LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles Chargers earned their first win of the preseason on August 19 against the Seattle Seahawks. Philip Rivers played in his first game of the season, and looked good. He went 6/7 on his only two drives.

Seattle started the game with the ball. On the first play of the game, Russell Wilson hit Jaron Brown for a large 29-yard gain. An additional 15 yards was later added to the play because of unnecessary roughness, making it a 44-yard gain. However, the Seahawks drive fizzled out in Chargers’ territory and they ended up with a field goal.

On the Chargers’ first drive, Quarterback Philip Rivers escaped the pocket and found Tyrell Williams on a 21-yard floater. Running Back Melvin Gordon improved the team’s field position when he plowed forward for 14 yards. A couple plays later, Gordon scored on a short rushing touchdown to give LA the lead.

On the Seahawks’ next possession, Wilson found Brown once again for a large gain (45 yards). But, the drive slowed down in the red zone. Seattle scored another field goal, making the score 7-6.

The following drives resulted in punts, and a fumble by Seahawks Running Back Chris Carson at the Charger’s one yard line. Before the half, however, Los Angeles would put more points on the board. After going three and out, Seattle punted it to Justin Jones. Jones made a couple cuts and sprinted past the special teams for a 72-yard touchdown. The Chargers were ahead 14-6 at halftime.

After halftime, the Chargers strengthened their hold on the game. They received the ball first, and Geno Smith helped put the game away. On 3rd and 4, Smith found Wide Receiver Artavis Smith on a deep in route for a 22-yard gain. Smith later capped the drive with a 25-yard touchdown to Wide Receiver Mike Williams on a fade. This made the score 21-6.

Seattle scored later in the fourth quarter and Los Angeles responded with a field goal. The final score of the game was 24-14.

Rivers finished the game 6/7 for 62 yards and Geno Smith finished 6/8 for 85 yards.

Detrez Newsome finished with 78 yards on 19 carries for the Chargers.

For Seattle, Wilson finished 13/21 for 193 yards. Brown (WR) had 2 receptions for 74 yards.

The Chargers looked like a much more polished team in this preseason game. This is not surprising as their star quarterback did not play last week against Arizona. Los Angeles played a solid game, and secured their first win of the preseason.