1998 San Diego Chargers season

1998 San Diego Chargers season
Head coach	Kevin Gilbride June Jones
General manager	Bobby Beathard
Owner	Alex Spanos
Home field	Qualcomm Stadium
Results
Record	5–11
Division place	5th AFC West
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1998 San Diego Chargers season began with the team trying to improve on their 4–12 record in 1997. It was Kevin Gilbride’s final season as the teams head coach. The team's defense lead 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.

Offseason

NFL Draft

1st round 2nd overall Ryan Leaf

Personnel

Staff

1998 San Diego Chargers staff
	Front office Chairman of the Board – Alex Spanos President/Vice Chairman – Dean Spanos General Manager – Bobby Beathard Director of Player Personnel – Billy Devaney Director of Pro Personnel – Greg Gaines Coordinator of Football Operations – Ed McGuire Head coaches Head Coach – Kevin Gilbride Assistant Head Coach – Nick Nicolau Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Mike Sheppard Quarterbacks – June Jones Running Backs – Ollie Wilson Tight Ends – Bill MacDermott Offensive Line – Joe Bugel Offensive Assistant – Mike Cavanaugh			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Joe Pascale Defensive Line – Wayne Nunnely Linebackers – Jim Vechiarella Defensive Backs – Rod Perry Defensive Assistant – Kevin Lempa Special teams coaches Special Teams – Frank Novak Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – John Hastings

Regular season

The opening game for 1998 constituted the first time since 1985 that the Chargers played the Buffalo Bills. 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.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Attendance
1	September 6, 1998	Buffalo Bills	W 16–14	64,037
2	September 13, 1998	at Tennessee Oilers	W 13–7	41,089
3	September 20, 1998	at Kansas City Chiefs	L 7–23	73,730
4	September 27, 1998	New York Giants	L 16–34	55,672
5	October 4, 1998	at Indianapolis Colts	L 12–17	51,988
6	October 11, 1998	at Oakland Raiders	L 6–7	42,467
7	October 18, 1998	Philadelphia Eagles	W 13–10	56,967
8	October 25, 1998	Seattle Seahawks	L 20–27	58,512
9	Bye
10	November 8, 1998	at Denver Broncos	L 10–27	74,925
11	November 15, 1998	Baltimore Ravens	W 14–13	54,388
12	November 22, 1998	Kansas City Chiefs	W 38–37	59,894
13	November 29, 1998	Denver Broncos	L 16–31	66,532
14	December 6, 1998	at Washington Redskins	L 20–24	65,713
15	December 13, 1998	at Seattle Seahawks	L 17–38	62,690
16	December 20, 1998	Oakland Raiders	L 10–17	60,716
17	December 27, 1998	at Arizona Cardinals	L 13–16	71,670

Game summaries

Week 1

1 2 3 4 Total Bills 0 0 7 7 14 • Chargers 3 0 10 3 16 Date: September 6 Location: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, CA Game start: 4:15 p.m. EST Game weather: 73°F; wind 9 Television network: CBS

Scoring summary Q1 SD Carney 48 yard field goal SD 3–0 Q3 SD Still 6 yard pass from Leaf (Carney kick) SD 10–0 Q3 BUF Reed 43 yard pass from Flutie (Christie kick) SD 10–7 Q3 SD Carney 47 yard field goal SD 13–7 Q4 BUF Reed 5 yard pass from Flutie (Christie kick) BUF 14–13 Q4 SD Carney 54 yard field goal SD 16–14

Standings

AFC West
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
(1) Denver Broncos	14	2	0	.875	501	309	W1
Oakland Raiders	8	8	0	.500	288	356	L1
Seattle Seahawks	8	8	0	.500	372	310	L1
Kansas City Chiefs	7	9	0	.438	327	363	W1
San Diego Chargers	5	11	0	.313	241	342	L5