2001 San Diego Chargers season
| 2001 San Diego Chargers season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Mike Riley |
| General manager | John Butler |
| Owner | Alex Spanos |
| Home field | Qualcomm Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 5–11 |
| Division place | 5th AFC West |
| Playoff finish | did not qualify |
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| Scoring summary | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 |
9:21
|
SD | Richey 37 yard field goal | SD 3–0 |
| Q1 |
2:04
|
SD | Jones 1 yard pass from Flutie (Richey kick) | SD 10–0 |
| Q2 |
14:14
|
SD | Richey 25 yard field goal | SD 13–0 |
| Q2 |
7:01
|
BUF | Johnson 1 yard run (Arians kick) | SD 13–7 |
| Q2 |
:05
|
BUF | Arians 41 yard field goal | SD 13–10 |
| Q4 |
10:46
|
SD | Perry 37 yard interception return (Richey kick) | SD 20–10 |
| Q4 |
10:21
|
BUF | Price 61 yard pass from Johnson (Arians kick) | SD 20–17 |
| Q4 |
1:45
|
BUF | Henry 3 yard run (Arians kick) | BUF 24–20 |
| Q4 |
1:19
|
SD | Flutie 13 yard run (Richey kick) | SD 27–24 |
The 2001 San Diego Chargers season began with the team trying to improve on their 1–15 record in 2000. It was Mike Riley's final season as the team's head coach. At the end of the season running back LaDainian Tomlinson won the Offensive Rookie of the Year award. Despite finishing 5–11 after losing their final nine games of the season, eight of the Chargers' losses were by less than a touchdown and five of them were by three points.
In December 2000, Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson fired his general manager, John Butler, and his entire staff. The Chargers immediately signed Butler, and within weeks, Butler had lured several recognizable names from the 2000 Bills team: defensive end Marcellus Wiley, linebackers Sam Rogers and John Holecek, kicker Steve Christie and most notably, quarterback Doug Flutie, who had been cut by the Bills in a bitter quarterback controversy involving Rob Johnson. With so many former Bills connections, the team was often referred to as the Bills West. (See also the 1995 Carolina Panthers season, in which Bill Polian brought several Bills contributors from the team's Super Bowl era to Carolina in its inaugural year of play.)
As such, the October 28 matchup between the Bills and Chargers in San Diego was heavily promoted as a dual grudge match, not just between Johnson and Flutie, but also between Wilson and Butler, with Wilson having been quoted as wanting to win the Chargers game more than the Super Bowl. Despite the fact that the Bills were having a very bad season, and the Chargers' fortunes (at the time) had turned significantly, the game was very competitive, coming down to the final minutes play. Trailing 24–20, Flutie scrambled 13 yards to put the Chargers up 27–24; when kicker Jake Arians attempted a 44-yard field goal to tie the game, it was blocked. The Chargers, then 5–2, would not win another game the entire season, going 0–9 in the remaining nine games.
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