1988 San Diego Chargers season
Saunders was fired the day after the season finale, amid rumors of friction between the head coach and Director of Football Operations Steve Ortmayer.
[10] Pro Bowl left tackle Jim Lachey expressed discontentment in San Diego, and was traded to the Raiders for second-year lineman John Clay and a pair of draft picks.
[13] San Diego looked to the free agent market for their replacement at quarterback, acquiring eight-year veteran Mark Malone from Pittsburgh on April 12, in exchange for an eight-round draft pick.
[18] Also in the defensive backfield, Leonard Coleman was acquired from the Colts in exchange for a 12th round draft pick,[19] and two weeks into the season, Sam Seale was brought in from the LA Raiders after to replace an injured Pat Miller.
[1] The receiving corps lacked experience - Jamie Holland, in his second year, led the team with 536 yards, while rookies Quinn Early and Anthony Miller caught the most touchdowns, with four and three respectively.
[2] Darren Flutie, another rookie, caught a pair of touchdowns - thirteen years later, his elder brother Doug would join the Chargers as their starting quarterback.
In the early stages, San Diego's defense held the Raiders at bay, with Lee Williams forcing a fumble in Charger territory; following Laufenberg's error, Los Angeles drove 52 yards and Marcus Allen opened the scoring.
NFL debutant and future Hall of Famer Tim Brown sliced through the Charger coverage on the ensuing kickoff, for a 97-yard touchdown and 14–3 Raider lead at the intermission.
San Diego trimmed the deficit with another Abbott kick after halftime, then drove to a 1st and 10 on the Raider 17, courtesy of Early's 37-yard reverse and Laufenberg's fourth down sneak.
Dave Krieg led his team into Charger territory on the game's first possession, before an onrushing Tyrone Keys batted a pass in the air for Browner to intercept behind the line of scrimmage - the linebacker returned the ball 55 yards for a touchdown.
Abbott missed a field goal on the ensuing drive, and Johnson's second successful kick trimmed the lead to four points with 9:27 to play in the final quarter.
Laufenberg went deep over the middle to Quinn Early for the first score, before Anderson, who rushed six times for 70 yards across the two drives, veered outside right end and raced past the Kansas City defense for a 30-yard touchdown.
San Diego failed to pass midfield on their first five drives of the game, though Denver also struggled, managing only two Rich Karlis field goals from three attempts.
After Karlis missed his seventh field goal try of the game, the Chargers had one final chance - this time, they got as far as the Denver 14 before Malone threw four straight incompletions, the last with 39 seconds to play.
Two plays later, Laufenberg connected with Miller for a 47-yard touchdown - the receiver caught the ball in stride on a slanting pattern from left to right, easily outrunning the defense for his first career score.
In reply, New Orleans went three-and-out; when they attempted to punt, Vencie Glenn burst untouched through the middle of the line to block the kick, with Roy Bennett recovering in the end zone.
In reply, New Orleans drove all the way from their own 8 to the Charger 3, but on the 17th play of the drive Lee Williams hit Bobby Hebert from behind, causing the ball to pop right into the hands of Tyrone Keys.
That score came with 76 seconds to play in the half, but there was time for more Charger points, Leonard Coleman recovering a fumble and Malone finding Darren Flutie over the middle for a 21-yard touchdown.
San Diego's best chance ended with Malone being intercepted on 1st and 10 from the Miami 44, and the quarterback's final desperation pass was picked off inside the Dolphin five as time expired.
Tim Spencer carried four times for 52 yards on an 80-yard drive, which finished when Malone beat the blitz to find Miller on a quick slant in the front of the end zone.
Malone then fumbled the snap and Seattle recovered; they drove 58 yards the other way, scoring a crucial touchdown when John L. Williams narrowly broke the plane of the end zone on 3rd and goal.
Billy Ray Smith's end zone interception on the next drive temporarily preserved the lead, but the offense didn't cross the Raider 40 again all game.
Los Angeles also found points hard to come by, but levelled the score in the 2nd quarter, and eventually went ahead through a Steve Beuerlein touchdown pass 12:24 from the end of the game.
Both kickers missed field goals in the first half, before James' 14-yard punt return set the Chargers up at the Atlanta 26, and they drove close enough for Abbott to hit a chip shot 23-yarder.
After a 2-yard run by Anderson, Rod Bernstine took a short pass over the middle, shrugged off two tacklers close to midfield, and broke up the right sideline before being corralled at the Falcon 14, a gain of 57 yards.
Miller did even better, returning the ensuing kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown - he started out towards the left side of the field, weaved inside several tacklers, and broke to the right sideline, where he beat the last defender for pace.
[65] Williams appeared to have recovered a fumble in Rams territory soon afterwards, but the takeaway was overruled on replay review, and Los Angeles went on to score a touchdown from that drive.
On the next Charger possession, Vlasic injured a knee while being knocked down after a pass attempt;[67] Malone entered the game, but was immediately intercepted, leading to a Rams field goal.
Pittsburgh drove inside the Charger 10 shortly before halftime, but a trick play backfired when wide receiver Louis Lipps attempted a pass that Byrd intercepted in the end zone.
The Chiefs began the game on the front foot, taking the opening kickoff and going 80 yards for a touchdown in four plays, aided when Seale was flagged for a 40-yard pass interference penalty.
