2010 San Diego Chargers season

2010 San Diego Chargers season
OwnerAlex Spanos
General managerA. J. Smith
Head coachNorv Turner
Home fieldQualcomm Stadium
Results
Record9–7
Division place2nd AFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers
4
AP All-Pros
2

The 2010 season was the San Diego Chargers' 41st in the National Football League (NFL) and their 51st overall. The team failed to improve on their 13–3 record the previous season, finishing with a 9–7 record and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2005.

The 2010 Chargers are noted for having both the No. 1-ranked offense and defense, the first team to do so since the 1996 Green Bay Packers, who won the Super Bowl. However, a struggling special teams unit would help cause the Chargers to lose five of their first seven games, each of which was by a one-possession margin.[1] The San Diego Union-Tribune wrote "[N]o team even came close to having all those special teams foibles in one season."[2] Football Outsiders calculated that the Chargers had the worst special teams in the league in 2010 and the fifth-worst from 1993 to 2010.[3] Although the Chargers won seven of their nine remaining matchups, they were unable to overcome the slow start and missed the postseason by one game. An additional victory would have allowed the Chargers to win the AFC West on a tiebreaker, but they instead finished a game behind the Kansas City Chiefs.[4][5]

In addition to their statistical performance, the Chargers used an NFL-record tying 74 players during the season due to injuries.[2] The 2010 season also saw the Chargers have their first home blackouts since 2004 and was their first since 2000 to not have future Hall of Fame running back LaDainian Tomlinson on the roster.

  1. ^ Judge, Clark (August 20, 2011). "Another slow start for Chargers? After lockout, maybe not". CBSSports.com. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012.
  2. ^ a b Acee, Kevin (August 1, 2011). "Bolts kick teams get new name". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012.
  3. ^ Final 2010 DVOA Ratings
  4. ^ "One of the all-time greatest NFL teams didn't even make the playoffs". YouTube. SB Nation. August 22, 2019. Archived from the original on December 15, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2019.
  5. ^ Acee, Kevin (December 19, 2010). "Sunday no help to Chargers' playoff hopes". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved February 29, 2020.