On November 30, 1980 the Philadelphia Eagles faced the San Diego Chargers at Jack Murphy Stadium, and with the now Los Angeles Chargers taking on the Eagles on Monday night to close out the weekly NFL slate of games, the 1980 clash will be our Throwback Thursday feature. The game was a bit of a clash of titans at that time. The Eagles entered the match with an 11-1 record, sitting atop the NFC East standings on their way to a Super Bowl appearance. Meanwhile, the Chargers were in their “Air Coryell” era, an offensive machine named for head coach Don Coryell.
Despite the Eagles owning a stout defense, San Diego owned the entire first half. The Air Coryell machine, powered by quarterback Dan Fouts, opened the first and second quarter scoring with touchdown passes of 14 and 17 yards to All Pro tight end Kellen Winslow. Add in 2 Rolf Benirschke field goals (and a missed extra point) and the Chargers led 19-0 at the halftime break. Coryell’s club may have gotten a little complacent with that lead as the second half unfolded. Costly fumbles (a total of 3 on the day) allowed the Eagles to rally. Star running back Wilbert Montgomery provided the only scoring in the third quarter with a 1 yard touchdown plunge, while Benirschke booted his third field goal in the final quarter to up his team’s lead to 22-7.
The proud Eagles stormed back to put a scare into their hosts. Quarterback Ron Jaworski, nicknamed “The Polish Rifle”, engineered a pair of touchdown drives, ending with scoring passes of 16 yards to tight end Keith Krepfle and 11 yards to Montgomery. With no 2 point conversion option available at that time, the Eagles fell short by a point, losing by a 22-21 count. The Chargers’ dynamic wide receiver, John Jefferson, burned the Philly defense with 8 catches for 164 yards to complement Winslow’s 6 grabs for 89 yards and 2 TDs. Montgomery led the Eagle attack, totaling 139 yards of offensive production.
Both teams qualified for the postseason, with the Eagles advancing all the way to the Super Bowl, where they would lose to the team that eliminated the Chargers in the AFC Championship game, the Oakland Raiders.
Chargers’ John Jefferson beats the Eagles’ defense (Focus On Sport/Getty Image)