Chargers 1966...A Dynasty
 

I'm taking over the Chargers and hopefully can bring them to their first Championship game long before 1995. Please forgive me as this is my first attempt at doing this, so any suggestions to help make easier to read, or whatever, I'm open to suggestions.

Rules:

The Colts, Cardinals, Rams and the Titans have been moved back to their respective locations as they were in 1966.
Colts go to Baltimore, Cardinals go to St. Louis, the Rams go back to LA, and the Tenessee Titans/Oilers go back to Houston.

Since you can't seem to move two teams to one city, the Ravens will move to Indianapolis. The Texans move to San Antonio.

Injuries set to 100

Salary Cap Increase: 28-80

Since I just got the game, I am not aware of what the AI limitations are, so, I will stick with what is acceptable
in the NFL as far as other rules go.


Let's meet the coaching staff:

Head Coach: Howie De Jesus 63 years old. Motivation (G), Discipline (A), Off. Play Calling (VG), Def. Play Calling (A), Inj. Avoidance (A)
Off Coordinator: Al Tatum 41 years old. QBs (VG), RBs (A), Recvrs (G), OL (A), K/P (P), YT (A)
Def Coordinator: Archie Kramer 37 years old. K/P (P), DL (VG), LBs (A), DBs (A), YT (VG)
Scout: Herb Weinke 61 years old. QBs (F), RBs (A), Recvrs (VG), OL (VG), KP (A), DL (VG), LBs (EX), DBs (G), YT (G)



1966 San Diego Chargers Roster:



The Chargers go 3-1 in Pre-Season, but, have 4 significant injuries that could hender the Chargers run for glory. Especially since this is not a very strong team overall.

We lose SS Bud Whitehead for the entire year and maybe for good with a ruptured elbow tendon. Estimated time to return is 34 weeks.
San Diego will also have to start the season without star wide receiver Lance Allworth. He has a herniated disk which will sideline him for 3 weeks. Back up QB Anthony Sutton is out for 5 weeks with broken ribs and less serious, FB Jim Allison is Questionable with a strained hamstring.

The injuries force us to sign a couple of Free Agents. We pick up QB B.J. Gallo 8/35 and WR Earnest Reed 11/38.

Week 1
Not a good season opener for Chargers fans. They fall to the Raiders 3-23.

Played in Oakland, CA
63 degrees, fair, 2 mph wind
Attendance: 36,800 (63,100 capacity)


Game MVP: Clem Daniels, Oakland Raiders


That's just one sad performance by the Bolts. I knew they were not a strong team, but, was hoping they would at least put up a fight against division rival Oakland. Hadl not having his favorite target in Allworth to throw to, may have had something to with the dismal performance.

No new injuries to report.

Week 2

Week two looked a lot better for the Chargers. They win their home opener over the Houston Oilers. QB John Hadl bounced back from his horrible performance of last week and led the Chargers to their first win of the season.

Played in San Diego, CA
76 degrees, fair, 9 mph wind
Attendance: 43,000 (71,500 capacity)

Game MVP: John Hadl, San Diego Chargers


New Injuries:
SLB Frank Buncom - Doubtful with a hyper extended knee (2 Weeks)

This was a definite improvement over last weeks loss to the Oakland Raiders. Luckily we played against a not so good Oiler defense. Hadl has to step up. With the Chargers getting a bi-week in Week 3, star Wide Receiver, Lance Allworth should make his first appearance and start of the 1966 season. Fans are hopefull that Bambi will be hunted down field by Hadl for another victory in Week 4 against the Indianapolis Ravens.

Week 3

Bye-Week

Week 4

The Chargers go into Indianapolis hoping to show they are a team that is not to be under estimated and they do. The Chargers showed that they can not only throw the ball, but, they can hurt you with the run. Lance Allwort makes his first catch of the season and finishes the game with 3 catches for 47 yards. QB John Hadl takes away his second game MVP in a row as well.

Played in Indianapolis, IN
76 degrees, fair, 1 mph wind
Attendance: 65,200 (69,100 capacity)

Game MVP: John Hadl, San Diego Chargers


New Injuries: None

Much better game statistically. The passing and running game stepped up and made quite
the statement to the rest of the league. Next week, the Chargers take on the Pittsburgh
Steelers at home.

Week 5

With 3:38 left in the 4th quater, K Dick Van Raaphorst, nails a 33 yard field goal to put the Chargers
ahead of the Steelers. The Steelers start their next possesion on their own 12 yard line when,
QB George Izo, takes the Steelers 19 yards to the 31 yard line, when he throws a game ending
interception to San Diego's S Kenny Graham. With no time outs left for Pittsburgh, San Diego
sits on the ball and kills the remaining time left on the clock. What killed Pittsburgh was
San Diego being able to hold onto the ball for all but 59 seconds in the 4th quarter.

Played in San Diego, CA
52 degrees, fair, 9 mph wind
Attendance: 46,700 (71,500 capacity)

Game MVP: John Hadl, San Diego Chargers


New Injuries: None. Ron Mix is Probable due to a bad cold.

The Chargers dominated the clock this game and that is what allowed them to
take the victory over the Steelers. QB Hadl walks away with his 3rd game
MVP in a row and WR Lance Allworth has 7 catches for 140 and 1 TD. Overall,
a good game for the Chargers with a quarter of the season done with.
Hadl also garners the Leagues Offensive Player of the Week for the first time this
season.

Week 6

The Chargers come into San Francisco seeking to extend their 3 game winning streak.
San Francisco, is sitting on a 3-2 record and 1 game out of first place in the
NFC West. The 49ers throw QB John Brodie at the Chargers who currently has a
91.4 QB rating and has 1,360 yards on 114 receptions along with 5 touchdowns and
2 interceptions. This will be a test for a sometimes very generous Chargers
defense.

Played in San Francisco, CA
47 degrees, fair, 6 mph wind
Attendance: 52,200 (64,500 capacity)

Game MVP: John Hadl, San Diego Chargers


New Injuries: None

The Chargers were lucky they didn't have to rely on their kicker, Van Raaphorst, this game.
He couldn't find the uprights on attempts of 38 and 27 yards. However, he was 5 for 5 on
extra point attempts. Keith Lincoln had his best game of the season with 72 yards catching
and 94 yards on the ground, giving him 166 total yards for the game. Hadl, again, MVP of
the game, was magnificent with 319 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 1 interception which was good
enough to earn his second League Offensive Player of the Week honor and his second in a
row. The Chargers will ride this momentum into next week to face first place Kansas City
for the first time this season, in Kansas City.

Week 7

The Chargers come into Kansas City riding a 4 game winning streak and then promptly see that winning streak get snuffed out by a Chiefs team that just could not be stopped. With not even 3 minutes into the game, Gloster Richardson catches a 30 yard TD pass from Len Dawson to start what would become a slaughter by the end of the 4th quarter.

The Chargers made it so easy for the Chiefs, Kansas City couldn't decide on whether to just run the ball or throw it. In the end, Kansas City racked up 270 yards on the ground and QBs Len Dawson and Pete Beathard combined for 208 yards passing with a touchdown each.

Meanwhile, the San Diego squad, could only muster 51 yards on the ground and 242 yards in the air.

Played in Kansas City, MO
39 degrees, fair, 10 mph wind

Game MVP: Mike Garrett, Kansas City Chiefs


New Injuries: None

Next week, the Chargers face the Los Angeles Rams who own a 5-1 record. Let's hope San Diego doesn't show the same kind of game that they did the Chiefs or it's going to be a long Sunday afternoon.

If you were looking at the stats and the final score from this game, you probably would think it was a repeat of last weeks game against the Chiefs. Look again, there's seven more points the Chargers scored compared to a week ago, but, same result and same score their opponent has.

Los Angeles took care of the Chargers with no problems and seemed to score at will. The Rams took advantage of a very poor run defense and ended the game with 174 yards rushing to go along with 262 yards passing. Rams QB Roman Gabriel threw 2 touchdowns to complement John Hadl's 3 interceptions.

Another poor defensive and offensive week for the Chargers. Hopefully this will end soon and some changes are going to have to be made to shore up a swiss cheese defensive line.


New Injuries: None

San Diego will host the Cleveland Browns next week. Despite some injuries, the Browns are a strong team so far this season. With back to back pathetic performances by the Chargers, things are not looking too bright for the season.

Victory! The Chargers come away with the win this week. Cleveland is no light weight opponent, but, didn't show it on Sunday.

Hadl finally has a impressive performance with 320 yards passing to go along with 3 touchdowns. RB Keith Lincoln picked up 11o yards on the ground and scored one touchdown.

Hadl also picks up his 2nd League Offensive Player of the Week award.


Played in San Diego, CA
59 degrees, fair, 10 mph wind
Attendance: 52,300 (71,500 capacity)

Game MVP: John Hadl, San Diego Chargers


New Injuries: None.

The Chargers travel to Cincinnati to face a Bengals team that is having it's own problems on the field. San Diego is looking for another victory to try and keep up with division rival Kansas City.

Ok, here's a condenced version of the remainder of the 1966 regular season for the San Diego Chargers:


Here are the final regular season standings for comparison with the real 1966 season:

Here are the stats for the key players on the Chargers roster:


Lance Alworth came on strong after missing 3 games with a injury and John Hadl seemed to overcome his affinity to throw interceptions in the second half of the season.

The Chiefs had an incredible 1966 run, going 16-0 and are the hands down favorite to win the first ever Super Bowl.

Also putting on strong performances were: The Baltimore Colts (13-3), The Green Bay Packers (13-3), The Dallas Cowboys (15-1), and the Los Angeles Rams (12-4).

The NFC looking like the stronger overall of the two leagues is expecting the Cowboys or the Packers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

The AFC fully expects the Chiefs to cruise through the playoffs with out much resistence from the other AFC playoff challengers.

Up next....the San Diego Chargers vs. the New York Jets and Joe Namath.

Holy crap! Just realized that Tampa Bay won their division with a 6-10 record. Ouch!!!!

San Diego wins a nail biter in New York. With 75,400 in attendance cheering on Joe Namath and the Jets, 2 missed field goals by the Jets kicker proved to be costly for them. Niether team really out playing each other except for the Jets' running game which picked up 143 yards on the ground.


Other playoff results:

Pittsburgh (10-7) gets shut out 0-31 by the Cleveland Browns (12-5)
The 49ers (11-6) take care of hapless Tampa Bay (6-11) 26-6
Washington (10-7) makes an early exit, losing to the Rams (13-4) 45-14



Up next for the Chargers...the Kansas City Chiefs (16-0). The Chiefs are 6 point favorites to win on Sunday and San Diego will have its work cut out for them. San Diego lost both games against Kansas City during the regular season 10-47 and 20-34. If the Chargers can get their running game going, they may have a chance to pull off the upset, as the Chiefs have the 31st ranked defense against the rush. However, the Chargers have the 32nd ranked defense againt the rush, so it may not matter at all. On top of having the rushing problems San Diego also has to contend with the loss of Lance Alworth with a strained achilles tendon. Things aren't looking too good for the Chargers.

San Diego, with more than 4 minutes left in the game and shutting down the Chiefs for only 7 points in the second half, avoid going down by 8 points when Kansas City kicker Mike Mercer missed a 42 yard field goal that sailed wide right. San Diego gets the ball at their own 32 yard line with 4:14 left on the clock and then proceed to go 3 and out and punt with 3:27 left in the game where Kansas City kills the remainder of the clock to avoid an upset with a score of 30-35.

San Diego was without star receiver Lance Alworth and could only muster 44 yards on the ground to complement 250 yards in the air thrown by John Hadl who also had 4 TD passes in the game.

This definitely is looking like Kansas City's year...

Other playoff games:
Cleveland (12-6) falls to the Colts (14-3) 3-27
Los Angeles (13-5) is out by losing to the Packers (14-3) 13-37
San Francisco (11-7) says hello to the off season by losing to the Cowboys (16-1) 14-23

Up next...the Conference Championship games:

Baltimore (14-3) at Kansas City (17-0)
Green Bay (14-3) at Dallas (16-1)

Either the computer knows or it's just fate, but, the Packers pull off the upset and defeat the Cowboys 19-7 to advance to Super Bowl I.

As expected, the Chiefs make easy work of the Colts, beating them 23-7 to face the Green Bay Packers to mirror the real life Super Bowl I.

Kansas City is favored by 4 points even though the Packers have the edge in every offensive and most of the defensive categories.

Up next...Super Bowl I:
Green Bay (15-3) vs Kansas City (18-0).................................................................................................................





And the winner of Super Bowl I is your very own Green Bay Packers. Green Bay shut down the #1 offense allowing only 7 points by a Len Dawson led Chiefs squad. The Chiefs turned the ball over 4 times over the course of the game and Green Bay shut down an impressive running game by only allowing 81 yards.

The Packers can take pride in defeating an over powering team and truely earned their championship. Final score: 27-7


Up next...End of Season and Awards.

1966 Season Awards:

You definately have a good team, with Hadl at the helm I think Allworth is going to put up some huge numbers, provided you can afford to hang on to him.

On a totally selfish note, I'm pretty happy that the standings came out pretty close to real life and I'm really happy that people are starting some dynastys to share with everyone.

Yes, the Chargers have a decent squad. I saw glimpses of the Hadl/Alworth tandem and it looks to be very explosive with the right tweeking. Luckily for me, Alworth is signed through the 70 season and Hadl is signed through 72. So, hopefully when the time comes, I can keep them together.

I was surprised by the standings as well. The 16-0 record by the Chiefs was crazy, but, I like how pretty much things were close to real life.

Yes, I like reading everyones dynasties and hope I can contribute to some intertaining reading.

Welp, thanks to a unstable hard drive, I have to get a new one and will have to start this all over again.

This sucks!

OK!! New harddrive and started the 1966 season again.

Here's the end of the regular season standings. Not much different at all from the first time around:



Key player stats -------Team Leader in Red-------


AFC Wild Card Games:
San Diego (10-6) at Buffalo (10-6) (-3)
New York (8-8) at Cleveland (13-3) (-3)

NFC Wild Card Games:
Minnesota (12-4) (-7) at Atlanta (9-7)
Washington (11-5) at San Francisco (10-6) (-4)

It was a wild one in Upstate New York with 2 AFL rivals shooting it out all game.
Buffalo, lead by quarterback Daryle Lamonica, who threw for 480 yards, completing 32 of 40 passes to go along with 6 touchdown passes. Wide receiver, Elbert Dubenion, was on the other end of those passes, catching 10 of them for 238 yards and scoring 4 touchdowns.

On the Chargers side of the ball, John Hadl put up some impressive numbers of his own. He put the ball in the air 49 times and successfuly reaching his target 38 times. He ended the game with 518 yards and 5 touchdowns. Wide Receiver, Lance Alworth, caught 12 passes for 199 yards to go along with 3 touchdowns.

Both teams combined for a total of 1150 offensive yards and 90 points for the game. Amazingly, not one interception was thrown in the air war that went on in Buffalo.

It took an extra quarter though to decide who would advance to the next round and the Chargers pulled it through on a 2 yard TD run by Paul Lowe 4 minutes and 19 seconds into overtime to give the Chargers a 48-42 victory.


The Chargers now get to play their division rival, the Kansas City Chiefs, who also own a 16-0 record.

AFC Divisional Playoff Round:
San Diego (12-5) at Kansas City (16-0) (-8)
Cleveland (14-3) (-1) at Baltimore (13-3)

NFC Divisional Playoff Round:
Minnesota (13-4) at Green Bay (14-2) (-4)
Washington (12-5) at Dallas (15-1) (-6)

The Chargers came into Kansas City as 8 point underdogs and proceeded to double that point spread by an extra 9 points, losing to the Chiefs 24-41.

The Chargers were up 24 to 17 at the end of the first half and then decided to give the offense a rest for the entire 2nd half and not scoring another point for the rest of the game. However, they were more than happy to give Kansas City 24 points in the second half, 21 in the 3rd quarter alone, thus, ending the Chargers' run for the year.

Lance Alworth caught 12 passes for 156 yards, but, no TDs to go along with them. Hadl threw for 315 yards with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception.


AFC Conference Championship:
Cleveland at Kansas City (-7)

NFC Conference Championship:
Minnesota at Dallas (-4)

Kansas City wins 23-0
Minnesota wins 35-24






Super Bowl I
Kansas City (-6) at Minnesota





Minnesota pulls off the upset and beats Kansas City 27-21

Minnesota Vikings Super Bowl Champs!!!


And now to the off season...

1966 Season Awards

1966 Retirees

I'd recommend using blue for the Chargers' award winners. That bright yellow is impossible to read on the background I have.

Free agent period

The Chargers have a few positions that need to be shored up. With the loss of TE Willie Frazier to repetitive concussion syndrome, TE is one of the main spots the Chargers want to fill.

San Diego also had a problem with stopping the run, so they wouldn't mind picking up some help on the defensive line.

Some key free agents the Chargers are looking at:

RDT Dave Costa: 81/87
K Mike Mercer: 77/77
TE Marlin McKeever: 61/61
FS Goose Gonsoulin: 74/74
FL Lionel Taylor: 73/73

The Chargers definitely need to replace their current kicker, so they will be going after a new kicker...

Free Agency Week One Signings:
Current Roster Size: 41


Free Agency Week Two Signings:
Current Roster Size: 42


Free Agency Week Three thru Twelve:
No Signings

1967 Amateur Draft:

San Diego has the 25th pick and since they were not able to address their needs in Free Agency, they are hoping to fill the gaps in the Amateur Draft.

Indianapolis has the #1 pick this year...

Now, to the Draft...


The rest of San Diego's picks:

Alrighty, back to the fun...

We begin the Late Free Agency period.

We sign QB Nathan King 6/34 to a 1 year $70k contract
TE Tom Griffin 12/37 to a 1 year $70K contract
WR Todd Osieja 16/33 to a 1 year $80K contract

We also sign 3 of our rookied from the draft:

This brings our current squad to 48 that we will bring into training camp.....




After Training Camp Rookie Progress:

Trade offer from the 49ers:
49ers want: S Kenny Graham for CB Kris McGough and a 3rd round draft pick.

Offer rejected by the Chargers.


Season Ticket Sales: 30,000 out of 71,500

Now for the preseason........

Pre Season Schedule:

Game 1 Results:
San Diego 27 Washington 10

Injuries:
Steve De Long, RDE - Hyperextended Knee, Doubtful, Full strength in about 2 weeks.


Game 2 Results:
New Orleans 17 San Diego 40

Injuries:
Steve De Long, RDE - Hyperextended Knee, Probable, Full strength in about 1 week.

Todd Osieja, WR - Strained Calf muscle, Out, full strength in about 2 weeks.


Chargers sign WR Jared Suliven 17/29 for 70K for 1 year.

Game 3 Results:
Philadelphi 3 San Diego 31

Injuries:
Britt Reese, FB - Bruised Heel, Probable, full strength in about 1 week.
Jim Allison, FB - Sprained Neck, Probable, full strength in about 3 weeks.
Todd Osieja, WR - Strained Calf muscle, Probable, full strength in about 1 week.


Game 4 Results:
San Diego 33 Tampa Bay 27

Injuries:
Jim Allison, FB - Sprained Neck, Probable, full strength in about 2 weeks.
Jim Griffin, LDE - Strained Achillies Tendon, Out, full strength in about 2 weeks.


Chargers sign RDT Ronnie Cooper 28/28 to a 1 year 90K contract.


Up Next.........The 1967 Regular Season
and Power rankings.

1967 Power Rankings

Week 1:

San Diego takes on division rival Oakland at home. Oakland brings in 'Big' Ben Davison and the rest of their very powerful defense. The Chargers will try to counter with the Hadl to Alworth tandem. San Diego is favored by 2.


Injuries:
Jim Allison, FB - Sprained Neck, Probable, full strength in about 1 week.
Jim Griffin, LDE - Strained Achilies Tendon, Probable, full strength in about 1 week.
John Demarie, RG - Bruised Ribcage, Probable, full strength in about 1 week.
Kenny Graham, FS - Concussion, Probable, full strength in about 2 weeks.
Frank Buncom, SLB - Knee Bursitis, Quesitonable, full strength in about 3 weeks.
Jacque MacKinnon, TE - Strained Hamstring, Questionable, return to full strength unknown.


Rookie Progress:
G John Demarie: 34/70 No Change
G Gene Upshaw: 25/67 +1
DE Mel Witt: 21/35 No Change


Next Week....Chargers vs. the Vikings

Week 2

It was a game all the way through the end of Half Time. Then, the Vikings turned on their offensive machine and put up 30 points to the Chargers' 7 points in the 2nd half of the game. The Chargers just could not stop Fran Tarkenton from throwing touch down passes or even challenged the visitors running game by giving up 226 yards on the ground.

Over all, just not a good game for the Chargers and they hope to not make a habit of playing the way they did on Sunday.


Injuries:
Kenny Graham FS - Concussion, probable, full strength in about a week.
Frank Buncom SLB - Knee Bursitis Probable, full strength in about 2 weeks.
Bill Scott RCB - Sprained Lateral Knee Ligament, questionable, full strength in about 7 weeks
Jacque Mackinnon TE - Strained Hamstring, return to full strength unknown

Chargers sign Ben Rivera RCB to a 1 year $70K contract

Rookie Progress:
John Demarie: 35/70 +1
Gene Upshaw: 26/67 +1
Mel Witt: 21/35 No Change

Next Week....The Houston Oilers come to town.