The Los Angeles Rams beat the Los Angeles Chargers by a final score of 20-18 in Week 3 of the NFL preseason. Though the Rams began with the ball on offense, and Ty Simpson perhaps threw the best ball of his young career in this contest, the story of the game more or less begins with Justin Herbert, and some other notable Chargers taking the field in this preseason matchup.
The Chargers wanted to see parts of their first team offense as they gear up for Week 1. It started about as poorly as it could for the former team out of San Diego. Herbert bobbled his second snap as the Rams defense came away with the takeaway.
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Safety Nick Andersen, who’s had a nice preseason, made the recovery, and it was a thrilling moment for the defensive unit full of backups and fringe players. The Rams scored a field goal on the turnover as the Chargers defense, also playing with some expected starters, stopped the Rams on a fourth and goal.
Before you could wonder if the Chargers and their offense were in serious trouble, Herbert showed that his regular season should be just fine when he found Quentin Johnston for a 65-yard TD strike. At that point, Jim Harbugh and Mike McDaniel had seen enough from Herbert who went to the sidelines with his one fumble, one touchdown day.
Ty Simpson’s go-ahead touchdown throw
Simpson played the entire first half, and opened the game failing to score a touchdown on his first couple drives, but Simpson did lead the team to a Harrison Mevis field goal before flashing on an 11-yard touchdown throw that should get plenty of media coverage on Friday.
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Trailing 7-3 on a third and seven at the 11-yard line, Simpson took a snap, and was immediately faced with pressure. He sprinted out to his left as the Chargers chased him, and as he was about to run out of room at the sideline, he fired a strike to Brennan Presley into the endzone for the score.
The plan is for Simpson to have many more NFL throws and moments beyond this preseason, but at is stands this may be the best throw we have seen Simpson make at the NFL level. Preseason or not, it was a great play by the rookie first round quarterback.
Supporting Simpson was his leading receiver CJ Daniels with five grabs for 42 yards, running back Dean Connors who continued to flash for the Rams with burst and physicality and fellow RB Jordan Waters who helped carry the load on the ground. Defensive back Cam Lamkin had a huge sack that led to a Cameron Dicker missed field goal to close out the first half.
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At halftime, the Rams led 13-7 with Simpson having played all of quarters one and two. The young QB went 18/23 with 119 yards, one TD, and two rushing attempts for 11 yards.
Surely there were plays that Simpson wants back and plenty for Sean McVay and the Rams to learn from the tape. Still, Simpson had a fine day before being replaced by Matthew Caldwell in the third quarter.
To some degree, with the second half not truly featuring Simpson or Hebert, it wasn’t as high stakes or exciting, but it was still NFL football, and the final chance for some of these guys to shine at this level.
Simpson later came back out deep into the fourth quarter when Caldwell appeared to get hurt, but Simpson was just asked to hand the ball off and not get hurt, solidifying the idea McVay and the Rams had seen enough from Simpson today.
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The Rams and their rookie running back battle
Waters picked up a solid 19-yard run as the third quarter wound down while Connors capped off the drive with a receiving score from Caldwell to make the score 20-10 in the fourth quarter.
With Jarquez Hunter being traded to the Miami Dolphins today, there should be an opening in their running bac room. It’s expected either Connors or Waters fills that void. Both looked decent and comparable today. Neither were exceptional as both were stuffed on goal line carries early in the game.
You could say it was Chargers running back Gregory Desrosiers who had the best box score on the day with 100+ yards and a rushing score.
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The Rams gave up a two-point conversion
The Rams gave up a two-point conversion against the Chargers in this one. L.A. gave up a number of crucial two-point conversions in 2025, including a costly one to the Philadelphia Eagles early in the season, and more than one big one to the Seattle Seahawks late. Something to monitor for 2026.
The Final (for preseason)
The score eventually was 20-18 in favor of the Rams, but McVay seemed to prioritize avoiding injury and running the clock, especially when Caldwell went down for them, and had to be replaced by Simpson. McVay’s offense just ran the ball, while the Chargers called time outs and made stops to give themselves a real chance to win this preseason game.
The Rams defense instead made a huge play when Darryl Peterson forced a final fumble. L.A. recovered and L.A. (the Rams) won.
Now, both teams get ready for Week One.
