1980 Week 5 - Bills vs Chargers

[@69Furies]

Any game with Charlie Jones on the mic is a great game. He was the best, Hearing him takes me back to those 4pm EST games on NBC sitting on the living room floor entranced by the game.

[@clightning9703]

man i miss that voice.... when he was on t.v. it brought shills to my spine cause i knew football season has arrived.

[@cs1992]

True. He seemed to cover a lot of AFC West games.

[@69Furies]

@@clightning9703 watching this now still does that to me

[@danyluk1]

read my interview with him in The Super '70s, available on Amazon

[@danlivni2097]

Sadly Charlie Jones passed in 2008 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Jones_(sportscaster)

[@tonyarceneaux286]

Thanks to KZbin for help finding these OLD football games.

[@Therealgordongekko]

Charlie Jones and Dick Enberg immediately bring me back to my childhood. God I miss them

[@johnflowers2736]

1980 Bills had a lot of heart(11-5 Record and AFC East Champs).

[@victorkreitner754]

Buffalo and San Diego would meet again in the divisional playoffs for the 1980 season. Buffalo played the Chargers real tough and should of won the game after holding Fouts and the Chargers high powered offense in check. Joe Ferguson played hurt and it affected his throw because he couldn't plant his foot. Both these teams were talented enough to get to Super bowl 15 which was won by the Oakland Raiders. Knox would eventually leave Buffalo for the Seahawks job which set Buffalo back for a few years until the Marv Levy era in 1986.

[@perryickes8991]

Wow I loved charlie Jones he was one of all time greats from the Old AFL

[@pocobull]

Finding a Charlie Jones game is like finding massive nugget of gold in a river.

[@richsleyster2656]

Charlie Jones = AFC WEST

[@sportshistorybuff319]

That Steeler/ Viking score was poignant, a bright reminder the 1970's were over, both teams' dominance fading, or about to fade into the past. Starting in the 1980's, it would get progressively harder for either, or eventually Dallas, Miami, the Raiders and LA to live at the top of their division like warlords. Dynasties would become harder, rarer and briefer.

[@WideTier]

As a Bills fan, it’s 44 years later and seeing this game on KZbin still gets me mad at the tie breaker rules back then, especially if they are still the same now. On the road Buffalo won this game. Then the Chargers and Bills both won their divisions at 11-5-0, along with the Browns, also finishing 11-5-0. Somehow, the only one of the 3 division winners who had to play on the road of the three was Buffalo….at San Diego. So much for the value of winning head to head during the regular season. I always wondered how different that close playoff loss to San Diego might have been if it was played in Orchard Park. As a side note from that otherwise excellent 1980 Bills season, they also crushed the eventual SB winning Raiders as well. Chuck Knox coached the Bills then and they were a very good team with a great defense.

[@christopherbell3768]

Love the old Chargers uni’s!!

[@JohnFlowers-n3u]

No doubt 👍

[@craighouse1279]

I remember playing in this game. It was a tough one.

[@tonyarceneaux286]

Which team did you played for?

[@FrankIsAlwaysRight]

@@tonyarceneaux286 he was in his own game of pocket polo…he worked the left pocket aggressively…

[@DeeJayRoyalT2]

I love the crowd shots. One of the great things about the AFC West was each team had a distinctive color that the fans could wear to the games. Chargers - Yellow. Chiefs - Red. Raiders - Black/White. Broncos - Orange. That ended when the Spanos's bought the team and changed the primary color to Blue w/white and yellow trim. Football fans who claim San Diego didn't have any fans need to watch these games and the games during the LaDainian Tomlinson era. Stadium was packed with Chargers fans.

[@SingleTax]

Early in the fourth quarter, the Chargers had both a 12-point lead and possession of the ball, first-and-ten. It was their game to lose at that point. They simply choked.

[@sportshistorybuff319]

Lets all pray the Chargers lose games and fans in LA, forcing Spanos to sell and the new owner to break the lease and return to SD.

[@bufnyfan1]

after the 1980 season, San Diego WR John Jefferson tried to renegotiate his contract with then Chargers owner Gene Klein. Klein refused and was known to be a vindictive person and instead traded Jefferson to Green Bay where he never achieved the success he did in San Diego. Chargers QB Dan Fouts has said that the Charger offense was never really the same after Jefferson left

[@KevinBarry-j8w]

The Chargers also traded All Pro DE Fred Dean to San Francisco, I don't know of any team ever trading two All Pros in the same season except the Chargers 😢

[@michaelleroy9281]

After Jefferson was traded to Green Bay The Chargers immediately got Wes Chandler from New Orleans

[@ronpeacock9939]

Ahh, football when it was still football.. now it don't look like the same game anymore.

[@clightning9703]

man, i miss Charlie's voice on NBC & miss watching football, especially the Chargers. back when NFL didn't have so many damn rules & wasn’t rigged..!!

[@jeremybiewer5465]

Charlie Jones and Don Crique were my favorites. Made the game so much better to watch and listen to.

[@clightning9703]

@@jeremybiewer5465 man you said it.. that's when Football was a REAL fans game, not like todays Diva pop-stars bullshit of today. it 's will never be the same. thanks for comment

[@jeremybiewer5465]

@@clightning9703 Nope that's why I prefer watching these games over anything recent. Football played the way it was intended and guys weren't celebrating after every little thing they do. It's embarrassing...

[@clightning9703]

@@jeremybiewer5465 yeah, your right & the media ass kissing is insane.. they want fans to discuss a player's 100 million contract(which is not worth it) or personal businesses like his divorce & latest GF. WHAT HELL DOES HAVE TO DO WITH HIS PERFORMANCE ON THE FIELD? anyways thanks

[@jamiesonmathias7859]

Yea this is back when it use to be fake. Players played 3 months out of the year & played plummer's the other 9.Out of shape slow no passing game. Thank God today's game has improved so much !

[@pocobull]

Two thoughts about this game: 1) I would have watched this if it was nothing but 2 hours of Charlie Jones reading the phone book. 2) It's awfully refreshing to watch a sporting event and not be called a racist all game long.

[@trevorhembrough1290]

Uh, what??

[@pocobull]

@@trevorhembrough1290 comment was written 3 years ago when BLM was all the rage, and commentators and leagues were bowing and scraping to them.

[@trevorhembrough1290]

@@pocobull And you told on yourself. Way to go, Bigot.

[@pastorearl1]

Thanks so much for this! Takes me back to young adulthood when if you couldn't get a ticket to a Charger game you were watching at home. If you walked outside your house, you'd usually hear the neighbor's TV on the game. On Friday's everyone was supposed to wear yellow in support. Bank tellers, grocery clerks, mail carriers, etc. all wore yellow. Good days, even though they frittered this one away.

[@bufnyfan1]

sad to think there isn't any team in San Diego anymore--still believe the Chargers may eventually return as I think they won't be embraced in LA like the Rams are (despite the new SoHo stadium)-

[@bufnyfan1]

San Diego got their revenge later that season in the playoff game against Buffalo. Too Bad they came up short in the AFC championship against Oakland--I think the 1980-81 season was the Chargers best chance to win the Super Bowl--they would have beaten the Eagles that year in the Super Bowl for sure

[@littlebud9999]

👍

[@jadentrez]

It's still interesting to reflect that the San Diego defense in 80 was a lot better than their reputation, and that Bill Walsh was able to take the best guys (Dean, Big Hands Johnson, et al) to shore up his soon-to-be champion 49ers.

[@tonyarceneaux286]

Yeah you are right . Because the reason why San Diego Chargers didn't go the Super Bowl the weather in Cincinnati Ohio stopped them.

[@ChrisC709]

@@tonyarceneaux286 Not to mention the scrappy Bengals defense.

[@tonyarceneaux286]

@@ChrisC709 The weather ☁️ was also a factor too.

[@ChrisC709]

@@tonyarceneaux286 Weather was a factor the week before in the Divisional against the Dolphins, but the Chargers still won. So that's not a good excuse. The Bengals just had a better, tougher team that season. They destroyed the Chargers at Jack Murphy Stadium 40-17 in November. The 1980 Chargers team was better than the Bengals that season but as usual, they choked in the playoffs.

[@apex_prowler95]

​@@ChrisC709- It's no excuse. It was the weather. The next season in fair weather the Chargers demolished the Bengals on Monday Night Football. Sure enough, the Bengals played in the freezer bowl too but they were used to freezing weather.

[@tonyarceneaux286]

At the height of the valunted "Air Coryall" offense.

[@francescoavila6960]

Nah,they were even better in 81 and 82

[@marvinnewbill6470]

Charlie jones was so good

[@MarcDaniels7]

I picture #RodKush putting this game on when he’s feeling depressed

[@MarcDaniels7]

40 years ago and the #chargers are still blowing huge leads and finding ways to lose.

[@ArmandoXGG1]

One statistic: when Chuck Muncie fumbles against the Bills, the Bills eventually won (1980 & 1981)

[@marvinnewbill6470]

I remember this game Chargers

[@jayg1438]

classic game. Buffalo was putting something together with Chuck Knox from '79 to '82. Then as usual it fell to poo.

[@bufnyfan1]

because of the Bills demented owner Ralph Wilson---Knox tried to renew his contract and knew Seattle was "knocking at his door" yet Wilson being the "skin flint" he was wouldn't renew Knox's contract and he split--the Bills were then taken over by that "genius' Kay Stephenson and quickly tanked---including several 2-14 seasons---Bills GM Bill Polian used the high draft picks garnered by those lousy seasons to pick many future Hall of Fame players--including Bruce Smith, Thurmon Thomas etc--then Wilson fired Polian in 1993 after an argument Polian had with the team's treasurer (Jeff Lipton)--who happened to be one of many of Wilson's "yes men" and that ultimately led the Bills stinking again

[@room1106]

@@bufnyfan1 that pretty well sums it up!

[@littlebud9999]

👍

[@mayhem6282]

THIS was the NFL, not the crappy bullshit play I see all the time today. Makes me SICK!!!😠

[@jamiesonmathias7859]

I'm so glad they improved the game today ! Much better to watch !

[@grxracer-1606]

At times San Diego Chargers were 3rd or 4th against the run. Usually 27th against the pass. Out of 28 teams. 49ers won Superbowl XIX with Fred Dean, Louis Kelcher, Gary Big Hands Johnson and Manu Tuiasasopo against Dan Marino. Tight Wad Eugene Klein really knew how to destroy a team. He also allowed the best wide receiver at that time, acrobat 1000yd receiver John Jefferson to go to Green Bay where he rotted. Poor San Diego does not even have a football team anymore.

[@bmasters1981]

The only pro team in San Diego right now is the Padres (they've been to two World Series in their history, but have been unsuccessful both times).

[@MaestroDawg65]

Charlie and Lenny. Awesome.

[@bufnyfan1]

Charlie definitely awesome...Dawson far from awesome and lousy at best

[@shanetrimble9265]

@@bufnyfan1 Are you nuts. Len Dawson was awesome and a perfect compliment to Charlie Jones.

[@bobcook5276]

Great upload! Fantastic sound.

[@krt88nc]

Born and raised a Bills fan, remember this game well. But Dan Fouts was my favorite all time player!

[@Mra5000-]

Damn...these were the days...... D Spanos ruined this franchise esp. for the fans

[@chrisf8855]

Chuck Muncie didn't snort enough coke before the game or the Chargers would've won.

[@FoutstoChandler]

Welcome to San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium!!

[@mm-gl7sz]

Actually Qualcomm stadium. Chargers now in LA

[@Bruce12867]

On this day, it was still called San Diego Stadium. It would be renamed Jack Murphy Stadium on December 22, 1980 (the final Monday Night game of the season).

[@littlebud9999]

👍

[@BlueOpinion]

And for the next 30 years the Bill's would wear Red helmets. The remaining men to wear both struggled with the change it seems to me. Once everyone was "new" in buffalo they clicked. A color might not seem like a big difference, but it can cause confusion when you were so use to them like Ferguson was. That's why I think the next 4 years were really bad for this offense.

[@bufnyfan1]

Buffalo left San Diego with a 5-0 record best in the NFL--however the following week at home in a game they should have won they came out flat and lost to the then Baltimore Colts-17-12--from that point on they went 6-4 and finished the season 11-5--if they had won just one of the two meetings with Baltimore-they would have finished 12-4 and obtained home field advantage throughout the playoffs---as it turned out they had to go back to San Diego for a playoff game and ultimately lost

[@yuchenchen8012]

Yeah, I'm here because I was confused on why Buffalo had to play San diego again in their house despite winning the head to head match. Seeding seemed pretty weird that year. Had to involve so many different variables.

[@patrickcolon8809]

This was 2 years AFTER the Miracle at the Meadowlands, yet the Bills were still handing off the football on 1st down and the Chargers out of time outs. They eventually fell on the ball on 2nd and 3rd downs to close out the game. But why hand off and run the ball forward on 1st down?

[@joeleicht5764]

Even with Kelcher, Dean and Big Hands Johnson, the Chargers' defense sucked. If not, the Chargers would have won a Super Bowl or two. But - as they say - if the cat hadn't stopped to take a crap, it'd have caught the mouse. Coryell - Great offensive coach, terrible defensive coach.

[@snakeoiler1292]

My royal dissapointments in different decades. Poor teams don,t even have uniforms anymore.

[@danlivni2097]

Chargers had a great offense in the early 80s but their defense was average and not good enough to take the Chargers to a Superbowl

[@VolumedMusicMan]

It was all over for the defense when Fred Dean left for the 49ers. They didn’t play at that 79’ and 80’ level...

[@tonyarceneaux286]

Plus the Cincinnati Bengals beat them in the AFC championship game.

[@mm-gl7sz]

Would have loved to have seen a game between the 1990 no huddle kgun bills and this San Diego team. Would have been slot like the Marino Kelly shootouts. Last to wins maybe no punts

[@bufnyfan1]

I always believed that if Chuck Knox had Jim Kelly at QB instead of that 'stiff" Joe Ferguson the Bills would have won several Super Bowls

[@clintscroggs65]

Rolf Benierschke, later host of Wheel of Fortune...

[@bufnyfan1]

Benierschke almost died from ulcerative colitis---he missed an entire season of football because of it--it was remarkable he was able to recover and return to play again

[@davidlayne4147]

@@bufnyfan1 I have an interesting question regarding when he had to kick off. If he had to leave the field immediately to avoid injury, were the Chargers allowed a 12th man on the field? Otherwise every kickoff would have been an 11 on 10 advantage for the other team.

[@jeffincrocci5590]

When did Charlie Jones pass

[@mjoven1975]

jeff incrocci Charlie Jones died on 6/12/2008 at the age of 77. He suffered a heart attack at his home in La Jolla, CA

[@ronsmac]

Growing up the Nbc video quality always seemed a little worse than Cbs and Abc.

[@randalldenison4628]

Same Ole chargers even back then. Great offense with no defense.

[@SingleTax]

Actually their defense wasn't all that bad in 1980. They were simply outplayed by the Raiders in the AFC championship game. Although in fairness to San Diego, Oakland also had luck on their side that day, because on the third play of the game a pass that bounced out of the hands of Kenny King -- and which normally would have fallen incomplete -- magically fell into the hands of Raymond Chester, who then ran the ball in for an easy six points. If the Raiders don't score that touchdown, the game goes to overtime. If the Chargers then win the coin toss, chances are they drive the ball into field goal range and win the game.

[@Shabba6884]

@@SingleTax, precisely. The play with Chester happened on the first or second play of the game, too. Chargers were playing catchup from the start, as a result. Their d-line was good until they let Dean get away over his contract. Same with Jefferson on offense. The '81 team's run to the AFCCG was gutsier than the previous year's run due to those pieces they had to replace. Lucky to have replaced Jefferson with Chandler, but they never replaced Dean on D, sadly.

[@wendellblackett8317]

special teams goofed

[@montysloungetv]

charlie jones' honey to afc late games on nbc

[@marcomacias3960]

i notice some shadows where the announcers in the beginning of the video. is that a tech problem

[@jimijakjones99]

Bolt Up !!!

[@ernielorenzo4710]

Bills lost because they were playing not to lose

[@babygenius1974]

joe ferguson was a HORRIBLE nfl qb

[@jayg1438]

Actually he was the Andy Dalton of his era. You want to improve on him, but you can win with him. You have to look at his numbers compared to his peers. 50% completion % and 1:1 TD to INT ratios were the norm. 1980-1990 was still a man's game with a lot more violence.

[@ArmandoXGG1]

Disagree. Joe Ferguson put solid numbers in his career when several years Buffalo lack from enough talent or good coaching. He holds all passing statistics at The time with Bills. His downfall starts when he was over the hill and turn into an interception machine or have a weak mindset. But this not reflect his entire career. In the words of John Brodie (former QB with the 49ers) in 1981, he says Joe Ferguson was one of the top 5 QB’s in the NFL

[@tonyarceneaux286]

Easy to forget him since it was Jim Kelly led the Bills to all of their Super Bowls trips.

[@RichardSleyster]

Charlie Jones = AFC WEST