1978 Week 2: Oakland Raiders at San Diego Chargers at San Diego Stadium. Kickoff time: 4:00pm.
1978 Week 2: Oakland Raiders at San Diego Chargers at San Diego Stadium. This is a regular-season game that earned its place on a curated list, which means the matchup itself carried some weight beyond a generic Sunday. Some regular-season games stick in the memory more than the playoff games of the same era. The names attached to Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers in 1978, the implications for division standing, or just the moment one play crystallized the season, made this one of those. Watch the early possessions for the read. Coaches treat curated-list games as their best stretches of preparation; the answers come quickly when the stakes are tangible.
1978 Week 2: Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers meet at a midpoint in the season, with the rest of the 1978 field watching to see how the result reshapes the conference standings. Around the league, the scouting departments take careful notes on regular-season games featuring contenders. The film here will be reviewed long after the final whistle by staffs who plan to face one or both of these teams later in the year.
1978 Week 2: Oakland Raiders versus San Diego Chargers. Midseason analytics shift around what matters most on any given Sunday: takeaway differential and red-zone conversion lead the indicator list for both contenders and the teams hunting them. The on-screen scoreboard tells one story; the underlying drive efficiency tells the more durable one. Both staffs know which numbers travel through December and which evaporate after a hot start.
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 14-2 | W5 |
| Houston Oilers | 10-6 | L1 |
| Cleveland Browns | 8-8 | L1 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 4-12 | W3 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Miami Dolphins | 11-5 | W3 |
| New England Patriots | 11-5 | L1 |
| New York Jets | 8-8 | L2 |
| Buffalo Bills | 5-11 | W1 |
| Baltimore Colts | 5-11 | L5 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Denver Broncos | 10-6 | L1 |
| Oakland Raiders | 9-7 | W1 |
| San Diego Chargers | 9-7 | W3 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 9-7 | W1 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 4-12 | L2 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Rams | 12-4 | W1 |
| Atlanta Falcons | 9-7 | L1 |
| New Orleans Saints | 7-9 | W1 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 2-14 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Green Bay Packers | 8-7-1 | L2 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 8-7-1 | L2 |
| Chicago Bears | 7-9 | W2 |
| Detroit Lions | 7-9 | W2 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5-11 | L4 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Dallas Cowboys | 12-4 | W6 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 9-7 | W1 |
| Washington Redskins | 8-8 | L5 |
| New York Giants | 6-10 | L1 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 6-10 | W1 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland Raiders | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0772121 |
| San Diego Chargers | 0 | 13 | 0 | 7 | 013132020 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| No scoring this quarter. | ||
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Chargers | Pat Curran 14 yard pass from Dan Fouts ( Rolf Benirschke kick) | 0-7 |
| Raiders | Dave Casper 6 yard pass from Ken Stabler ( Errol Mann kick) | 7-7 |
| Chargers | Hank Bauer 1 yard rush | 7-13 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| No scoring this quarter. | ||
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Chargers | Hank Bauer 2 yard rush ( Rolf Benirschke kick) | 7-20 |
| Raiders | Morris Bradshaw 44 yard pass from Ken Stabler ( Errol Mann kick) | 14-20 |
| Raiders | Dave Casper offensive fumble recovery in end zone ( Errol Mann kick) | 21-20 |
| Raiders | Chargers | |
|---|---|---|
| Team totals | ||
| First Downs | 18 | 24 |
| Total Yards | 364 | 372 |
| Turnovers | 4 | 0 |
| Passing | ||
| Comp/Att | 15/35 | 17/29 |
| Pass yards | 307 | 175 |
| Pass TD | 2 | 1 |
| Interceptions | 3 | 0 |
| Sacks taken | 4 | 0 |
| Sack yards lost | 27 | 0 |
| Net pass yards | 280 | 175 |
| Rushing | ||
| Rushes | 18 | 53 |
| Rush yards | 84 | 197 |
| Rush TD | 0 | 2 |
| Discipline | ||
| Fumbles | 3 | 0 |
| Fumbles lost | 1 | 0 |
| Penalties | 4 | 6 |
| Penalty yards | 36 | 55 |
| Player | C/A | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OAK | |||||
| Ken Stabler | 15/35 | 307 | 2 | 3 | |
| SDG | |||||
| Dan Fouts | 17/29 | 175 | 1 | 0 | |
| Player | Att | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OAK | ||||
| Mark van Eeghen | 12 | 72 | 0 | 34 |
| Terry Robiskie | 1 | 18 | 0 | 18 |
| Clarence Davis | 4 | -1 | 0 | 7 |
| Arthur Whittington | 1 | -5 | 0 | -5 |
| SDG | ||||
| Bo Matthews | 20 | 78 | 0 | 28 |
| Don Woods | 17 | 66 | 0 | 21 |
| Lydell Mitchell | 9 | 38 | 0 | 9 |
| Hank Bauer | 5 | 15 | 2 | 6 |
| Dan Fouts | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Player | Rec | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OAK | ||||
| Morris Bradshaw | 4 | 107 | 1 | 44 |
| Dave Casper | 5 | 100 | 1 | 44 |
| Cliff Branch | 1 | 41 | 0 | 41 |
| Raymond Chester | 1 | 27 | 0 | 27 |
| Pete Banaszak | 1 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| Fred Biletnikoff | 1 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| Clarence Davis | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7 |
| SDG | ||||
| Don Woods | 4 | 51 | 0 | 29 |
| Charlie Joiner | 2 | 37 | 0 | 22 |
| John Jefferson | 2 | 27 | 0 | 17 |
| Bo Matthews | 4 | 25 | 0 | 13 |
| Johnny Rodgers | 2 | 18 | 0 | 9 |
| Pat Curran | 1 | 14 | 1 | 14 |
| Bob Klein | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| Lydell Mitchell | 1 | -5 | 0 | -5 |
Oakland Raiders defeated San Diego Chargers 21-20 at San Diego Stadium in Week 2. The final scoring play was Raiders: Dave Casper offensive fumble recovery in end zone ( Errol Mann kick). The result came down to the final possession; Oakland Raiders won by 1. Top line of the day: Ken Stabler: 307 pass yards on 15-of-35, 2 TD, 3 INT.
Oakland Raiders walked out of San Diego Stadium with a 21-20 Week 2 result San Diego Chargers will replay all the way to the offseason. The game stayed within 1 points throughout, the kind of contest where every drive felt like a referendum and every defensive stop carried twice its usual weight. The final scoring play came from Raiders: Dave Casper offensive fumble recovery in end zone ( Errol Mann kick). Whether it was the game-decider or just the period at the end of the sentence depends on what the camera caught earlier.
Oakland Raiders 21, San Diego Chargers 20. Game: 1978 Week 2. Q2: 3 scoring plays. Q4: 3 scoring plays. Top performers: - Ken Stabler: 307 pass yards on 15-of-35, 2 TD, 3 INT - Bo Matthews: 78 rush yards on 20 carries - Morris Bradshaw: 4 catches for 107 yards
Week 2, played at San Diego Stadium. Final: Oakland Raiders 21, San Diego Chargers 20, with Oakland Raiders taking the result by 1. **Second quarter**
- Chargers: Pat Curran 14 yard pass from Dan Fouts ( Rolf Benirschke kick) - Raiders: Dave Casper 6 yard pass from Ken Stabler ( Errol Mann kick) - Chargers: Hank Bauer 1 yard rush
**Fourth quarter**
- Chargers: Hank Bauer 2 yard rush ( Rolf Benirschke kick) - Raiders: Morris Bradshaw 44 yard pass from Ken Stabler ( Errol Mann kick) - Raiders: Dave Casper offensive fumble recovery in end zone ( Errol Mann kick)
**Top performers**
- Ken Stabler: 307 pass yards on 15-of-35, 2 TD, 3 INT - Bo Matthews: 78 rush yards on 20 carries - Morris Bradshaw: 4 catches for 107 yards
A 1-point margin in Week 2 is the kind of result that defines reputations on both sidelines.