all that...I still think, that season, the best team in the AFC was the chargers...who proved what can happen to you when you throw 5 picks, as they returned the favor in that playoff game you speak of. Just one man's opinion..not saying i'm right
The Steelers had more of a balanced attack on offense than the chargers did. And the chargers were pretty much a one demensional offense which would have made them easier to beat in the playoffs. Heck,they only rushed for 63 yards against the Oilers while the Oilers rushed for 148 yards against the Chargers without Earl Campbell. So it was proven from that point on that all you had to do to beat the chargers in the playoffs was to shut down air Coryell just like the Steelers figured out a week later that all they had to do to beat the Oliers was to shut down Earl Campbell who was a major part of the Oilers offense during the late 70's.
fair points....some teams struggled to stop air coryell. Look, Houston beat them with Gifford Neilsen, Mike Renfro and Carpenter taking Pastorini's, Kenny Burrough and Campbells spots...tI was there and watched with my own 2 eyes..They had a good secondary as well, which came up huge. The chargers have a history of beating pittsburgh in the playoffs anyway. They beat them at pittsburgh 3 years later. again, a different team pittsburgh was by then. I dont think pittsburgh could deal with the air attack like Houston did..they could however stop the run with the best of em', hence owning Houston in the playoffs in that era. Yes the chargers couldnt run pre Muncie. But there defense was vastly underrated, and 3/4 of that def line would lead the niners to a few super bowl titles
The Steelers would of gone to San Diego had the Chargers won in the playoff game against the Oilers. It would have been tough for Pittsburg to win on the road.
Were it today's NFL, instant replay would rule that Woodrow Lowe's knee was down before he fumbled and it would be San Diego's ball at the two. No touchdown.
The Woody Lowe touchdown would have been overturned today. First, his knee hit down way before he got into the end zone, and he fumbled before crossing the goal line. A very bad call by the refs.
He was at least 1.5 yards short of end zone........clearly that would get overturned on review today.... But...I was always a Chargers fan so he was in
The Steelers got their chance to beat the chargers in a playoff game just a year after this game..the chargers spotted Pittsburgh a seven point lead early due to a fumbled opening kickoff..well you know what happened the rest of the afternoon!
Pitts beat the Rams in a superbowl that year...every team usually has one stinker during the year, this was theirs. Fouts did seem to own the Steelers though...
This was just a meaningless regular season game with the Steelers having a letdown after winning four in a row. And yes,Terry threw a lot of interceptions but he always on his game when it mattered the most.
San Diego did match up well with Ptitsburgh. It would've been an interesting playoff game between the two teams. Pittsburgh's experience may've been too much though.
Yes,experience matters in the playoffs. The Steelers were a battle tested team while the Chargers went to the playoffs for the first time in a long time. And their inexperience in the playoffs may have played a role in them losing to the Oilers because Houston was also a battle tested team that had made a deep run into the playoffs the year before.
I believe of the games they played with full, healthy squads back then (1979-'82), a playoff encounter in '79 would have been the Steelers best chance to win, not only because of the experience factor, but also because the Chargers didn't have a potent running back, an oversight they corrected during the 1980 season when they acquired Chuck Muncie from the Saints. But of all the teams they played, and maybe it was partly because of age beginning to set in on them, the Air Coryell Chargers were the worst match-up those Steelers teams ever had. And when they finally did meet in the post-season following the 1982 season, the Chargers really had their way with the Steelers after James Brooks gave them 14 first quarter points. Let's also not forget that this game took place not too many weeks after the Chargers played the Rams in Los Angeles, and that season's other Super Bowl team fared no better than the Steelers did, as the Chargers blew them out just as easily, 40-16.
The lack of a running game hurt the Chargers in the playoffs in 79' because it meant that the Oilers could focus entirely on Dan Fouts and the passing game. And the Steelers committed eight turnovers when they lost 35-7 to the Chargers. And turnovers were also the reason why the Steelers lost to the Bengals and Eagles too! They could be their own worst enemy at times during that last super bowl year.
That was even true in the post-season, because they committed 8 turnovers in the three post-season wins. Terry Bradshaw had an INT returned for a TD in the AFC Championship Game and threw three more in the Super Bowl and had a fourth dropped by Nolan Cromwell. As for the Chargers, as history would later indicate, Don Coryell as a poor post-season coach (his Cardinals teams had been blown out twice in two attempts) and Dan Fouts was pretty terrible in the post-season with that kind of an arsenal (7 TD, 14 INT in seven post-season games, including two 5 INT games). The lack of a quality RB, which they would rectify during the 1980 season, might have been a factor in their loss to the Oilers, but so was something else. Somehow, the Oilers coaching staff was able to steal the Chargers' offensive signals, and thus they often knew what play the Chargers were going to run before they even ran it, so their defense had an enormous advantage during the game, and of course, Vernon Perry had what might have been the single greatest game a defensive back has ever played (4 INT, 1 blocked FG).
I remember this game. A lot of turnovers but the nevertheless the Chargers won, which I was glad they did. I was not a Steeler fan. I also remember the divisional playoff game athe Oilers vs. the Chargers. I thought the Chargers would win. Dan Pastorni and Earl Campbell were injured so they did not play for the Oilers. I guess the Chargers were over confident and Dan Fouts didn't have a good day, he had thrown interceptions particularly 4 of them by Vernon Perry. I would had love to had seen a rematch of the Steelers and Chargers.
Oilers DC Eddie Biles had solved the Chargers offensive signals coming in from the sidelines. Wade, son of Bum, sat with a pair of binoculars focused on the hand signals Coryell's ass't Jim Hanifan sent in to Fouts, and relayed the tip-off to Biles. Oilers knew if it was run or pass all game long.
This would end up being the Steelers worst loss in the Chuck Noll era...needless to say after the game, Noll gave the club a profanity laced tongue lashing...particularly towards his quarterback, Terry Bradshaw, who was clearly dominated by the Charger pass rush and secondary...the rant by Noll must have worked in that Pittsburgh went on to take home its 4th Lombardi Trophy that season...still, I don’t think the Steelers wanted to face San Diego again in the postseason...BOLT UP..
The Steelers committed more turnovers that year than anyone else, yet they still won the SB. They were that much better than just about anyone else... Except the Chargers, who seemed to have the Steelers' number -as long as Fouts was playing.
yes,the steelers were a turnover machine. that's why they also got routed by the bengals that year but when it became playoff time,they took care of business. they didn't lose to a team like oilers and allow 148 yards rushing in a playoff game. And as for chargers,they played great during the regular but choked in the playoffs every year from 79' to 82' because they relied too much on their passing game and not enough on their running game and defense.
thomas warner, I am not ragging on the Steelers bro! The Oilers were a good team. Who knows what would have happened if the refs didn't blow that call in 79.
I don't think it would have mattered. The Steelers were the best 4th quarter team in the NFL. Besides,the Oilers of the late 70's were able to beat everybody else they played in the playoffs except for the steelers because the steelers were the only team that could shut down earl and that oilers running game.
thomas warner , I agree about the Steelers run D, but you take away the td that would have tied the game? If Terry would have had to throw the ball it could have been a different game completely. I'm definitely not a Steeler fan, and dont see them getting to another Superbowl until they get a new coach and a young qb.
Shoot if Chargers would of been playing like this they would of went to the Superbowl a couple of times.It was the matchup they could always beat the Steelers
It's strange that Bradshaw made no adjustments. The Chargers doubled up on Swann and Stallworth all day. Why didn't Bradshaw just throw to his tight end, or put in Jim Smith as a third receiver? Even Franco and Bleier can catch passes out of the flat. Bradshaw sometimes was stubborn about throwing the ball into double coverage because he believed he had better receivers.
18:00 Steelers coach is saying to the referee listen Terry's mustache is interfering with his passing I bet if he shaves it he will do better I garrantee you "jajajaja I don't remember this game Terry hasn't so humiliated by a linebacker jajajaja jajajaja. HEY Terry remember that San Diego game of 79 jajajaja jajajaja hilarious
These worst game these 70s Steelers played.. San Diego was really charged for this one.. it's a embarrassing loss for Pittsburgh.. of course.. the Steelers went on to win their 4th Super Bowl that Season.. 4th in 6 Years..
Also with these you get all the major drives. You are basically missing non action between plays, short gains, and 3 and outs or drives that never really got anywhere.
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1979 was the first year I became interested in the NFL and this was a remarkable season showcasing so many great team and individual performers.
Many San Diegan’s including myself became interested in the NFL this year.
Would absolutely love to see this one pop up online in full-game. This should've been the AFCCG matchup that year.
Yeah but the Oilers were short on talent, but long on guts! 🏉
I was at this game. First NFL game I saw live. I was 9 years old then and I still remember it.
I just now realize that if SD doesn't get upset by Houston in the playoffs, they wld have had home field against Pitt in the AFC Championship Gm. That still boggles my mind that SD lost to Houston who was without Earl Campbell and Dan P.
The oilers stole the chargers play calling signals that game. Even though they were injury riddled, they knew the chargers plays.
The Oilers defense was magnificent that day. 5 interceptions, I believe. I think Vernon Perry had 3 by himself.
@@Biggdoom344 We didn't use video did we??
@@guyhill6269 that I don’t know. But if you are missing Earl Campbell which was about 60% of the offense, your best WR, Campbell’s backup Rob Carpenter played hurt, and faced a team putting up points like a video game…and still won due to five ints from a QB not known for throwing them..something was up.
anybody woulda been preferable to shitsburgh
This was the best defense of the Air Coryell era. The offense became better but the defense got worse.
More like way worse. No team in NFL history has, over a six year time period (1980-1985), lost more games than San Diego did despite scoring 24 or more points. A high school football team could have moved the ball up and down the field against them. If they had merely had a mediocre defense (instead of one of the worst in history), they probably would have won at least two Super Bowls.
idk if they traded away Fred dean to SF or let him go via free agency but after he left their defense sucked and bringing tom bass in as the DC was the cherry on top LMAO what a joke he was !
Fouts threw about 5 picks in the divisional game that season
@@shaheed5103 It's been widely known for years that the reason for that was that, before the game, the Oilers figured out that Fouts had the habit of having one foot positioned noticeably behind the other whenever he was about to execute a pass play. They knew when it was coming.
@@SingleTax Houston's defensive coaches deciphered the hand signals the Chargers used to send in the plays. But what really hurt San Diego was two things:
1) Winslow was out for the season, and Joiner and Jefferson were playing injured (Jefferson missed the last game due to a shoulder injury and Joiner was badly concussed -knocked out cold- in that game).
2) The Oilers defense was the best in the NFL at creating turnovers.
Joe Gibbs was Coryell's OC.
The modern game owes a ton to Coryell. His HOF snub is a travesty
Chargers gave the Steelers a run for the money in this 1979 contest just enough for the San Diego (now Los Angeles) to have their fun on the Steel Curtains.
Now, with that being said I would litteraly would like to ask to bring back the Air Coryell English Royal and Sunny Gold throwback uniforms as a tribute to the 40th anniversary season of Charger Power uniforms,in one or two selected regular season games, or as part of the color rush series.
Don't forget the Los Angeles Rams too. The bluer, the yellower, the powerful can get.
The trouble with the Chargers nowadays is I am still disgusted in Dean Spanos move, because that's San Diego's home for previously 56 years.
Otherwise thanks for the upload video. Bring back the '70s vintage uniforms will make me and other fans very happy.
They can still keep their powder blue uniforms, of course 😎🏈🍹🍔🍟🇺🇸
amen brother
Theon Davis...Agreed! I love their old uniforms you described. The baby powder blue they wear today just doesn't have that same appeal.
Chargers suck
@@utahsilvey5930 as do you Frankie
If Don was coaching today, his team would average 60 a game.
No way.
@Gordon Achilles Definitely, I've been watching on Flixzone} for since november myself =)
Maybe on the first Madden game or TECMO Bowl or SEGA Genesis.
Probably, but his defense would give up 61. If the chargers had an average defense v one of the worst in the league they probably win a few SBs. When SD got into a rhythm they were virtually impossible to stop. The chargers had Great talent in offense.
This was but one of the greatest playoff games never played in the 1970's: Pittsburgh at San Diego, 1979. Here's a gem of a story from an ESPN colleague, who produced a few feature stories on the 1970's Steelers. Apparently, Noll placed a call to the Oilers coaching staff prior to the divisional playoff game between Houston and San Diego. In film review of this game, he noticed that Fouts shifted his feet between running and passing plays. With that knowledge in hand, the Oilers playing without Earl Campbell, Ken Burrough, and Dan Pastorini, pulled off one of the more underrated upsets in the divisional round. Would the Steelers have beaten the Chargers in Act II? My gut says yes but it would have been close. That Chargers team was the one match up nightmare that the Steelers had in their great run.
there was always talk that the oilers were stealing play signals during their game , they pretty much knew the chargers plays I remember watching that game it sure looked like Houston knew what san diego was going to do on offense
daniel shook you might be right... but hell everybody in the league knew what they were going to do it was just a matter of stopping it.... the fact is the Chargers didn't play well from behind. for a passing team you would think it would be the other way around but they always had trouble when they didn't have the advantage in the giveaway takeaway department....
Wonder if Noll did that to help himself as much as the Oilers. As a result of this game the Chargers had home field throughout the playoffs and the Steelers would have had to go back to San Diego for the AFC title.
Very cool. Thanks for that tidbit.
@@untexan oh for sure. Oilers were their division rivals. Def did that for the reason u stated. Had to have.
John Jefferson in his first 3 seasons had numbers comparable to Jerry Rice. Then after he left SD, his career seemingly wasn’t the same
George Hahn Green Bay had garbage QBs v playing with a HOFer in Fouts.
Dan Fouts > Lynn Dickey
@@riverbandit58 Neither has a Super Bowl and Fouts was playoff choke artist , there equals
@@oilertitan7913 Fouts is in the HOF. Lynn Dickey is not. Not Equals.
Jefferson was the best receiver in football.Im a Steelers fan.
The Steelers went into this game having blown out their 4 previous opponents. They were due for a tough match. After the game, Bradshaw told Sports Illustrated, "When we're bad, we're terrible!" It should be noted though, that following this loss, the Steelers finished the remainder of the regular season season 6-1 to finish 15-4, including the Super Bowl win. The Chargers, on the other hand, were incapable of beating Houston in the playoffs, a Houston team that had no Earl Campbell or Dan Pastorini. In the 1979 AFC Championship, the Steelers beat the Oilers with Campbell and Pastorini, and beat them decisively. The Chargers never won anything in that era, and still haven't.
😁
THIS was the game that changed my LIFE!! I have an older brother who tormented me my entire life,who constantly boasted that the Steelers were the toughest team on the PLANET and could not be beat!! As a lifetime Detroiter,I always pulled for the Lions,and he'd mock:"Jack Lambert and L.C Greenwood would MANGLE Gary Danielson!! LOOK at the muscles on their arms!! NObody can penetrate the"Steel Curtain"!!" At one point,tired of his boasting,I declared:"Alright man;the FIRST team that I see beat your Steelers will be"MY team"for LIFE!!" The following Sunday,we stayed home from church,and watched the Lions down by 17 in the 3rd,before switching to the"late game"to see the Steelers being"ABUSED"28-7 by a team emblazoned with lightning-bolts that I never knew existed!! Been the biggest Chargers fan ever SINCE!! Own throwback jerseys of Fouts,Jefferson,Chandler,Winslow,Dean,Kelcher AND Muncie!! My brother was in veritable SHOCK when the final score flashed on the screen:San Diego 35 Pittsburgh 7!!
i was at that game,..newly aquired ex-Steeler defensive back Glen Edwards returned an interception on Bradshwaw for a Charger TD. My dad got 6 free tickets to the game & 2 other games (Bills & Broncos) since he worked at Big Bear Markets and knew CEO John Maybee, minority shareholding owner of the Chargers. Future Collegiate players Sean Saulisbury & Mike Dabosinskas attended that game too, as High School fans, , as i recall.
The Pittsburgh Steelers had the living shit beat out of them in this game!
Had the Houston Oilers not beaten these Chargers in the Divisional Playoffs, the Steelers would be back there in San Diego playing for AFC Championship.
Yes. That was hard to watch. However everyone had their kryptonite. The chargers gave the Steelers fits from 1979-1985. Beat the Steelers like five straight.
"Living shit"?? Call the media, you've discovered a new life form!
Chargers choked to Houston mel Renfro put the dagger in San Diego plus if thet did beat Houston they wasn't beating pittsburgh twice even ali lost to Frazier but came back and beat the hell of him chargers choked 4 years a row
@@samuelhain2712
Lol, hilarious! It was a popular term in the 70's. Back then people would either say "Beat the living shit out of them" or "Beat the living hell out of them".
@@utahsilvey5930
Considering how those Chargers "choked' to the Raiders in their own back yard the following year for the AFC Championship, I wouldn't put it past the Steelers pulling one off in San Diego had those Chargers beat Houston in the Divisional Playoff.
The 79’ Steelers were just as good as they had been in previous years due to their depth on the roster, the only problem was they were turning over the ball way more than they ever had before. Despite leading the league with 52 turnovers, Pittsburgh still had the best record in the league and the number one ranked offense with the 2nd ranked defense. Let’s not forget, Glen Edwards was part of that San Diego secondary, he was part of Pittsburgh’s first two super bowl teams in the 70s and knew the Steelers pretty well. Also Dan Fouts was held to 137 yards and under 50% completion rate, Bradshaw’s 5 interceptions were definitely a factor, however it was a legit win by San Diego. For everyone saying the Chargers usually beat the Steelers back then, that may have been true going into the 80s when the Steelers’ run was basically over, but throughout the 70s decade Pittsburgh usually beat San Diego:
1971: 21-17
1972: 24 - 2
1973: 38-21
1975: 37-0
1976: 23-0
1977: 10-9
Dan Fouts played in all of those games except for the 71’ and 72’ matchups.
Brandon Nist yeah. It looks like Noll changed very little going into this game v a SD defense with inside information on the Steelers passing game. Bradshaw played horrible as if SD knew where the ball was going. But the chargers were a good team and this game was the beginning of a SD run v the Steelers that lasted until the late 80s.
@@Biggdoom344 Not only did Bradshaw play terrible, the entire team played awful. L.C. Greenwood said in the 1979 America's Game series they were defeated before the game's opening kickoff
This was the Chargers 1st ever victory over Pittsburgh
Keith Clark of all the Steelers SB winning teams, this one was the hardest to figure out. I remember them falling behind to St. Louis 21-7 due to four first half turnovers, even though they won. Would have beat a good Philadelphia team on the road, but Franco Harris fumbled at the goal line going into the end zone. They got waxed by an 0-8 bengals team. This team to me was bored. They demolished teams like Denver and Washington, but then would look terrible the next week. Come playoff time, they smashed Miami and rolled over a good Houston team that didn’t score an offensive TD. The SB win over the rams was a summary of their season. Turnovers kept the game closer than it should have been, then finding a way to pull it out. Statistically, this team was better than the 78 team, but due to sloppy and inconsistent play, the 79 team is generally regarded as Nolls weakest SB champ. I think the 74 team, a team that got hot at the right time, was the weakest.
@@Biggdoom344 The 74 team was was dealing with inconsistent play at quarterback until the road game at New England. After that victory over the Patriots, Bradshaw and the Steelers did not lose again until 1975 home opener vs Buffalo in week 2
Steelers got smoked but had like seven or eight turnovers. Chargers came into this game lit with something to prove and they proved it. The chargers were a great regular season team but always choked in the playoffs. It’s hard to imagine the chargers beating the Steelers in a rematch because the chargers never beat anybody with the $$$ on the table.....then or now.
Chargers beat the eventual conference champions Steelers and Rams by a combined score of 75-23 in the reg season...but eventually lost to their old AFL nemesis Houston Oilers in the divisional round..the chargers had a really nice 3 year run from 1979 to 1981, going to the AFC title game 2 consecutive years in 80 & 81 but just couldn't get it done...had a chance for an all California SB in 1979 & 81
@@conni70 Yup. 79, 80 and 81 they had chances. I thought their best shot was in 79 and 80.
ha ha stop crying...Steelers have always been well known cheaters. they're no America's Team....PAL. The Fabulous Cowboys were the REAL Dynasty of the 1970's..the most exciting team of the 70's ..Landry created "the Shotgun" the Flex defense..etc...Chuck Noll was fugazi. Dumbest team of the 70's. Raiders were continuously screwed by the NFL because of that ASHTRAY Pete Rozelle.
Totally agree mike but i miss that charger team and late 70s and 80s
This was sloppy on both sides on days like this no need to play defense
Yeah, Chargers were great that year, they choked big time to the Oilers in the playoffs, huge letdown.
To this day j.j. jefferson is still my favorite wr of all time
amen..hard to top
Yeah and not just because of his awesome play but also for his sunshiny personality and that he was always a great teammate. Hard to like someone like Odell Beckham who acts like a douche.
@@ckobo84 Too bad he got greedy(LOL).
@@ckobo84 Agreed!
Jefferson was one of the best Wr in the league. The. NFL hated his agent and made an example of Jefferson. He was never the same playing for the packers.
Charger defense resembled Pittsburgh's "D" a lot in this game. That was one exciting era of football!
Where?
Chargers D allowed only 246 the entire year
I was at this game. I was only 11, but I remember it like it was yesterday.
The Charger D only allowed 246 during the regular season. The defense definitely went south after this year
This was the year Air Coryell & Dan Fouts had a defense. With their solid DL there was no blitz, they rushed 4 and let their LB's drop back into pass coverage making things difficult for Bradshaw. This should've been the Championship game match-up, but the Chargers under-estimated a banged-up Oilers squad with a back-up QB and hobbled Earl Campbell so they lost in the divisional. The biggest shame in football is that Fouts never got to see a Super Bowl, he's one of the best QB's ever. Ranks right up there with Marino, Elway & Montana.
I'm a RAIDERS fan but during the seventies growing up I was an elementary school so I was a Steelers fan because my dad & my older brother Are... It's amazing that the Steelers didn't put up 50 against the Chargers defense but what's a shame Charger's defense Just a match half of what their offense could do.!! Defense Played Half this well Throughout the season they would have won 1 Super Bowl with Chuck munchy John Jefferson Charlie joyner Kellen Winslow and then West Chandler but they should never got rid of JJ sorry..& It's naturally a strong offense of mine but watching these old games I forgot how great the steelers actually were It's not only that they were so deep at every position LB 5 and 6 DEEP defensive line 6/7 ,WR 4 deep.. LITERALLY EVERY POSTION.. DB 6 ,OLINE 7 ETC ETC ETC
Pittsburgh flew out west to San Diego with a 4 game winning streak which saw them DEMOLISH Denver 42-7, Dallas 14-3, Washington 38-7, and Kansas City 30-3. Pittsburgh was exhausted which showed in their play
Exhausted? ..explain your reasoning. It takes more energy to blow teams out?
I think of the Steel Curtain as the
d- line from 72 thru about 76. Thanks for the video.
This should have been a preview of the '79 AFC Championship game.
Jeffrey T. Steptoe
It would’ve been, and it would be played there in San Diego had the Chargers taken care of business At Home with Houston in the Divisional Playoff!
Vernon Perry thought otherwise.
Air Coryell's offense was something serious.
1:07 authentic VHS touchdown static from the 80's!
Would have loved to see what this game would have been if Charges beat the Oilers an played in AFCCG ... THIS MIGHT HAVE BEEN CHARGES BEST TEAM
Holy shit, how many tunrovers were committed by both teams, was it 11.?
This team beat both super bowl contestants, Rams and Steelers that season then got sloppy with offensive sideline signals vs Houston in the playoffs by not making it more difficult. Remember Chargers scored on opening drives in each half of that playoff game then was shut down.
Houston later stated they stole their offensive signals.
Smart.
The oilers of the late 70's were a really team,especially since they made the AFC championship game two years in a row as a wild card. So you have to give them some credit because they could have appeared in a super bowl if not for the Steelers getting in their way. Besides,nobody else in the AFC seemed capable of beating them in the playoffs.
What’s odd vs Houston is the blocked field goal. But in the last 3 games of season, SD lost to Atlanta at home by an FG and was held to 17 vs Denver at home. And then Houston. The blocked FG would have made it 10-3 but the block gave Houston a 5 yard touchdown drive to have 10-7 halftime lead. I think that’s true. Winslow was out w/injury so from then on SD wanted 3 Tight ends hence Eric Sievers, Holohan w/ Kellen) but Houston was a seasoned playoff team having won road games in he previous 2 years.
How many turnovers? Geez
The best receivers in history in 1979. Lynn Swann, John Jefferson, John Stallworth, Charlie Joiner, Kellen Winslow.
Best in 1979 perhaps... in NFL history? You seem to be forgetting Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Marvin Harrison, Steve Largent, Lance Allworth, Michael Irvin, Cris Carter, Andre Reed, Fred Biletnikoff, Dave Casper, Gronk and that's just for starters.
@@thedarkstranger963 I'd start Swann and Stallworth over any other pair of receivers for an all-time team. As individuals and as a tandem no receivers played as big in big games save for Rice...and he still only has 3 rings to their 4 each.Keep your stats and quantity of catches, I wlll take titles and quality of catches.
@@thedarkstranger963
Yea my Steelers had their ass handed to them on this game I believe they lost 35 7 Charges had home field throughout the playoffs and lost to the Oilers what a shame
California based teams were so competitive in this era...the Rams made the Super Bowl this year...the Raiders won the SB the next year, playing the Chargers in the AFC title game..then the next year, the 49ers and Chargers both played in the title game with the 49ers winning the SB...for 3 consecutive years a California based team made the SB, Rams -79, Raiders-80, 49ers-81... and 2 out of those 3 years we almost had an all California SB, in 1979 & 1981, but Chargers couldn't get it done..
Nothing went right for Pittsburgh that day in San Diego. Steelers defense coming off 4 weeks where they Dominated Denver (42-7), Dallas (14-3), Washington (38-7), and Kansai City (30-3). They were exhausted flying out to San Diego
Pittsburgh entered this game tired and exhausted and flew in Saturday afternoon from Pittsburgh. In The team's previous four games, the Steelers demolished the Broncos 42-7, the Cowboys 14-3, the Redskins 38-7, and the Chiefs 30-3. The defense gave up ONLY 2 touchdowns in their last 16 quarters of play while outscoring their opponents 124-20.
Pitt was feast or famine that year. Thank god it was mostly feast. They were 42 takeaways against 52 turnovers -10 that year. Still went 12-4 and won the superbowl. If you look at the stats for this game, pittsburgh had more passing yards, a little less rushing. Bradshaw and his 5 interceptions were the difference.
That was absolutely NOT a pick six by Lowe, he was either down at the 1 or the steelers recovered it in the end zone, but clearly not a TD. Replay would of wiped it out.
Knee was down at the two. No fumble, no TD.
i remember this game like it was yesterday. you had to hold your breath every time bradshaw threw the ball downfield....
This was one of Bradshaws worst games after he won the first SB. He had to be concussed or something because SD had a mediocre defense. Steelers had 8 turnovers this game and to this day is the only team to win a SB and lead the league in turnovers
@@Biggdoom344 believe it or not the chargers were 5th overall and 2nd scoring defense. this was before they got rid of guys like fred dean and big hands johnson
Bradshaw throws into quadruple coverage every time. The dude was not good at reading defenses.
Steeler curtain melted under the fire of the lightening bolts.
Scott Davidson LOL, the Chargers had about 218 yards of total offense that day. The real melting came when SD lost to Houston in the playoffs. The Oilers were missing like 17 starters to injury that day.
Bradshaw threw 5 interceptions in that game.
Had the Houston Oilers not beat this Chargers Team in San Diego, the Steelers would’ve gone to San Diego for The 1979 AFC Championship Game after the way the Chargers anhiliated these Steelers that day.
SO many HOF' ers in this game.
For this game 12 dollar seats sold for 50 to 60 each in pkg lot which was good money in 79
I still remember the N.F.L. magazine predictions for that yr and for the following 2. The Superbowl will be run by Charger power. As a 12 yr.old I thought this game would guarantee it for 79-82. Of course Air Coryell was always just a dream. For a kid. Because, of the Holy Roller play they missed the playoffs in 78. They crushed their opponents in their last 4 games including the playoff bound Houston Earlers, 45-24, in 78. This team will win Superbowl XIV everybody predicted. They had crushed the Rams 40-21. Now the Steelers 35-7. The 2 Superbowl contenders. Everything was set. Including home field advantage. Then in the early 80,s I would root for Dan Marino. Oh well! How silly! So I settled on the 49ers. For that cheapskate owner Eugene Klein to allow Fred Dean and John Jefferson to leave because he was El Cheapo did not help matters much either.
Just because you beat the brakes off of a team during the regular season doesn't mean that you will beat them in the playoffs. Just look at the Rams who got clobbered by the Cowboys in the regular season of 1979 but then beat them in playoffs on a last minute touchdown pass. So I don't always put much stock into the regular season. It isn't like the playoffs where everybody plays at their absolute best because they know there won't be another game next week if they don't win the one they're playing.
The Cowboy offense could manage only a field goal against the Steelers in their regular season game, while the Charger offense scored four touchdowns. Some teams simply matched up better against the Steelers than others did, and I think that was the case here.
That January 1982 game in Cincinnati in beserk conditions didn't help at all. Yeah, those are the breaks, but who knows what would have happened in even somewhat normal tempature.
@@anthonybrancale4855 According to long-time Dolphins G Bob Kuechenberg, it wouldn't have mattered, because he said during a Chargers-Bengals game he was an NBC analyst for in 1985 that he felt that, had the Dolphins won that epic game in Miami, that they wouldn't have had much of a chance, either, because of how emotionally spent both teams were after that game in the Miami sauna that went nearly five full quarters.
If you believe Kuechenberg, it wouldn't have mattered if they had a perfect day in Cincinnati. His point was that both the Chargers and his Dolphins were so emotionally spent, that neither team would have have anything left in the tank to battle a Bengals team that had already proved how good they were when they walloped the Chargers 40-17 in San Diego a couple of months earlier.
That stated, the icy weather certainly would have been a factor, though the Dolphins were clearly a team better suited for those conditions than the high-flying, pass-happy Chargers were.
The Chargers beat all those teams one time or another that ended up winning Super Bowls in that era. They were just as good as those teams if not better. They should have 3 rings!
Yeah it was a very flukey loss to the Raiders in the '80 championship game. A narrow 7-point win where the first Raider TD (accounting for the 7 points) was a total fluke play. Fouts also threw two brilliant TD passes that were dropped in the 4th quarter. Then they draw the coldest day in NFL history for the '81 championship game...another fluke circumstance. This team was awesome as fuck...they had the first Brett Favre, the first Gronk, the first OBJ and the first 'Beast-Mode'. (Fouts, Winslow, Chandler & Muncie)
They just needed their Reggie White - some Hall-level defensive player and they would have had two or three rings.
Let's look at what they did from '79-82...they literally defeated EVERY defending Super Bowl champion during those four seasons:
1979: Chargers 35, Steelers 7
1980: Chargers 26, Steelers 17
1981: Chargers 55, Raiders 21
1981: Chargers 23, Raiders 10
1982: Chargers 41, 49ers 37
1982: Chargers 50, Bengals 34
Yes, my friend, this is truly exceptional evidence that the Chargers were no mere 'also-rans'. They went 5 for 5 blowing out ALL defending Super Bowl champs from 1979-1982 and for good measure blew-out the defending AFC champion Bengals in '82.
They beat the champion 49ers in Candlestick park in a game where Montana played BRILLIANTLY but Fouts out-dueled him. (Watch that one it's better than any Super Bowl you ever saw.)
NFL playoffs are single-game elimination so there's going to be some teams that were worthy of a ring but fate just didn't allow it. Chargers were WAY up on that list!
@@johnellizz the chargers were the regular season champs. But Coryell never won when it counted in St Louis or SD. His teams were known to fall apart in the post season.
@@johnellizz Now I will debate you. Beating the DEFENDING Super Bowl champ the year after they won is not beating the Super Bowl year team so it’s not as impressive. That being said they beat the 1979 Steelers and 1980 Raiders the year both won. Great. The 1981 Raiders were hurt and not a great team. The 1982 49ers were 3-6. You left out that Winslow got hurt in 1979 and missed the rest of the season. But the 1979 team had a crap running game. And WTF losing at home to the Oilers without Pastorini or Campbell?! That is simply unacceptable. The 1980 Raiders outclassed the Chargers ON THE ROAD in the AFC title building a huge lead and then you conveniently leave out that the Raiders ran the clock out for the second half of the 4th quarter. A true champion does that. A choke team lets it happen and makes excuses. 1981 you got screwed with the cold but the Bengals had to deal with the cold too. 1982 Chargers got past Pittsburgh but the Air Coryell run died at the hands of the Killer B’s of Miami.
You say the needed a HOF defensive player like Reggie White. Hello?!! Fred Dean! Are you sure you are a fan?
They were a fun team to watch for sure but like most offensive teams they lose when it counted most.
@@Ram44 I'll debate if Tom Brady is fake. That's what I'm all about these days.
*The Impossible World Of Brady*
Tom won 87 of his first 100 games at home in the NFL.
It is totally impossible to go 87-13 against NFL teams.
Roughly, it is equivalent to going 14-2 for six consecutive seasons.
Yet no NFL team has ever posted more than two such seasons in a row.
Even with the minor advantage of the home field in every game of a season you could not do this 6 times in a row haha.
(In the NFL, home teams usually win in between 55 and 60 percent of the time.)
Is it even possible to win 87 of 100 games in ANY sport?
The only example is the 72-10 Chicago Bulls, who won 87 of 100 games in the NBA reg. season & post season combined.
The Bulls had Michael Jordan...the Patriots had Tom Brady...
However, the comparison is invalid for explaining the dominance of the Patriots...
Michael Jordan played both offense and defense for entire games.
And Jordan was 1 of just 10 starting players in those games.
Tom Brady plays only offense...he plays only half of every game.
And Brady is 1 of 44 starting players in those games.
And Jordan can score all by himself in his sport.
Tom can do nothing by himself in football.
So as improbable as Jordan's accomplishment was, it was literally nothing compared to Tom's accomplishment.
One was improbable, the other, impossible.
If I'm a Steelers fan that season, I breathe a *major* sigh of relief when the Chargers choke against the Oilers in the divisional playoffs -- especially since the AFC championship game would have taken place in San Diego had they won.
I agree,... but as a team you HAVE to take care of business and not look ahead... the Houston Oilers were resilient and wanted a rematch with the Steelers... yes, the Chargers WERE the better team it on that given Sunday the Oilers beat SD.. "ifs" or "what could have been " is not part of NFL history... it is what it is... sad to say that SD's best chance was in 1980 and 1981...at that time the Pittsburgh Steelers were old and irrelevant at that point... Chargers just choked... Chargers could have been in the Super Bowl in 1981 and 1982 but never fully played to their potential... sad to see that, even as a Steelers fan I was convinced SD would win one SB in the early 80's
@@pst702 I'm not sure the Chargers choked as much as inexperience got the best of them, both in 1979 (vs. HOU) and '80 (vs. OAK). And in 1981, the plain truth was that the Bengals were a superior team, as evidenced by the 40-17 rout in San Diego.
But one overlooked thing about what happened in the 1980 AFC Championship Game is that, in the one regular season match-up the Chargers and Raiders had when Jim Plunkett was pressed into service, the Raiders easily beat the Chargers 38-24 (Dan Pastorini was the QB in the game the Chargers won), so when they met in the AFC Championship Game, it again might have been a case of the Raiders being a superior team, because they jumped out to a 28-7 lead late in the second quarter, a deficit that even Air Coryell couldn't overcome.
I was there. What a day.
This would be the Steelers last Super Bowl run together. Bradshaw's arm was giving way to age. I believe he led the Steelers to 9 turnovers in a 35-7 loss to the Bengals
Actually a lot of those turnovers were fumbles.
plus franco was slow, old and pathetic. they needed a top notch runner.
Would love to see this game in it's entirely.
If you're a Steelers fans you don't.....lol
three AFC division titles and two playoff wins no AFC championships to speak of .Dan Fouts didn't play his best games in the championship games vs Oakland & Cincinnati
Anyone who wanted to keep ken Stabler out of the hall of fame for his turnover touchdown ratio really should watch fouts and Bradshaw they turned it over a lot too. It was the style of the game at the time defenses could beat up recievers leading to a lot more int's as well as the lack of west coast style offense creating more deep passes
I Remember Being A Young Steelers Fan At 9 Years Old Crying After My Uncle Was Laughing At Me While The Chargers Beat Up My Team On Monday Night Football !!
John Jefferson looks a lot like Lynn Swann.
He was a little bigger and faster than the great Lynn Swann and may have been more athletic.
ukcatfan383 Oh yeah without a doubt . Green Bay back then had subpar Quarterbacks at best on the other hand Dan Fouts passed the ball like running it would get him fined .And strangely enough you never heard from John Jefferson when he went to Green Bay that is sad because he was a highlight film .
Yeah, but watch the 1980 AFC title game against Oakland. Jefferson dropped at least three passes, including one in the end zone. He wasn't as clutch as Swann.
Yeah that's mind boggling that he played so poorly in that game. I have never seen him drop a ball in another game besides that one. With him looking for a big pay day it almost makes you wonder?
Of all the teams from the Fouts era Chargers the 79 and 80 teams were the best equipped for the Super bowl.Somehow the Oilers beat them in playoffs that year and the following year I hoped and prayed they would beat the Raiders but didn't happen.They stood no chance in the Arctic game against Bengals in 81 and the following year the Dolphins smashed them in 82
I was only about 11 years old when the Chargers traded John Jefferson to Green Bay for I believe 2 first round draft picks. I do not recall why he wanted out of SAN DIEGO, I think it was more money. After being traded to the Packers, Jefferson became a flop in GREEN BAY. The Packers did not have a great QB like DAN FOUTS. So without a good quarterback, Jefferson faded away. I do remember the Chargers getting , BILLY RAY SMITH, and, JAMES BROOKS, with those drat picks. But, when he was with the Chargers, JJ, Was beyond unbelieveable.
Those are some flashy Charger uniforms.
Maybe Pittsburgh goes back in to San Diego and beats them in the AFC title game. I just would've liked to see the Bolts get another crack. They were the only team I think that could've beaten Pittsburgh that year. Not Houston. Not Dallas. Not the Rams. And not Tampa.
absolutely.....people struggled to stop Air Coryell that year. They caught everyone by surprise. I was born into Chargers season seats and was 9 at the time. The place erupted on woody lowe's pick six. that was a great day...it made the loss vs Houston in the playoffs all the more shocking because Pittsburgh was going to lose again if they came back...How they didnt get one trip to the Super Bowl from '79-'81 is headscratching
The Chargers couldn't even get past an undermanned Oilers team in the divisional round of the playoffs so what makes you think that they would have beaten the Steelers in the playoffs,a team that was clearly better than the Oilers. Besides,I don't think Terry Bradshaw would have thrown five interceptions in the AFC championship game.
it wouldnt have mattered- 35-7 is an ass beating. he'd throw three....and pittsburgh wouldnt have been at home as the Chargers had the best record in the AFC....and they throttled pittsburgh in every phase of that game. Granted, it would have been a much different game in the playoffs. The sTeelers were banged up as well in this game..i get all that...I still think, that season, the best team in the AFC was the chargers...who proved what can happen to you when you throw 5 picks, as they returned the favor in that playoff game you speak of. Just one man's opinion..not saying i'm right
The Steelers had more of a balanced attack on offense than the chargers did. And the chargers were pretty much a one demensional offense which would have made them easier to beat in the playoffs. Heck,they only rushed for 63 yards against the Oilers while the Oilers rushed for 148 yards against the Chargers without Earl Campbell. So it was proven from that point on that all you had to do to beat the chargers in the playoffs was to shut down air Coryell just like the Steelers figured out a week later that all they had to do to beat the Oliers was to shut down Earl Campbell who was a major part of the Oilers offense during the late 70's.
fair points....some teams struggled to stop air coryell. Look, Houston beat them with Gifford Neilsen, Mike Renfro and Carpenter taking Pastorini's, Kenny Burrough and Campbells spots...tI was there and watched with my own 2 eyes..They had a good secondary as well, which came up huge. The chargers have a history of beating pittsburgh in the playoffs anyway. They beat them at pittsburgh 3 years later. again, a different team pittsburgh was by then. I dont think pittsburgh could deal with the air attack like Houston did..they could however stop the run with the best of em', hence owning Houston in the playoffs in that era. Yes the chargers couldnt run pre Muncie. But there defense was vastly underrated, and 3/4 of that def line would lead the niners to a few super bowl titles
I miss Dan Fouts!!!
He isn't dead, look him up on twitter and profess your undying love for him.
what gorgeous weather! it could only be California!
The Chargers were the best team in football in '79 and '06, and those two teams won a combined total of 0 playoff games.
Inexcusable that this Charger team lost to the injury depleted Oilers AT HOME in the playoffs . This was their chance
The Steelers would of gone to San Diego had the Chargers won in the playoff game against the Oilers. It would have been tough for Pittsburg to win on the road.
Chargers with Don Coryell and Dan Fouts were not good in the postseason so Steelers would have won.
Were it today's NFL, instant replay would rule that Woodrow Lowe's knee was down before he fumbled and it would be San Diego's ball at the two. No touchdown.
The Woody Lowe touchdown would have been overturned today. First, his knee hit down way before he got into the end zone, and he fumbled before crossing the goal line. A very bad call by the refs.
He was at least 1.5 yards short of end zone........clearly that would get overturned on review today....
But...I was always a Chargers fan so he was in
A rare win thanks to the Chargers defense.
Their '79 D was pretty good. Prob the best of the Coryell/Fouts era. Dropped off after that. Trading Fred Dean certainly didn't help.
Would’ve been very interesting to have seen this matchup in the 1979 afc Championship game. I think Pittsburgh would’ve come out on top
bradshaw had a bad day this day but Fouts choked in the playoff against Houston 5 interceptions four to Vernon Perry
The Steelers got their chance to beat the chargers in a playoff game just a year after this game..the chargers spotted Pittsburgh a seven point lead early due to a fumbled opening kickoff..well you know what happened the rest of the afternoon!
@@francescoavila598 that was actually three years later because the Steelers missed the playoffs in 80 and 81.
Terry Bradshaw ended his career with a TD to INT ratio of 212-210.
He threw 5 INTs and 0 TDs in this game at SD.
One year before Chargers had Kellen Winslow at Tight End . At least i think it was one year .
He got hurt early in the 79 season. He had 255 yards in 7 games as a rookie.
That was the beginningof the end for the Steel Curtain dynasty.
Pitts beat the Rams in a superbowl that year...every team usually has one stinker during the year, this was theirs. Fouts did seem to own the Steelers though...
Looks like players on both teams were trying to throw the game.
This was just a meaningless regular season game with the Steelers having a letdown after winning four in a row. And yes,Terry threw a lot of interceptions but he always on his game when it mattered the most.
San Diego did match up well with Ptitsburgh. It would've been an interesting playoff game between the two teams. Pittsburgh's experience may've been too much though.
Yes,experience matters in the playoffs. The Steelers were a battle tested team while the Chargers went to the playoffs for the first time in a long time. And their inexperience in the playoffs may have played a role in them losing to the Oilers because Houston was also a battle tested team that had made a deep run into the playoffs the year before.
I believe of the games they played with full, healthy squads back then (1979-'82), a playoff encounter in '79 would have been the Steelers best chance to win, not only because of the experience factor, but also because the Chargers didn't have a potent running back, an oversight they corrected during the 1980 season when they acquired Chuck Muncie from the Saints. But of all the teams they played, and maybe it was partly because of age beginning to set in on them, the Air Coryell Chargers were the worst match-up those Steelers teams ever had. And when they finally did meet in the post-season following the 1982 season, the Chargers really had their way with the Steelers after James Brooks gave them 14 first quarter points.
Let's also not forget that this game took place not too many weeks after the Chargers played the Rams in Los Angeles, and that season's other Super Bowl team fared no better than the Steelers did, as the Chargers blew them out just as easily, 40-16.
The lack of a running game hurt the Chargers in the playoffs in 79' because it meant that the Oilers could focus entirely on Dan Fouts and the passing game. And the Steelers committed eight turnovers when they lost 35-7 to the Chargers. And turnovers were also the reason why the Steelers lost to the Bengals and Eagles too! They could be their own worst enemy at times during that last super bowl year.
That was even true in the post-season, because they committed 8 turnovers in the three post-season wins. Terry Bradshaw had an INT returned for a TD in the AFC Championship Game and threw three more in the Super Bowl and had a fourth dropped by Nolan Cromwell.
As for the Chargers, as history would later indicate, Don Coryell as a poor post-season coach (his Cardinals teams had been blown out twice in two attempts) and Dan Fouts was pretty terrible in the post-season with that kind of an arsenal (7 TD, 14 INT in seven post-season games, including two 5 INT games). The lack of a quality RB, which they would rectify during the 1980 season, might have been a factor in their loss to the Oilers, but so was something else.
Somehow, the Oilers coaching staff was able to steal the Chargers' offensive signals, and thus they often knew what play the Chargers were going to run before they even ran it, so their defense had an enormous advantage during the game, and of course, Vernon Perry had what might have been the single greatest game a defensive back has ever played (4 INT, 1 blocked FG).
I remember this game. A lot of turnovers but the nevertheless the Chargers won, which I was glad they did. I was not a Steeler fan. I also remember the divisional playoff game athe Oilers vs. the Chargers. I thought the Chargers would win. Dan Pastorni and Earl Campbell were injured so they did not play for the Oilers. I guess the Chargers were over confident and Dan Fouts didn't have a good day, he had thrown interceptions particularly 4 of them by Vernon Perry. I would had love to had seen a rematch of the Steelers and Chargers.
Oilers DC Eddie Biles had solved the Chargers offensive signals coming in from the sidelines. Wade, son of Bum, sat with a pair of binoculars focused on the hand signals Coryell's ass't Jim Hanifan sent in to Fouts, and relayed the tip-off to Biles. Oilers knew if it was run or pass all game long.
@@timdrhookmccracken I did not know that. Biles and Wade did their home work on the Chargers.
This would end up being the Steelers worst loss in the Chuck Noll era...needless to say after the game, Noll gave the club a profanity laced tongue lashing...particularly towards his quarterback, Terry Bradshaw, who was clearly dominated by the Charger pass rush and secondary...the rant by Noll must have worked in that Pittsburgh went on to take home its 4th Lombardi Trophy that season...still, I don’t think the Steelers wanted to face San Diego again in the postseason...BOLT UP..
Not the worst loss. 1989...51-0 loss to Cleveland.
Bradshaw is one of the worst qb's in the hall of fame.
What a silly comment. 4-0 in superbowl n 14-5 playoff record.
The entire Steelers team had gone out the night before. They all got drunk at a strip bar. Even Chuck Noll was there.
This game had 12 turnovers.
Turnovers galore.
Bradshaw sure threw alot of ints.
The Steelers committed more turnovers that year than anyone else, yet they still won the SB. They were that much better than just about anyone else...
Except the Chargers, who seemed to have the Steelers' number -as long as Fouts was playing.
yes,the steelers were a turnover machine. that's why they also got routed by the bengals that year but when it became playoff time,they took care of business. they didn't lose to a team like oilers and allow 148 yards rushing in a playoff game. And as for chargers,they played great during the regular but choked in the playoffs every year from 79' to 82' because they relied too much on their passing game and not enough on their running game and defense.
thomas warner, I am not ragging on the Steelers bro! The Oilers were a good team. Who knows what would have happened if the refs didn't blow that call in 79.
I don't think it would have mattered. The Steelers were the best 4th quarter team in the NFL. Besides,the Oilers of the late 70's were able to beat everybody else they played in the playoffs except for the steelers because the steelers were the only team that could shut down earl and that oilers running game.
thomas warner , I agree about the Steelers run D, but you take away the td that would have tied the game? If Terry would have had to throw the ball it could have been a different game completely. I'm definitely not a Steeler fan, and dont see them getting to another Superbowl until they get a new coach and a young qb.
I would of liked to see if the Steelers would of beat the Chargers in the 1979 AFC championship. San Diego was better than Houston
Shoot if Chargers would of been playing like this they would of went to the Superbowl a couple of times.It was the matchup they could always beat the Steelers
A shame the Chargers choked errr, looked past the Oilers in the playoffs, long history of that
Geezus, Bradshaw looked awful...
It's strange that Bradshaw made no adjustments. The Chargers doubled up on Swann and Stallworth all day. Why didn't Bradshaw just throw to his tight end, or put in Jim Smith as a third receiver? Even Franco and Bleier can catch passes out of the flat. Bradshaw sometimes was stubborn about throwing the ball into double coverage because he believed he had better receivers.
18:00 Steelers coach is saying to the referee listen Terry's mustache is interfering with his passing I bet if he shaves it he will do better I garrantee you "jajajaja I don't remember this game Terry hasn't so humiliated by a linebacker jajajaja jajajaja. HEY Terry remember that San Diego game of 79 jajajaja jajajaja hilarious
Charger only superbowl win vs Pittsburgh, YES they never won anything but this is as close as they gotten
These worst game these 70s Steelers played.. San Diego was really charged for this one.. it's a embarrassing loss for Pittsburgh.. of course.. the Steelers went on to win their 4th Super Bowl that Season.. 4th in 6 Years..
Bradshaw with a cheesy mustache lol
Steelers were lucky that Houston beat San Diego because the Chargers were a bad match-up for Pittsburgh.
Steelers would have won anyways.
Bradshaw was straight garbage, throwing the ball up for grabs
steelers threw this game and the game against cincinnati earlier in the year...
what is the point of all these partial uploads??
Full games tend to get taken down more often. And I can just re-upload all these to a new channel easier if this channel gets taken down.
Also with these you get all the major drives. You are basically missing non action between plays, short gains, and 3 and outs or drives that never really got anywhere.
Chokin chargers lol
Typical San Diego 0 championships
Chuck Noll..lovely guy....most overrated coach of all time...the guy was no TOM LANDRY.
4 super bowls is overrated?
He ABSOLUTELY CRUSHED tom landry every time he played him.
Silly comment, 4-0 in superbowl.