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Throwback Game of the Week
Week 8 – Chargers at Saints (London) | Archived Throwback Game of the Week
Next week: Patriots at Colts
Series Summary | Memorable Games | Hall of Fame Perspective | Odds 'N Ends | Trivia | At the Hall
Profootballhof.com's Throwback Game of the Week Series - Each week during this season, the NFL’s 89th, Profootballhof.com will reflect on one of the weekend’s matchups. Unlike anywhere on the web, you’ll get inside access to the world’s largest collection on the NFL. The Hall’s archives staff will comb through the millions of documents, artifacts and photos in our collection to help tell the story. The new edition of Throwback Game of the Week will be posted on Profootballhof.com each Thursday throughout the 2008 NFL season. Enjoy!
| Series Summary |
| Sunday’s game at London’s Wembley Stadium marks just the 10th regular season meeting between the New Orleans Saints and San Diego Chargers and the first in four seasons. San Diego has won seven of the nine meetings and has outscored the Saints in those games, 233-131. |
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| Memorable Games |
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 Nov. 18, 1973 – Chargers 17, Saints 14 (San Diego)
This marked the first meeting between the two teams. The Chargers unveiled a wide open style of play in the second game under interim head coach Ron Waller to snap a seven-game losing streak. The Chargers built an early 10-0 lead on a 28-yard field goal by kicker Ray Wersching and an 84-yard punt return by Ron Smith.
The Saints’ Archie Manning completed 21 of 37 passes for 224 yards while John Beasley tied a then-club record with 12 receptions for 127 yards and one TD.
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FROM THE HALL’S ARCHIVES
Play-by-play. See all the details of this game typed out by the official stat crew at the game. PDF (2.36 MB)>>>
MORE FROM PROFOOTBALLHOF.COM
Father and sons. Quarterback Archie Manning had a stellar NFL career. His two sons, Peyton and Eli, have followed in his footsteps. There have been more than 170 father and son tandems who’ve played pro football. List of fathers and sons>>>
See images from the Hall’s collection of Archie from his playing days. View gallery>>>
Picture this. Archie Manning serves as the national spokesperson for the Why do you love football? amateur photo contest. Enter your image today and you could win a trip to Super XLIII and the 2009 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival. Check it out>>>
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Oct. 9, 1988 – Saints 23, Chargers 17 (San Diego)
The Saints overcame a 14-0 first quarter deficit to beat the Chargers for the first time in four games. San Diego built a two-touchdown lead in the game’s first six minutes thanks to a 47-yard TD play from QB Babe Laufenberg to rookie WR Anthony Miller; and a blocked punt recovered in the end zone.
The Saints defense then shut down the Chargers while QB Bobby Hebert threw a pair of touchdowns and kicker Morten Andersen kicked three field goals (27, 35 and 34).
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FROM THE HALL’S ARCHIVES
Game program. See the cover and some selected pages from the stadium program. PDF (3.24 MB)>>>
Cartoon characters. A rare piece of the Hall’s collection is this first issue of a special comic book about the Saints. The cover features Bobby Hebert and Morten Andersen with the Louisiana Superdome in the background. View cover. PDF (2.07 MB)>>>
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Oct. 16, 1994 – Chargers 36, Saints 22 (New Orleans)
The Chargers downed the Saints to improve to 6-0 and remained the NFL’s only unbeaten team. It marked the team’s best start since going
11-0 en route to a berth in the AFL championship game in 1961.
Chargers RB Natrone Means led the charge by rushing for 120 yards on 26 carries and scored 3 TDs (16, 8, and 1). Kicker John Carney was a perfect 5-for-5 on field goals (49, 31, 29, 29, 28).
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FROM THE HALL’S ARCHIVES
Kicker John Carney has had a prolific career. In 1993, he set a milestone record when he connected on his 29th consecutive field goal to establish the new NFL mark, which has since been broken. Carney ran this streak to 29 when he booted his sixth of six field goals in the Chargers 18-17 win over the Houston Oilers on Sept. 19, 1993. View the shoe worn by Carney when he kicked his 29th straight field goal. PDF (1.71 MB) >>>
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Carney is currently the top ranked active scorer. He is No. 4 all-time in total career points. See the updated Top 20 career scorers through last Monday’s game>>>
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Sept. 10, 2000 – Saints 28, Chargers 27 (San Diego)
QB Jeff Blake hooked up with WR Joe Horn on an 8-yard TD pass play with just 43 seconds remaining in the game to give the Saints the win. It marked the first 0-2 start for San Diego since 1992. Blake finished the day with 259 yards and 3 TDs while Horn caught 12 passes for 116 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns.
Chargers’ rookie Ronney Jenkins scored his first NFL touchdown on a 93-yard kickoff return late in the first half.
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FROM THE HALL’S ARCHIVES
Get your program. The Hall’s archives includes a massive collection of game programs dating back to the early 1900s. See pages from the Saints-Chargers game in 2000. PDF (2.35 MB)>>>
Saints go marching on. One of Joe Horn’s jerseys is part of the Hall’s permanent collection. It is the jersey he wore on Sept. 25, 2006 in the first Saints game in the Louisiana Superdome after it was damaged by Hurricane Katrina. See the jersey worn by Horn on that historic day. PDF (1.62 MB)>>>
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Hall of Fame Perspective
Dan Fouts, Class of 1993
 Quarterback Dan Fouts became the third player in NFL history to pass for 40,000 yards in a career. In all, he amassed 43,040 yards and threw 254 touchdowns during his career with the San Diego Chargers from 1973-1987. He was named to the Pro Bowl six times, earned All-Pro honors three times, named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player in 1982 and the AFC Player of the Year in 1979 and 1982.
The Chargers faced the Saints just three times during the course of Fouts’ career. The quarterback played sparingly in the Chargers win over the Saints in his rookie season and then did not play in the 14-0 win over New Orleans in 1977. However, he certainly made his mark in the Chargers’ commanding 35-0 shutout of the Saints in Week 15 of the 1979 season that gave San Diego its first playoff berth since 1965. Fouts led the Chargers to all of its points in the first half before Coach Don Coryell decided to pull his star QB for the second half and save him for the playoffs. In two quarters, Fouts completed 17 of 23 passes for 253 yards, one TD and no interceptions. He finished the day just 156 yards away from breaking Joe Namath’s single-season mark of 4,007 yards passing, a record he surpassed one week later when he helped San Diego to a division title with a win over the Denver Broncos in the season finale.
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| Chargers and Saints Odds 'N Ends |
Legendary quarterback Johnny Unitas ended his Hall of Fame career as a member of the Chargers. The long-time Baltimore Colt played the ’73 season in San Diego. Although he did not finish the year on the Chargers’ active roster, he did make history in San Diego. On September 30, 1973 in a game at home against the Cincinnati Bengals, he completed a 30-yard pass to Mike Garrett to become the first player in NFL history to reach the 40,000-yard passing mark.
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FROM THE HALL’S ARCHIVES
The football Unitas threw to reach 40,000 career passing yards is now prominently displayed in the Hall’s new Moments, Memories & Mementos Gallery. See the football PDF (1.67 MB)>>>
Here is the play-by-play (game book) from the game when “Johnny U” became the first player to reach 40,000 passing yards in a career. PDF (2.55 MB)>>>
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Perhaps the one achievement that stands out most from Unitas’ career was his incredible streak of throwing a TD pass. The record run of games with a touchdown pass is regarded as one of the NFL’s “unbreakable records.” Game-by-game details of Unitas’ record streak>>>
Unitas was 40 years old during his final NFL season. He is one of many players to compete in the NFL at the age of 40 or older. See complete list>>>
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The Chargers venture to London for this weekend’s game is not San Diego’s first trip overseas. The team was a part of NFL history when they traveled to Tokyo, Japan in the 1976 preseason to face the St. Louis Cardinals in the league’s first game played outside North America.
FROM THE HALL’S ARCHIVES
View the cover of the game program from the Chargers’ preseason game played at Korakuen Stadium in Tokyo during the ’76 preseason. PDF (1.42 MB)>>> |
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Saints quarterback Drew Brees began his career in San Diego before joining New Orleans in 2006. He is one of several high profile players who’ve spent significant time with both the Saints and Chargers. Others include running back Chuck Muncie, kicker John Carney and receiver Wes Chandler.
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MORE FROM PROFOOTBALLHOF.COM
See gallery featuring images from the Hall’s collection of these notable players wearing both Saints and Chargers uniforms. Launch gallery>>>
Brees is currently on pace to break the long-standing record for passing yards in a season held by Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino. See the game-by-game comparison of Brees this year vs. Dan Marino’s incredible 1984 season. View page>>>
FROM THE HALL’S ARCHIVES
Check out the card that was delivered to the podium during the 2001 NFL Draft announcing that the San Diego Chargers had selected Brees as the club’s second round draft pick. PDF (491 KB)>>>
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| The Saints first coach Tom Fears led the team from 1967-1970. His final season with the club started, but did not end, on a high note. Fears was one of the NFL’s first big-yardage receivers during his days teaming with fellow Hall of Fame end Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch on the Los Angeles Rams in the 1950s.
He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Aug. 8, 1970. After the enshrinement ceremony, he walked across the street from the Hall of Fame to Fawcett Stadium so he could coach his team in the Hall of Fame Game. The Saints beat the Minnesota Vikings 14-13 in that preseason opener. Unfortunately, the Saints winning ways didn’t continue in the regular season. Fears was relieved of his coaching responsibilities after seven games when his team fell to 1-5-1 following a loss to the Rams.
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The Chargers of the late ’70s and early ’80s were characterized by a high-octane offense. Fueled by Hall of Famers Dan Fouts, Charlie Joiner and Kellen Winslow, the team earned the nickname “Air Coryell” after their offensive minded coach Don Coryell. The Chargers still own the NFL record for consecutive seasons leading the league in passing yardage. San Diego strung together six straight seasons of topping the league in passing yards from 1978-1983.
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MORE FROM PROFOOTBALLHOF.COM
The offensive exploits of the Chargers’ “Air Coryell” is covered in our history section. Read feature>>>
HOF Bios: Fouts | Joiner | Winslow
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| Team Histories |
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Chargers - The Chargers were charter members of the AFL in 1960. With a tremendous offensive attack, the team claimed five division titles in its first six seasons…More>>>
Saints - Appropriately, New Orleans was awarded a franchise on All Saints Day in 1966. Despite not recording a winning record until their 21st season…More>>>
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| Hall of Famers |
| Name, Position, Year of Induction |
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Lance Alworth led the AFL in receiving three times.
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Jim Finks built the Saints into a playoff team.
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CHARGERS
The Chargers have seven long-time members inducted into the Hall of Fame. In addition, four other Hall of Fame members spent part of his career, albeit brief, with San Diego.
Lance Alworth, E, 1978
Fred Dean, DE, 2008
Dan Fouts, QB, 1993
Sid Gillman, Coach, 1983
Charlie Joiner, WR, 1996
*David “Deacon” Jones, DE, 1980
*Larry Little, G, 1993
*John Mackey, TE, 1992
Ron Mix, T, 1979
*Johnny Unitas, QB, 1979
Kellen Winslow, TE, 1995
SAINTS
The Saints have one long-time member inducted into the Hall of Fame. In addition, four other Hall of Fame members spent part of his career, albeit brief, with New Orleans.
*Doug Atkins, DE, 1982
*Earl Campbell, RB, 1991
Jim Finks, Administrator, 1995
*Hank Stram, Coach, 2003
*Notes that the Hall of Famer spent time with the Chargers or Saints but made his major contribution to the NFL with another team.
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| Chargers Trivia |
Saints Trivia |
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1. Which Chargers QB has the best single-season passer rating?
a. Dan Fouts
b. Philip Rivers
c. Drew Brees
d. Stan Humphries
2. Who has the most receptions in Chargers history?
a. Kellen Winslow
b. Anthony Miller
c. Charlie Joiner
d. Lance Alworth
3. Who holds the Chargers’ career record for interceptions?
a. Rodney Harrison
b. Gill Byrd
c. Joe Beauchamp
d. Dick Harris
4. Who has played in the most games in Chargers history?
a. Junior Seau
b. Dan Fouts
c. John Carney
d. David Binn
5. Which coach has the most victories with the Chargers?
a. Don Coryell
b. Marty Schottenheimer
c. Sid Gillman
d. Bobby Ross
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1. Who is the Saints all-time leader in touchdowns?
a. Deuce McAllister
b. George Rogers
c. Joe Horn
d. Dalton Hilliard
2. Who is the Saints career leader in passing TDs?
a. Bobby Hebert
b. Archie Manning
c. Jim Everett
d. Aaron Brooks
3. Which coach has the most victories with the Saints?
a. Dick Nolan
b. Hank Stram
c. Bum Phillips
d. Jim Mora
4. Who holds the single-season interception record for the Saints?
a. Dave Whitsell
b. Dave Waymer
c. Sammy Knight
d. Ashley Ambrose
5. Who has played in the most games in Saints history?
a. Rickey Jackson
b. Morten Andersen
c. Sam Mills
d. Archie Manning
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| At the Hall |
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Many mementos from the Chargers and Saints are at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Here are two such artifacts enjoyed by visitors to the museum in Canton.
Read the caption under the image below and then take a guess at what you’re looking at. Click on the picture for the full photo and more information on the treasured artifact.
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Hall of Fame wide receiver Charlie Joiner was a part of one of the most memorable games in pro football history.
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Saints kicker Tom Dempsey used his foot to earn recognition in the NFL's record books.
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