Man vs Franchise
Todd Christensen Mercilessly Dominated the San Diego Chargers
As a rookie in 1961, Mike Ditka revolutionized the tight end position, adding the pass-catching element to what had previously been mainly a blocking role.
Ditka had 56 receptions for 1,076 yards and 12 TD that season, but by the time Todd Christensen was drafted in 1978, there had only been two additional 1,000-yard receiving seasons by tight ends, and none since Jackie Smith in 1967.
The pass-catching tight end was arguably in decline, as none could manage more than 869 receiving yards in a season throughout the entire 1970s.
Christensen didn’t even want to be a tight end himself. A college fullback at BYU, he missed his rookie season with a broken foot and didn’t take kindly to the Cowboys wanting him to convert positions in 1979.
He would bounce to the Giants and finally the Raiders that year, but wouldn’t make a single start until 1982, when at long last he agreed to play tight end. After the switch, Christensen immediately joined Kellen Winslow and Ozzie Newsome in the second generation of great receiving TEs, arguably making the highest peak of the group.
That year, he led the NFL with 92 receptions, becoming the first player to reach the 90 mark since 1964. He also led all TE in receiving yards and TD on his way to 287.7 PPR fantasy points. It would take until 2011 for a tight end to pass that mark (Rob Gronkowski and Jimmy Graham).
He would lead all tight ends in receiving yards in each of the next three seasons as well. From 1983–86, Christensen made the Pro Bowl and an All-Pro team every year, with as many 1,000-yard seasons (three) as all other TE combined.
By the end of 1986, Christensen had recorded four-straight seasons with at least 80 receptions, while no other player in NFL history had that many 80-reception campaigns across their entire career.
It capped off a five-year run where Christensen led the entire NFL in receptions while finishing top four in receiving yards and TD. Of course, he easily led his position across all categories.
He dominated the whole league, but there was one team in particular he feasted on. Todd Christensen destroyed the San Diego Chargers.
To be fair, if there was going to be a team to feast on over this period, it would be the Chargers. After reaching back-to-back AFC Championship Games in 1980 and 1981 as Dan Fouts led the Air Coryell offense to perfection, San Diego began their decline, reaching the playoffs in 1982 for the final time in a decade.
But it wasn’t the offense that slowed down the Chargers’ success. Despite scoring the third-most total points from 1982–86, they finished last in both scoring defense and total defense over the period.
Meanwhile, the Raiders won 70% of their games over this stretch and won Super Bowl XVIII in the 1983 season after moving from Oakland to Los Angeles in 1982.
It was a tight end having one of the best five-year spans in the history of the position going up against what was far and away the worst passing defense in the NFL. The results were incredible.
Over 10 games, Christensen totaled 75 receptions for 1,131 yards and 6 TD. The Raiders absolutely torched the Chargers, going 9–1 and scoring 34.0 PPG with eight 30-point performances.
Over a full 16-game season, that would equate to 120 receptions for 1,810 yards and 10 scores. A player has only hit each of those benchmarks over a campaign three times in NFL history — Jerry Rice in 1995, Antonio Brown in 2015, and Cooper Kupp in 2021.
During that span, Christensen had 302 more receiving yards than any other player had against an individual opponent. The most receiving yards by a non-Christensen tight end was Winslow in those same games against the Raiders. His total was 626, over 500 off Christensen’s pace.
Against the Raiders’ three other divisional opponents over this timeframe, Christensen averaged 5.3 receptions for 62.7 yards per game, which would each lead all tight ends. Yet, he completely blows these numbers away against the Chargers, with 7.5 receptions and 113.1 yards per game.
Christensen racked up seven 100-yard receiving games against the Chargers in just the four-year window from 1983–86. This remains the most 100-yard receiving games a tight end has had against one team over an entire career.
In fact, those games accounted for half of Christensen’s 14 career games of 100+ receiving yards.
He additionally had at least seven receptions in each of those 100-yard contests against the Chargers. When Christensen retired after the 1988 season, only two other tight ends (Winslow and Ditka) had more games with 7+ receptions and 100+ receiving yards over an entire career.
Very few players in NFL history have dominated a single opponent like Christensen did against San Diego in his prime. With the likes of Winslow and Antonio Gates, the Chargers franchise has had some of the greatest tight ends of all-time. However, in the 1980s, they had no match for a man who never even wanted to play the position in the first place.
Statistics for this story were primarily found through Pro Football Reference and Stathead.
