The 1997 San Diego Chargers season was the franchise's 28th season in the National Football League (NFL), its 38th overall and was the first season under Kevin Gilbride. With veteran first-string quarterback Stan Humphries missing half the season, the Chargers struggled and failed to improve on their 8–8 record from 1996. Backup quarterback Craig Whelihan went winless in seven starts, with the result that the Chargers lost their final eight games after a 4–4 start and scored only one touchdown in their final three games. The team finished with a 4–12 record and missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
San Diego struggled with Gilbride's new offensive system. Humphries posted a QB rating of 70.8, his worst as a Charger; none of the other three quarterbacks who saw action managed better than 60.6, and the number of sacks given up leapt from 33 to 51. Tony Martin was again the leading receiver, but fell short of 1,000 yards for the first time in three seasons. The running game improved slightly. Gary Brown gained 945 yards, but was inconsistent: his top two yardage totals were 181 and 169, but he only reached 60 yards in one other game. From San Diego's season tally of 27 touchdowns, only 17 were scored by the offense, a new club record low. Changes to the offensive line may have contributed to these struggles, with Eric Moten and Harry Swayne both having departed during the offseason.
On defense, linebacker Junior Seau led the team with 7.0 sacks. However, his six-season run as the top tackler was ended by Rodney Harrison, who had a superb all-round year at strong safety: 4.0 sacks, 132 tackles, touchdowns on an interception return, a fumble recovery and a kickoff return. New signing Eric Metcalf ran three punts back for touchdowns.
The team's stadium, Qualcomm Stadium, hosted Super Bowl XXXII at the end of the season.
^"1997 NFL Pro Bowlers". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
^"1997 NFL All-Pros". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
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