Chargers Get Shut out for 1st Time Since 1999, Spanning 241 Games

The San Diego Chargers suffered through one of the more futile performances in franchise history during Sunday's 37-0 loss to the Miami Dolphins, getting shut out for the first time since 1999 to break up a streak of 241 consecutive regular-season games with points, per ESPN Stats & Info.

A franchise known largely for its explosive offenses and postseason disappointments, the Chargers lost the league's third-longest active streak of avoiding shutouts.

San Diego was last held scoreless in a 34-0 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 31, 1999, a bit more than 15 years removed from Sunday's equally embarrassing zero-score showing.

Of course, that 1999 performance came with the middling Jim Harbaugh—now head coach of the San Francisco 49ers—at quarterback, while the Chargers had early-season MVP candidate Philip Rivers behind center for Sunday's debacle.

The typically feared San Diego attack was every bit as bad as the absentee point total would seem to indicate, as the team managed just 178 total yards of offense against a dominant Miami defense. The Chargers' 11 drives resulted in five punts, four turnovers and a turnover on downs, with the final one-play possession mercifully ending due to the sound of the final whistle.

As ugly as the performance was, the Chargers will likely wonder how things might have gone differently if not for a turnover on downs on the game's opening possession.

The soon-to-be dormant San Diego offense came charging out of the gates, piling up 58 yards to reach the Miami 22-yard line with a time-consuming drive. But running back Branden Oliver was then stopped for a one-yard loss on a 4th-and-1, and it was all Dolphins the rest of the way.