1994 San Diego Chargers season
On defense, Junior Seau and Leslie O'Neal repeated as the club leaders in tackles and sacks respectively; Stanley Richard ran two of his four interceptions back for touchdowns.
[2] This created a new challenge for teams trying to retain their top players and to a major turnover of personnel in San Diego, with ten starters from 1993 cut, traded or leaving through free agency.
"[9] The Chargers replaced Plummer with Dennis Gibson, a seven-year veteran who had spent his entire career with the Detroit Lions and was credited with 479 tackles,[a] the ninth-most in the history of that franchise.
San Diego had picked up potential replacements in Vance Johnson (a nine-year veteran with the Broncos with a recent history of injuries) and Tony Martin (a backup for the bulk of his four years in Miami).
After Beathard was unable to rework Butts' contract to save cap space, he was traded to the New England Patriots in exchange for the teams swapping third round draft picks.
"[18] Guard Isaac Davis was mostly a backup in 1994, eventually starting 29 games over four seasons with the Chargers;[19] Tackle Vaughn Parker also saw little action as a rookie, but went on to have a 10-season, 107-start career in San Diego.
[23] He maintained his reputation for physical play through an NFL career that lasted fifteen seasons (the first nine with San Diego), and was named the Chargers' best late-round steal in a 2016 ESPN article.
Running backs (RB) Wide receivers (WR) Tight ends (TE) Defensive linemen (DL) Defensive backs (DB) Special teams Reserve [31][32][33][34] Means took his first preseason carry for 43 yards, and Stan Humphries completed his first pass for 36 yards and a touchdown to Shawn Jefferson; later, Willie Clark added an 86-yard interception return touchdown, but the Charger backups generated little offense once they entered the game and Atlanta won 21–17.
Ross praised the sharp play of Humphries, who threw touchdowns to Seay and Jefferson in the first half; Gilbert added one to H-Back Alfred Pupunu in an easy victory.
His form matched that of the team in general, as he led the AFC in passer rating through the early winning streak, endured a midseason slump and finished with two strong performances.
[57] The starting tight ends Pupunu and Duane Young were used primarily to block, but Harmon supplemented the wide receivers with 58 catches playing mainly as a third-down back.
Late in the opening quarter, Martin attempted to pass on a trick play but was intercepted by Patrick Hunter, who returned the ball 51 yards before Curtis Whitley made the tackle.
On the first Chargers offensive series, Harmon's receptions converted a pair of third downs and Carney made his first field goal; on the next, Jefferson drew a 50-yard pass interference penalty on 3rd and 12 from the San Diego 49, and Means scored two plays later.
Kansas City gained a first down on the San Diego 32 late in the half, but Mims sacked Joe Montana, Davis recovered, and the score remained 13–3 at the break.
Means appeared to have scored two plays later, but Pupunu was called for offensive holding, pushing the Chargers back 10 yards and leading them to settle for another field goal.
[81] Denver took the second half kickoff and drove to the San Diego 6-yard line, from where they tried a fake field goal – Mims tackled the ball carrier for a loss of four yards.
Means had a 20-yard run on the next play, and the Chargers reached a 3rd and 8 from the Seattle 21 before Martin's apparent touchdown catch was dubiously ruled out of bounds and Carney made his second field goal.
[85] Atlanta converted three 3rd downs on their opening drive, scoring the game's lone touchdown when Terance Mathis broke Sean Vanhorse's tackle attempt en route to the end zone.
Harper's interception of Jeff George gave San Diego possession at the Atlanta 33-yard line with 18 seconds to play, but Gilbert was sacked, forcing the Chargers to use their final timeout.
Danan Hughes caught his next pass in bounds at the San Diego 30; the Chiefs scrambled to stop the clock, but Montana spiked the ball just after time had run out.
[89] The game's ending had some controversy, as Montana was jostled by O'Neal and Lee as they made their way over to their side of the line of scrimmage, making it harder for him to spike the ball quickly.
Martin dropped another long touchdown pass on the following drive; Harmon later ran for 9 yards on 4th and 2, but San Diego eventually settled for Carney's first field goal.
[97] The Rams opened the second half by going three-and-out, and Gordon returned the punt 75 yards up the left sideline for a touchdown before Harmon's two-point run tied the score.
[98] A loss by Kansas City the previous day had left the Chargers one win from clinching the division, but Jeff Hostetler capitalized on an error by Richard to throw a touchdown pass on the Raiders' first play.
Hostetler was back for the next Los Angeles possession, throwing a 54-yard completion to James Jett (Richard made a touchdown-saving tackle) but getting intercepted by Griggs two plays later.
Seay drew a 27-yard pass interference penalty to move San Diego back into Jets territory later in the 3rd quarter, but Means lost another fumble, this time on 1st and 10 from the 12-yard line.
The Dolphin defense then lost track of Seay as he ran through the line of scrimmage and made his way to the right flat, where he was wide open for the winning touchdown with 35 seconds left.
Eric Castle's 32-yard pass interference penalty moved the ball to San Diego's 30, from where Marino twice threw incomplete before Stoyanovich came on for the decisive field goal try, which missed wide right by a distance.
San Diego secured their first Super Bowl berth by overcoming a ten-point deficit and making a late goal-line stand against the heavily favored Steelers.
The Steelers had chances to add to their lead; Mims forced Barry Foster to fumble near midfield with Carrington recovering, then Pittsburgh were backed up by a holding penalty after reaching the San Diego 27 and eventually punted.
