1981 10 18 San Diego Chargers at Baltimore Colts

[@JohnDoe-nj3vj]

I love these oldschool Baltimore games, especially when played at Memorial stadium.

[@anthonysmithson546]

Coach were great Ravens are better

[@user-ys2wp4cr9g]

Fun fact, The 1981 Baltimore Colts defense still owns the NFL record for points allowed in a season with 533.

[@bryanthomsen5551]

Bert Jones wasn't the same after separating his throwing shoulder in '78.

[@JohnDoe-nj3vj]

Bert Jones is one of my favorite "oldschool" qb.

[@hoopsheavenpa]

bryan thomsen I’m too young to remember Bert Jones but my late dad, who loved the Colts until they moved to Indy, said the same thing. He thought Jones had the potential to be greater than Unitas.

[@JohnDoe-nj3vj]

@@hoopsheavenpa He did. He had a rocket for an arm, great accuracy and he could scramble.

[@2008israelramos]

Maybe if he didn't wear those linebacker sized shoulder pads it would have helped.

[@bryanthomsen5551]

@@2008israelramos ......That was because of his recurring shoulder injuries that he wore all that padding.

[@eshoemaker]

Memorial Stadium! The memories!😃

[@centuryrox]

I miss The Old Grey Lady!! M&T Bank just isn't the same.

[@walman16]

I was there that day. My grandmother lived in Ednor Gardens. We walked up and bought tickets. Miss those days!

[@82dorrin]

The Colts' defense gave up 533 points that season. Still a record.

[@benashworth687]

13:25 great pass

[@lenr7137]

Arguably the beginning of the end for the Colts in Baltimore was when Joe Thomas was forced out as GM in 1976. The Colts never drafted well after that (until the Elway debacle in 1983).

[@bryanthomsen5551]

And Irsay made some bad personnel decisions such as trading away Lydell Mitchell, Raymond Chester, and other key players.

[@lenr7137]

I agree about Chester, although he dug his own grave with his mocking comment about Bert Jones to the press after the 1977 playoff game agains the Raiders. Jones missed a wide open Chester during the first OT period that should have been the winning TD. After the game a reporter asked Chester about the play and he replied that he (Chester) better not make a critical comment about Superboy (or something along those lines). As for Mitchell, didn’t the Colts get Joe Washington back in that trade? If so it seems like a decent deal, especially since Mitchell never really did anything after leaving Baltimore.

[@chrissnyder3430]

Accorsi warned Irsay about drafting Elway but he and Kush thought they knew best. 2 old school duffesses that didn't know the game had passed them by.

[@lenr7137]

Chris Snyder Although I’ve also read that Accorsi was actually making pretty progress toward signing Elway when Irsay pulled the rug out by deciding to trade him.

[@loyaldude10]

Elway was so good you could NOT have passed him up in draft. Colts unfortunately panicked when he said he wasn't going to sign and essentially gave him away. If they didn't think they could sign him they should have traded him prior to draft

[@SingleTax]

The Chargers and Colts had the two worst defenses in the NFL that season. The difference was that the Chargers had the best offense and the Colts didn't.

[@snowairland]

That first “fumble” on the first drive illustrates perfectly how instant replay has changed the game.

[@markk9458]

34:34 looks like it might have been a safety too.

[@centuryrox]

Ah yes, the days where penalties weren't called on every other play!

[@willdrucker4291]

Phil Stone and the legendary Gene Washington with the call on NBC

[@lsmftymf]

There were two starting wide receiver Gene Washingtons playing simultaneously in the NFL; one starred at Michigan State and with the Vikings and the other Stanford and the 49ers. The latter, who decades later served in the league office, is the game analyst here. Like Andrew Catalon today, Phil Stone was usually assigned one of the lesser games on a weekly basis. Why? Because he sounded exactly like Roy Firestone's Biff Barnes, a spoof of the worst type of sportscasters. The only people that I can think of that sounded like Stone but were really good at their craft are Ron Lundy and Steve Cangialosi.

[@russellguercio5357]

@@lsmftymf Ian Eagle.

[@ericsoley2721]

Phil Stone & Gene Washington with the call 4 NBC!

[@TonyS286]

I wish neither team had left their respective cities.

[@cadillac4100]

The last 3 seasons of the Baltimore Colts. 😢😢😢. By fall 1984 Memorial Stadium was a ghost town. At least until 1996. But I'm not a Ravens fan

[@DNSKansas]

One of the great offenses of all time against THE worst defense of all time.

[@PerpetualArt]

The worst Defense was the Chargers between 80-85.

[@nikosuavesworldofsportsmusic]

@@PerpetualArt False the 1981-82 Baltimore Colts defense gave up 533 points which equals out to 33ppg even the 1980-85 Chargers defenses weren't that atrocious.

[@PerpetualArt]

@@nikosuavesworldofsportsmusic + I guess my point was that the Chargers defense sucked, and that's why they couldn't win big playoff games. I really didn't even know how bad the Colts were on defense. After they lost to Oakland in 77, they never got back to winning.

[@CachuchasOSFNYCHHSK]

Charger Power, baby!

[@ahoneanatwo]

Someone should tell Bert Jones that Linda Evans called, she wants her shoulder pads back.....

[@dootuss83]

The 1981 Colts set NFL records for defensive ineptitude allowing 533 points (still a record) and 6,793 yards allowed (the latter broken by the 2012 New Orleans Saints). After starting the season with a one point win against New England, they lost their next 14 games and won their season finale against the Pats by two points. Because of New England also going 2-14 that season, the 81 Colts probably have the distinction of having the worst tiebreaker of all time when it comes to determining the standings.

[@Fireyninjadog]

When the #1 offense in football meets the worst defense in history

[@Shabba6884]

Ah, some names I hadn't heard of in a while....Curtis Dickey, Joe Federspeil, Bert Jones, etc. The Chargers took a while to get the offense going that year after the contract debacle with John Jefferson. Same for the defense with Fred Dean, another inexplicable mistake. They had traded for Wes Chandler, and he got going late in the season. Chargers righted the ship and made it back to the AFCCG that year, while the Colts continued their sad decline.

[@bernardocruz5564]

my cousin Randy McMillan!!! was a beast!!!

[@nikosuavesworldofsportsmusic]

Actually the Chargers averaged 37ppg the first 7 games of the season when they started off 5-2 & averaged 38.7ppg when they started out 3-0 before they acquired wide receiver Wes Chandler in a trade from the New Orleans Saints.

[@loyaldude10]

he sure was. then he was hit by a car in Baltimore and career ended.

[@ravensnhokies]

Went to this game and 3 others in 1981. Wow that defense was bad. Only 81 game that I attended that was even close was against the Dolphins. First game I remember was Ghost to the Post so I caught the best Colts years..ha. I literally went to about 12 Colts games in my life from 78-83 and they lost every fricking one except the last one against the Oilers in 83. Of course that was the last Colt game ever.

[@brianbachmeier34]

James Brooks led the NFL in all purpose yards in 1981 and 1982.

[@DeeJayRoyalT2]

Didn't the Chargers trade him to the Bengals the following season?

[@brianbachmeier34]

@@DeeJayRoyalT2 They traded him to the Bengals before the 1984 season for running back Pete Johnson. Brooks would play 8 season with the Bengals in which he made 3 pro bowls, gained over 9,400 all purpose yards and scored 64 touchdowns. Johnson would only play in 3 (yes three) games for the Chargers and retire after the 1984 season.

[@82dorrin]

One of the greatest offenses of all-time against probably the worst defense ever.

[@maximummax9851]

Abandon them loading up the Mayflower they should’ve stayed

[@AlphaMaleMidwesterner]

It’s weird and funny that that the Baltimore Colts Sunday afternoon home games would start at 2:00 pm EST. instead of the rest of the Sunday traditional 1:00 pm kick off times and I don’t remember the league or pregame shows giving an explanation as to why.

[@ronflatter1235]

It was an old blue law that was repealed in 1982.

[@DeeJayRoyalT2]

Just over 3 min left to play, Chargers up by a ton and they still throw for a TD from inside the 5 yard line. LOL. Coryell wasn't worried about being accused of running up the score :-D

[@michaelleroy9281]

Only 2 seasons after this one in Baltimore

[@NMeyer0]

Rain delay in Montreal. We got it already!

[@iwuvmycolts]

Chargers should have gone to Super Bowl that year but freezing temps in Cincy grounded Air Coryell.

[@patrickcolon8809]

They had an even better chance the previous season, but they blew it with a mistake-prone 1st half against the Raiders in the AFC Championship game at Jack Murphy Stadium.

[@DNSKansas]

The Chargers lost 40-17 to the Bengals at Jack Murphy in '81. Home field might not have mattered. As for 1980, the Chargers were F**KED when the Browns called Red Right 88.

[@PerpetualArt]

@@DNSKansas + The Bengals would have probably won that game even if it was played in San Diego. Like you said the Bengals had the Chargers # that year.

[@snakeoiler1292]

+Cat Man San Diego Chokers choked 79-82. Never went anywhere. Like Hurt Jones and Dan Marino. They had home field advantage 79-80 and still blew it. They would lose to people like Gifford Neilson, Jim Plunkett and David Woodley in the playoffs.

[@PerpetualArt]

@@snakeoiler1292 + I agree with your assessment of the Chargers, and I never liked them for some reason. Big Oilers fan, so I remember them beating the Chargers in 79.

[@johnvisconti9848]

Does anybody have the game played between the Jets and the Giants on November 1st, 1981? If so, please let me know. Thank you.

[@johnlevalley521]

That game was blacked out in New York. Never saw it.

[@MrWolfTickets]

And he kicks it to home plate... The chargers win the pennant!!

[@JamesSheets8175]

froze my ass off at this game

[@grxracer-1606]

Colts 2 Superbowls. Chargers 0. Should have had 4 in a row 1979-82. But lost to people like Dennis Neilson, Jim Plunkett and a David Woodley. Eugene Klein was such a tightwad. Poor Hurt Jones had potential but no offensive line.

[@kerisbule]

Way old times. Baseball dirt and no logo chalk. Most high schools have better fields now.

[@swaugertim]

The golden age of the NFL. Before politics entered the picture and made their games seem so meaningless.

[@bigchee8263]

Where is politics on the field of play?

[@swaugertim]

@@bigchee8263 Sports and politics don't mix. Not before , during or after the game. Not on the sidelines or between the lines.

[@bigchee8263]

@@swaugertim how is it preventing tackles from being made and points being out up? Just admit that you made up that rule

[@swaugertim]

@@bigchee8263 The politics and social justice issues haven't stopped points from being scored or tackles being made. It just made a sizeable chunk of the audience not care anymore about touchdowns or tackles.