1980: Earl Campbell Has 4th 200-Yard Rushing Game of Season

The Houston Oilers nailed down a wild card playoff spot when they hosted the Minnesota Vikings in the Astrodome on December 21, 1980. By pulling out a 20-16 win, they finished with an 11-5 record along with Cleveland atop the AFC Central; however, the Browns won the division due to a better conference record.

Appropriately, it was RB Earl Campbell scoring the winning touchdown, on a three-yard run. With 203 yards on 29 carries, he topped the 200-yard rushing mark for a record fourth time during the ’80 season.

The pile-driving Campbell’s first two 200-yard games of the year had come in consecutive weeks – 203 yards on 33 carries against Tampa Bay on Oct. 19 and 27 rushes for 202 yards vs. Cincinnati on Oct. 26. His highest total, 206 yards on 31 attempts, occurred at Chicago on Nov. 16. As was the case in the season finale against Minnesota, all four games were won by the Oilers. All totaled, Campbell ran the ball 120 times for 814 yards (a 6.8-yard average) and three touchdowns in the four contests.

In the remaining 11 games (he missed one due to injury), Campbell gained 1120 yards on 253 attempts for a 4.4-yard average and 10 scores. As a result, he achieved career-high marks in yards (1934) and attempts (373) for a 5.2-per-rush average and 13 touchdowns – all league-leading figures. It was Campbell’s third consecutive NFL rushing title in three seasons, although it would also be his last.

Much had been expected of the Oilers entering the season, as they had reached the AFC Championship game the previous two years (falling to division rival Pittsburgh on each occasion) and had pulled off a significant trade during the offseason by dealing QB Dan Pastorini to Oakland for QB Ken Stabler. However, Stabler proved to be on the downside of his career, throwing far too many interceptions. The team was at its best when running a two-tight end offense (after TE Dave Casper was picked up from the Raiders during the season) with Stabler throwing high percentage passes and Campbell running the ball often.

Houston lost in the wild card round, 27-7, at Oakland, which cost Head Coach Bum Phillips his job (and which in turn also caused Campbell to demand a contract re-negotiation). Campbell’s numbers, while still good, dropped off as new Head Coach Ed Biles sought to diversify the offense. But the three-season playoff run was over.

The 5’11”, 232-pound Earl Campbell’s physical style of running made him a formidable power runner, but also shortened his effective career. By the time he reached the end of the line, reunited with Coach Phillips in New Orleans, the player known as “The Tyler Rose” (he was from Tyler, Texas) was only a shell of the great back that he had been. But in 1980, he was the most dominant running back in the game, and one who largely carried his team as far as it could go.

1982: Wes Chandler Gains 260 Receiving Yards on Way to 1032 in Short Season

There were many offensive superlatives in the game between the San Diego Chargers and Cincinnati Bengals at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium on December 20, 1982. In a wild offensive battle, Chargers QB Dan Fouts passed for over 400 yards for the second week in a row (435) while Cincinnati’s Ken Anderson threw for 416. Adding a 66-yard TD on an option pass by San Diego RB Chuck Muncie, the teams combined for an NFL record 883 yards through the air (broken in 1986). The Chargers alone accounted for a franchise-record 661 yards of total offense.

Anderson completed 40 of 56 passes; 9 of them, for 156 yards, went to WR Cris Collinsworth, while another 8 for 81 yards were caught by TE Dan Ross. San Diego TE Kellen Winslow gathered in 6 passes for 116 yards, and RB James Brooks ran for 105 yards on just 12 carries with three touchdowns. The hard-fought game was finally won by the Chargers, 50-34, who scored 33 points in the second half (23 in the third quarter alone).

In the midst of this, WR Wes Chandler caught 10 passes for 260 yards and two TDs, including the option toss from Muncie in the first quarter and a 38-yard catch from Fouts in the third quarter. For Chandler, it was the biggest day in a season in which he accumulated over a thousand pass receiving yards in just eight games.

San Diego was already well-established as a high-flying passing offense prior to ’82. The coming of Head Coach Don Coryell in 1978 and the blossoming of Fouts, who had his first of three consecutive 4000-yard passing seasons in ’79, turned the Chargers into a formidable offensive powerhouse that posed a significant challenge to opposing defenses. When deep threat WR John Jefferson’s contract dispute led to his being traded to Green Bay early in the 1981 season, the Chargers quickly dealt for Chandler, a standout receiver with a poor team in New Orleans.

The San Diego passing game didn’t miss a beat in the transition from Jefferson to Chandler, with the steady Charlie Joiner holding down the other wide receiver spot and Winslow, one of the greatest pass receiving tight ends in pro football history, contributing his share (he led the AFC in receptions three years in a row and the entire NFL once). Chandler caught 52 passes for 857 yards and five touchdowns in the remaining 12 games of the season.

An eight-week player strike shortened the 1982 season to nine games. Chandler had gone over a hundred yards in the opening game at Denver, and had 118 on 7 catches in the first contest following the strike against the Raiders at Los Angeles. He missed the next week with an injury, but then gathered in 7 passes for 125 yards and three scores at San Francisco the week before the Cincinnati matchup.

The 260-yard performance marked the second of five consecutive games in which Chandler went over a hundred yards receiving as he ended up with 1032 on 49 catches for a 21.1-yard average and 9 touchdowns in just half of a normal season of play. He averaged 129 yards a game and led the NFL, naturally enough, in receiving yards as well as TD receptions.


Of course, it was no accident that Fouts (pictured at left) once again had a big year throwing the ball, leading the league for the fourth consecutive season in passing yards (2883) and second straight time in touchdown passes (17). He had the two consecutive 400-yard games, having outdueled San Francisco’s Joe Montana the week prior to the Cincinnati game, 444 yards and 5 TDs to 356 yards and 3 scoring tosses. His passing yardage per game was a career-best 320.3.

The Chargers, having avenged their defeat by the Bengals in the AFC Championship game the previous year, went on to complete the regular season with a 6-3 record. However, as they had in each of the last three postseasons, San Diego came up short in winning the first round over Pittsburgh but losing to Miami in the second stage of the tournament format that was used in place of the usual playoff structure due to the shorter season (the Chargers had been seeded fifth of the qualifying eight conference teams). Cincinnati, with a 7-2 tally, was seeded third and lost to the New York Jets in the first playoff round.

As the games against the 49ers and Bengals suggest, as much as the Chargers could score points, the defense gave up prodigious amounts through the air as well. While the team contended, provided plenty of excitement, and set numerous records through the 1979-82 time period, it was unable to make it to the Super Bowl.

1948: Eagles Defeat Cardinals in Blizzard for NFL Championship

The NFL championship matchup on December 19, 1948 was a repeat of the previous year, but the weather was not. The field was frozen when the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Cardinals met in ’47 at Comiskey Park, but in this instance a heavy winter storm dumped snow on Philadelphia all day. While a protective tarpaulin had been placed over the field, the snow had accumulated so heavily on it that the players had to assist the grounds crew in its removal a half hour before the game. Even then, the turf at Shibe Park was completely covered at the kickoff.

Eagles Head Coach Greasy Neale was in favor of postponing the contest, but Commissioner Bert Bell, citing the sellout crowd (28,864 actually showed up) and the national radio audience, suggested that the players decide. To Bell’s satisfaction, both teams wanted to play, and play they did. The Commissioner ruled that the first down chain would be used, but there would be no measurements – the referee would rule on all first downs. Ropes were tied to stakes to mark the sidelines.

The game started a half hour late, at two o’clock rather than the scheduled 1:30. Fortunately, Eagles star halfback Steve Van Buren arrived about an hour before the game – he had gone back to bed when he saw the heavy snow in the morning, thinking the contest would be postponed, but got up and made it to Shibe Park in time (some accounts claim that a nervous Coach Neale phoned him). He was the key to the Eagles offense and the NFL’s leading rusher for the third time in four seasons (945 yards). After losing the first game of the season and tying the second, Philadelphia had put together eight straight wins on the way to a 9-2-1 record. Aside from Van Buren, the offense boasted the league’s leading passer in QB Tommy Thompson, speedy halfback Bosh Pritchard, end Pete Pihos, and an excellent line.

The Cardinals, defending NFL champions, had won the Western Division with an 11-1 tally and were considered five point favorites against Philadelphia. They had an outstanding backfield of QB Paul Christman, halfbacks Charley Trippi and Elmer Angsman, and FB Pat Harder. Ends Mal Kutner and Bill Dewell were solid receivers. On this day, however, they were without the injured Christman.

The Eagles attempted a big play on their very first possession, in spite of the weather, with Thompson firing for an apparent 65-yard touchdown pass to end Jack Ferrante. However, Ferrante was penalized for being offside and the play came back. Neither team was able to mount any sort of passing attack for the rest of the contest.

Both teams turned the ball over three times in what became a battle for field position and ball control. Tough defense, and missed field goals, prevented either squad from scoring until the biggest turnover of the game late in the third quarter. Joe Muha of the Eagles had booted a punt that went out of bounds at Chicago’s 19 yard line. On the first play, a mixup in the Cardinals backfield caused backup QB Ray Mallouf to fumble the handoff to Angsman and Eagles middle guard Bucko Kilroy recovered at the 17. On the last play of the third quarter, Pritchard ran for six yards to the 11 yard line. Muha, the fullback as well as punter, plowed for three yards to start the final period and then QB Thompson gained three. Van Buren rumbled the final five yards, diving into the snowy end zone, for the only touchdown of the game (pictured). Cliff Patton’s extra point made the score 7-0, and the Eagles defense made it hold up.

The passing statistics were negligible. “One-Eyed” Tommy Thompson completed just two of 12 passes for 7 yards with two interceptions. For the Cardinals, Mallouf, Trippi, and QB Charley Eikenberg combined for three completions in 11 attempts for 35 yards and an interception. In the battle for ball control, it had been the ground game that mattered most, and the Eagles outrushed Chicago (225 yards to 96) and accumulated the most first downs (16 to 6). Van Buren picked up 98 yards on 26 carries, while Pritchard had gained 67 yards on 16 attempts and Thompson accounted for 50 yards on 11 rushes. By contrast, the leading rusher for the Cardinals was Angsman, who had decimated Philadelphia the year before, with 33 yards on 10 attempts.

The championship was the first for the Eagles, in their second try, and they would be back again the next year. For the Cardinals, however, there would be a long playoff drought that lasted until 1974, well after the team had relocated to St. Louis.

1995: Young to Rice Leads 49ers Over Vikings

The Monday night matchup at San Francisco’s 3Com Park on December 18, 1995 promised to be a good one. The host 49ers, defending league champions, were 10-4 and leading the NFC West by two games, while the visiting Minnesota Vikings had an 8-6 record and were fighting for a playoff spot.

San Francisco started fast, with three first quarter touchdowns. QB Steve Young hit WR Jerry Rice for an eight-yard score, although the PAT attempt failed. RB Dexter Carter returned a punt 78 yards for a TD, and RB Derek Loville ran for a successful two-point conversion. It was Young to Rice again, this time on a 46-yard pass play that staked the 49ers to a 21-0 lead.

The Vikings fought back in the second quarter. Placekicker Fuad Reveiz got them on the board with a 29-yard field goal, and then QB Warren Moon threw a six-yard scoring pass to WR Cris Carter that cut the 49ers margin to 21-10. With just over six minutes left in the half, Rice scored for the third time on a Young pass play that covered 31 yards (for the second time, the extra point attempt failed). Minnesota got a break with a 42-yard return of an interception by CB Donald Frank that set up Moon’s second TD pass of the game, again to Carter for two yards. When Reveiz hit on a 43-yard field goal as time ran out, the San Francisco lead was just seven points (27-20).

Once again in the third quarter the Vikings got a break thanks to the defense as they recovered a fumble by the 49ers on the San Francisco 19 yard line. A six-yard Moon touchdown pass to WR Jake Reed evened the score at 27-27. The 49ers roared back on a 67-yard drive highlighted by a 41-yard Young to Rice pass play and regained the lead with a 20-yard Jeff Wilkins field goal.


It was Young and Rice figuring prominently on the 80-yard fourth quarter drive that, in effect, put the game away for the Niners. Rice caught two passes totaling 62 yards, and Young ran in from five yards out for the touchdown. While Reveiz kicked one more field goal for the Vikings, the game ended up a 37-30 win for San Francisco.

Young put up big passing numbers, accumulating 425 yards while completing 30 of 49 passes that included three TDs and two interceptions. Rice was the chief target, catching 14 passes for a career-high 289 yards (a Monday Night Football record), with three touchdowns. The running game had been negligible – the 49ers gained a total of just 43 yards on 23 carries, with Loville leading the way at 21 yards on 12 attempts.

Minnesota’s Moon couldn’t keep pace, completing 22 of 39 passes for 224 yards with three touchdowns and none picked off. Carter was his top receiver, catching 12 passes for 88 yards and the two scores. The Vikings weren’t much better running the ball, with 75 yards on 18 attempts; RB Amp Lee led all runners with 44 yards on five carries, with a 24-yard gain assisting his total.

San Francisco lost the season finale the next week to end at 11-5 and at the top of the division. However, they didn’t repeat as champions - while they won in the wild card round over Philadelphia, they lost the ensuing divisional playoff to the Green Bay Packers. Minnesota lost in the last week as well to finish at 8-8 and in fourth place in the NFC Central Division.

Steve Young missed five games during the season, but still threw for 3200 yards and led the NFL in completion percentage (66.9); however, for the only time in the seven years from 1991 through ’97, he failed to lead the NFL in passing. Jerry Rice caught a career-high 122 passes, placing him one behind the league leader, Detroit’s Herman Moore. He had his tenth consecutive thousand-yard receiving season while setting a league record with 1848 yards (for a per-game average of 115.5 yards; he averaged 15.5 yards per catch). He also reached double figures in touchdown receptions (15) for the seventh straight year and tenth time in 11 seasons. Rice was a consensus 1st team All-NFL selection for the ninth time; he and Young both went to the Pro Bowl.

On the other side, the passing combination of Warren Moon to Cris Carter had a pretty good year, too. The 39-year-old Moon, in his last season with Minnesota, led the league in passing attempts (377) and accumulated 4228 yards (his fourth – and last – NFL 4000-yard passing season) with 33 touchdowns to 14 interceptions. Carter had his second consecutive 122-reception season, tying him with Rice behind Moore, with 1371 yards and a league-leading 17 scoring receptions. Like Young and Rice, they both were Pro Bowl selections.

2006: LaDainian Tomlinson Sets Season TD and Scoring Records

The NFL record for touchdowns in a season had been moving up steadily since 1995 when Emmitt Smith of the Cowboys broke John Riggins’ 12-year old mark by scoring 25. Five years later, Marshall Faulk of the Rams made it 26; in 2003 it was Kansas City’s Priest Holmes scoring 27; and that lasted just two years, when Shaun Alexander of Seattle reached the end zone 28 times in 2005. His record, in turn, was surpassed the next season.

LaDainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers quickly established himself as an elite running back from the time he entered the league as a rookie first round draft pick out of TCU in 2001. By the 2006 season, he had never been below 1236 rushing yards in a season, nor had he caught fewer than 51 passes. He had also reached double figures in touchdowns every season and led the NFL with 17 rushing TDs in 2004.

The 2006 season would prove to be Tomlinson’s greatest, both in terms of ground gaining and scoring. After 12 games, he had already accumulated 26 touchdowns. In the 13th game, he crossed the goal line three times to pass Alexander and establish a new record. On December 17, at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium, he not only extended the new mark to 31, but also broke the record for points in a season of 176 that had been set by Green Bay’s Paul Hornung 46 years previously, in 1960.

Tomlinson wasted no time scoring his 30th touchdown and breaking Hornung’s record, running for a 15-yard TD on San Diego’s first possession. That drive received an assist from backup RB Michael Turner, who ran 25 yards for a first down on a fake punt. The second touchdown was set up in the second quarter when Chiefs safety Bernard Pollard blocked a punt by San Diego’s Mike Scifres, but the ball was touched beyond the line of scrimmage by Chiefs RB Derrick Ross and recovered by the long snapper, David Binn. Instead of Kansas City getting a big break, it was the Chargers making the most of their second chance with Tomlinson sprinting 85 yards for a touchdown.

Up 14-3 at the half thanks to Tomlinson’s scoring runs, the Chargers went on to win, 20-9. Tomlinson ran 25 times for 199 yards, and with five additional yards on a pass reception, accounted for 204 of San Diego’s 353 total yards. The San Diego passing game had difficulties - a frustrated QB Philip Rivers completed just 8 of 23 passes for 97 yards with two interceptions.

Kansas City’s Larry Johnson, who came into the game as the NFL’s rushing leader, gained 84 yards on 19 attempts and thus fell behind Tomlinson, who went on to lead the league with a career-high 1815 yards on 348 carries (a 5.2-yard average) with 28 TDs (also a record; the other three came on pass receptions). Johnson placed second, carrying a record 416 times for 1789 yards.

Tomlinson, with the two touchdowns, set an NFL record with eight consecutive multi-TD games. It would be his last, though – while he carried the ball another 38 times in San Diego’s last two games of the regular season, and caught three passes, he didn’t reach the end zone in either game.

The Chargers ended up on top of the AFC West with a conference-best 14-2 record. However, the postseason turned bitter as they lost their divisional playoff game to New England (costing Head Coach Marty Schottenheimer his job). Kansas City reached the postseason also, with a 9-7 record that, while it tied them with Denver for second place in the AFC West, earned a wild card berth because of a better divisional record than the Broncos. They exited in the first round, losing to the Indianapolis Colts.

LaDainian Tomlinson was a consensus league MVP selection, hardly a surprise considering the extent of his achievements during the season.

1962: Raiders Defeat Patriots in Season Finale to End 19-Game Losing Streak

The 1962 AFL season was the nadir for the Oakland Raiders franchise. Entering the final game on December 16 at Frank Youell Field against the visiting Boston Patriots, they had lost 19 consecutive games going back to the ninth contest of 1961.

At least the franchise was finally playing home games in Oakland. A late addition to the American Football League, after the Minneapolis group dropped out to join the NFL, the Raiders had played in San Francisco the first two seasons (Kezar Stadium in ’60, Candlestick Park in ’61). Amid rumors that the team would relocate to another city, Oakland officials assured the owners that a new stadium was in the works (what would eventually be the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum) and a temporary home would be made available in the meantime (Frank Youell Field, capacity 22,000).

On the field, the team had struggled. Marty Feldman had succeeded original Head Coach Eddie Erdelatz after the Raiders were blown out in the first two games of the ’61 season, but he was let go five games into the 1962 campaign after compiling a 2-15 record. Assistant Red Conkright was promoted into the top job, which was a thankless proposition. Starting QB Tom Flores was forced to sit out the year with a lung infection. While the team made an early season deal with the Dallas Texans for QB Cotton Davidson (pictured below), who had lost his starting job to Len Dawson, he had problems with chronic injuries and a weak receiving corps.


To be sure, there was talent on the team. C Jim Otto was a first team All-AFL selection in 1960 and ’61, and would be once again in ’62 (and beyond). Guard Wayne Hawkins was considered one of the best in the league as well. Clem Daniels (pictured above) emerged as a talented halfback and chief running threat. On defense, CB Fred “the Hammer” Williamson and DT Chuck McMurtry were standouts.

In the finale against Boston, the Raiders received a couple of breaks in that starting QB Babe Parilli (an original Raider in ’60) was injured and wouldn’t be facing them, and the team had been eliminated from postseason contention the day before. Boston had been in a close race with the Oilers in the Eastern Division all year, but Houston defeated the New York Titans in a Saturday game that clinched the division title with an 11-3 record. The Patriots had no incentive to win, and it was apparent – as backup QB Tom Yewcic, who started on that day, put it later, “nobody wanted to play”.

It was a rainy, miserable day with 8000 fans in attendance. Oakland won resoundingly, 20-0. Daniels was the standout, scoring both touchdowns, one on a 74-yard pass play from Davidson in the second quarter, and the other on a seven-yard run in the third quarter. 43-year-old placekicker Ben Agajanian (whose career spanned stints in the AAFC and NFL as well as AFL) booted field goals of 19 and 21 yards to round out the scoring.

The Raiders accumulated 288 yards of offense, with Daniels gaining just 54 yards on 26 rushing attempts but, thanks to the long TD pass, catching three passes for 95 yards. Davidson completed 9 of 23 passes for 230 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Boston’s Yewcic had 13 pass completions in 35 attempts for just 108 yards and two pickoffs. The Patriots gained 82 yards on the ground in 18 carries, with HB Jim Crawford leading the way at 6 rushes for 35 yards. Split end Gino Cappelletti led all receivers with 5 catches, for 53 yards.

The win not only ended the long losing streak, but was the first shutout of an opponent in franchise history. Happy fans blared their car horns to celebrate in the parking lot afterward.

The Raiders ended up with a 1-13 record and, naturally, in last place in the Western Division. Boston finished at 9-4-1 and second place in the East. Clem Daniels ranked fourth in the AFL with 766 yards rushing.

Things got better for the Raiders in the offseason. The owners finally coaxed Al Davis away from Sid Gillman’s coaching staff at San Diego, and the 33-year-old head coach and general manager made personnel changes and brought a whole new attitude to the team. The immediate turnaround was impressive – Oakland astounded the pro football world in 1963 by going 10-4. They were still a few years away from being a true contender, but it would not be long before the sad state of affairs that culminated in the 1-13 season in 1962 would become a distant memory.

1963: Don Hultz Recovers 9th Fumble of Season

The December 15, 1963 game at Philadelphia’s Franklin Field between the Eagles and the visiting Minnesota Vikings wasn’t a very meaningful contest. The Vikings won, 34-13, to end the season tied for fourth place in the Western Conference with a 5-8-1 record while the Eagles plummeted to 2-10-2 and their second consecutive last place finish in the seven-team Eastern Conference.

However, when Minnesota’s rookie DE Don Hultz grabbed a fumble by Eagles QB Sonny Jurgensen, it marked his ninth recovery of an opponent’s fumble of the season. This broke the previous record of eight held by Detroit’s Hall of Fame linebacker Joe Schmidt that was set in 1955. To date, no one has come closer than seven in an NFL season (four players, most recently LB Rickey Jackson of New Orleans in 1990).

In the obscure world of fumble recoveries in general, most of the record holders are quarterbacks, since they are most prone to having to fall on a failed snap or errant handoff; Houston QB David Carr holds the record for most such recoveries in a season with 12, all his own, in 2002. Other quarterbacks (Dave Krieg, Brian Griese, and Jon Kitna) have recovered nine of their own fumbles in a season as well. But Hultz holds the far more difficult mark, as a defensive player snagging footballs fumbled by the opposing offense.

Hultz had come to the Vikings as a free agent out of Southern Mississippi and moved into the starting lineup. He recovered his first fumble of the year in a Week 2 game against the Chicago Bears; the victim was HB Willie Galimore. They began to pile up after that, to the degree that his teammates referred to him as “The Magnet” and a local newspaper, the Minneapolis Tribune, commented that “his fumble recovery play is now an integral part of the Viking offense”.

The fumbles certainly did help. Six of them set up scores, including two touchdowns and four field goals. One against Detroit on November 24 came with under five minutes left in the game and led to a two-yard TD by HB Tommy Mason that won the game, 34-31. Three others came earlier in the respective contests and helped Minnesota to score first.

Hultz had no ready explanation for his record, saying “I don’t go hunting for the ball. I try to be alert, but you can say the same thing about anybody else on our defensive line” Upon further reflection he also said, “I’m proud of the record, but at the time it was no big issue. I was fortunate enough to create a few turnovers for my teammates and was able to recover a few myself.”

In the offseason, Hultz was traded, ironically enough, to the Eagles. Philadelphia underwent a major housecleaning, starting with a change of ownership, then coaches, and many of the players. Hultz arrived along with split end Ray Poage and defensive backs Chuck Lamson and Terry Kosens in exchange for HB Ted Dean and the rights to QB Bob Berry, an 11th round draft pick out of Oregon who lasted eleven years in the NFL (most notably with Atlanta).

At 6’3” and 235 pounds, he was light for a defensive lineman even in the 1960s, but he lasted for ten seasons with the Eagles, typically starting and eventually moving inside to defensive tackle; he played one last year with the Chicago Bears in ‘74. But in those 11 years, playing in 127 games, he recovered only three more fumbles.