The San Diego Chargers season was the franchise's second season in the National Football League (NFL), and its 12th overall. The team improved on their 5âÂÂ6âÂÂ3 record in 1970. It was Harland Svare's first season as the team's head coach. After a 1âÂÂ4 start, the Chargers would slightly improve, winning 3 of their next 4 games. However, they would lose 3 of their final 5 games en route to a 6âÂÂ8 finish. The only bright spot was quarterback John Hadl who completed 233 passes out of 431 attempts for 3,075 yards and 21 touchdowns and won the NFL Man of the Year award as well as leading the league in both passing yards and touchdown passes.
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Walt Sweeney and Gary Garrison were named to the AFC Pro Bowl squad; No Chargers were named All-Pro by the Associated Press, though Sweeney was named the best in his Conference. Hadl was a runner-up for the AP NFL Most Valuable Player award, receiving one of the sixty available votes.