San Diego's defense led the league in yards allowed; however, a weak offense under infamous draft bust quarterback Ryan Leaf meant that the team was last in the AFC West.
The ineffective offense and rookie Leaf's obnoxious behavior toward teammates damaged morale; outside linebacker Lew Bush recalled"Try going into a game you have no chance of winning, knowing that if you give up more than one touchdown, it's overStrong safety Rodney Harrison described the season asa nightmare you can't even imagine.
[8] The reason for this is that before the admission of the Texans in 2002, NFL scheduling formulas for games outside a team's division were much more influenced by table position during the previous season.
The lone Tennessee score was aided by a fake punt on 4th and 10; after Natrone Means put the Chargers up 13–7 in the 3rd quarter, the Oilers failed to cross midfield in their final four possessions.
The Chiefs' defense brought Ryan Leaf savagely back down to earth, as he posted the only 0.0 passer rating by any QB during the 1998 season.
Leaf completed 1 pass in 15 attempts for 4 yards, with no touchdowns and two interceptions – he also lost three fumbles, committing five turnovers on the Chargers' first seven possessions.
An improvement saw John Carney hit three field goals in quick succession, sandwiched around the halftime break, closing the gap to 12 points.
Manning had the better start, hitting Marshall Faulk for the opening score after Leaf had been intercepted; a trick play on the conversion made it 8–0 to the Colts.
Indianapolis recovered an onside kick attempt and added a field goal, before stopping San Diego on downs with 33 seconds remaining.
On their next possession, the Chargers quit attempting to pass entirely, calling nothing but runs on a 13 play, 68-yard drive that took up most of the 4th quarter, and led to Carney's second field goal.
In a familiar story, it was Natrone Means (112 yards) and the defense who led San Diego as they broke their four-game losing streak.
Norman Hand intercepted a tipped pass to set up the game-winning field goal, and Junior Seau ended the final Eagles threat when he recovered a fumble caused by Charles Dimry.
Leaf led the team all the way down to the Seahawks' 3-yard line, converting a 4th and 6 en route, but then threw three incompletions as time expired.
San Diego could muster only two first downs through their first eight drives, which ended with seven punts and an interception thrown to ex-Charger Darrien Gordon by Leaf, who was then benched; his figures were 4 completions from 15 attempts, for just 26 yards.
With the Broncos out of reach up 27–0, Craig Whelihan came in and had some success moving the offense, leading a 92-yard drive capped by a touchdown pass to Freddie Jones.
Interim head coach June Jones named Whelihan the new starting QB after the game, a position he would remain in for the rest of the season.
Whelihan won his first start of the season, though it was again the defense who deserved most of the credit, holding the Ravens to 161 total yards and eight first downs all game.
Natrone Means sustained a season-ending foot injury, and Whelihan completed only 15 passes from 42 attempts, though he did manage a 47-yard touchdown to Charlie Jones.
Ravens' errors played a part in the second Charger touchdown, as they twice prolonged the drive with penalties for leverage on field goal attempts.
A controversial play occurred with six minutes left in the game, when Jermaine Lewis fell while hurdling a trip from punter Darren Bennett, got back to his feet and completed what appeared to be a 90-yard touchdown return.
San Diego began brightly, a pair of rushing touchdowns by Terrell Fletcher and Tremayne Stephens putting them up 17–7 in the 2nd quarter.
Whelihan committed a pair of turnovers, and Bam Morris scored three times as the Chiefs ran off 27 unanswered points, going up 34–17 early in the 4th quarter.
In a scrappy game, where San Diego lost the turnover battle 6–4, a 13-yard Terrell Fletcher run drew the Chargers within four points late in the 1st quarter.
Despite managing to intercept John Elway on the next three Denver possessions (he only threw 10 picks all season), the Chargers didn't get that close to scoring again until the 4th quarter, when a 47-yard touchdown reception by Bryan Still was little more than a consolation.
However, Trent Green threw a 20-yard touchdown to Leslie Shepherd with 1:48 to play, which stood up as the winning score after a Whelihan pass went through the hands of Freddie Jones and was intercepted.
San Diego's defense made the first big play, Jamal Williams running an interception back 14 yards for a game-tying score.
Whelihan threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Mikhael Ricks, but the Chargers missed numerous scoring chances, three times turning the ball over on downs in Raider territory, and once via an interception.