well below the league average of 64.9. Unitas announced his retirement before the 1974 season, paving the way for Fouts to stake a claim to the starting job. He started the first eleven games, before a broken thumb ended his season. Fouts went 3–8 in those games, posted an improved passer rating of 61.4; half of his season total of 8 touchdown passes came in a single Week 8 game with Cleveland, completing 12 passes of 21 for 333 yards as the Chargers won 36–35. While Fouts again finished the season with a completion percentage below 50%, his yards per completion of 15.1 led the NFL. Fouts increased his completion percentage in 1975 (to 54.4%), but threw only two touchdowns against 10 interceptions, while going 2–7 as a starter. In a Week 3 game with the Raiders, Fouts completed 3 of 13 passes for 29 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions, while getting sacked five times for 51 yards; he finished the game with a passer rating of zero, the only such rating of his 15-year career. Fouts was booed when he was announced at the start of that game, and struggled with injuries throughout the season (first a sore ankle, then a concussion), though his replacements also struggled. 1976–1977: Improvement and holdout In 1976, the Chargers brought in Bill Walsh from Cincinnati to be their offensive coordinator. He stayed in the post for a season before moving on to be the head coach at Stanford. Fouts would later say, "Walsh really got me into the position to be an effective quarterback". Fouts also gained a new wide receiver when the Chargers traded for seven-year veteran Charlie Joiner. Joiner went on to spend 11 years with Fouts in San Diego, with over 9,000 receiving yards and 47 touchdowns as a Charger. Fouts later described the receiver as a security blanket, saying: "I don’t think he ever dropped any, at least any that were thrown that he could catch." Fouts began the 1976 season by throwing six touchdown and no interceptions in the first three games, all wins. In a Week 3, 43–24 victory over Don Coryell's St. Louis Cardinals, Fouts went 15 of 18 for 259 yards, 4 touchdowns and no interceptions. This gave him a perfect passer rating of 158.3; , Fouts is the only Charger to post such a rating. Fouts was the league's No. 1 rated passer