Los Angeles Chargers: The All-California Super Bowl
Following the 1994 NFL season, the then-San Diego Chargers found themselves playing in their first-ever Super Bowl. To date, it’s still been their only appearance in the big game, which makes this significant — even if it didn’t end as they had hoped.
San Diego entered that season hoping to rebound from a sub-par 1993 campaign in which they finished with an 8-8 mark. Head coach Bobby Ross was in just his third season at the helm and was still rolling with veteran quarterback Stan Humphries as his starter.
Humphries was steady, but not great as a passer, but had the best season of his career. He finished with 3,209 yards and 17 touchdowns (which was a career-high). However, the team was known more for its ability to control the clock with their powerful running game, while shutting down opponents with a strong defense.
On offense, things revolved around second-year running back Natrone Means. He made his first, and only, Pro Bowl appearance that season, as he exploded for 1,350 yards and 12 touchdowns for the Bolts.
It was also the only season he topped the 1,000-yard mark in his career, which actually included two stints with the Chargers. He left in 1996 NFL free agency for the Jacksonville Jaguars but returned in 1998 for two seasons.
Defensively, San Diego was a top-10 team led by linebacker Junior Seau. An eventual Pro Football Hall of Famer, Seau had a career-high 155 tackles that season and added 5.5 sacks. He had some great help around him as well, as defensive ends Leslie O’Neal (12.5 sacks) and Chris Mims (11.0 sacks) each had fantastic years as well. The Chargers ended up falling to the San Francisco 49ers in the all-California bowl, but it was still a great ride up until that point.