5 Biggest Takeaways From Chargers Preseason Opener vs Seahawks

Valentina Martinez | Aug 11, 2024

Dec 23, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA; Los Angeles Chargers place kicker Cameron Dicker (11) celebrates with punter JK Scott (16) after making a field goal during the first quarter against the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports / Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Chargers fell 16-3 to the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday in the preseason opener at SoFi Stadium. Here are five takeaways from the matchup.

1. The defense had a day

The defense was only on the gridiron for 79 plays, but Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter's unit put on a solid performance.

The defensive play of the game was a run stuff on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Chargers linebacker Shane Lee stopped Seattle at the goal line.

"I thought our defense played winning football," Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh said, via the team's transcript.

"There was a lot of real good from my eye on the field. Did a lot of things right."

The defense posted three sacks, seven tackles for loss and seven pass breakups.

Nick Niemann, Troy Dye and Thomas Harper each had a sack for Los Angeles.

2. The offense can't be successful without Justin Herbert

Herbert is the heartbeat of the Chargers offense and without him on the field, the unit was practically lifeless.

The offense ended the day with just 198 total yards. The first half of the game was especially horrific. Of the first 13 plays of the matchup, the unit earned only 15 yards of offense.

Backup quarterback Easton Stick completed five of 13 passes, had no touchdowns and threw a pick.

"Frustrating, obviously," Stick said. "A bunch of three-and-outs and the turnover. Frustrating."

The performances from Max Duggan and Luis Perez weren't much better.

All in all, the Chargers desperately need Herbert if they want to be a successful team this season.

3. Cameron Dicker is the real deal

The Chargers needed kicker Cameron Dicker once in Saturday's preseason opener.

Dicker was tasked with making a 58-yard field goal right down the middle.

The undrafted kicker got the job done and the score became a career-long field goal for Dicker.

casual career-long 58-yrd field goal for dicker the kicker pic.twitter.com/ZT40IYSFze

— Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) August 11, 2024

"It's the same as every kick," Dicker said. "You try to make them all. Haven't put any emphasis on those or anything. It's all opportunity and trying to take advantage."

The long kick earned Dicker high praise from Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh.

"Cameron Dicker, a 58-yard field goal. We're going to remember that for a long time," Harbaugh said.

It's likely Dicker will also remember Harbaugh's compliment for a long time.

4. Tuli Tuipolotu is going to have a phenomenal season

Though the outside linebacker didn't see much action against Seattle, he was electric in his short stint.

Tuipolotu finished the day with three tackles, including one tackle for a run stop.

He was also close to earning a sack several times as his quarterback pressure was solid. His pressure resulted in four quarterback hits and three sacks.

"Tuli, it looked like they couldn't block him," Harbaugh said postgame.

Tuipolotu elevated the Chargers defense on Saturday and the success of Minter's scheme relies heavily on the outside linebacker's production.

5. The new kickoff format is interesting

The "dynamic" format calls for every player on the coverage team, besides the kicker, to line up at the opposing 40-yard line. At least nine return players must line up between the 30 and 35-yard line.

The Chargers hit the ground running with the new kickoff rule as Jaelen Gill broke up a 43-yard return to the Seattle 45-yard line.

Another notable play was when Los Angeles kept a Seahawks kickoff return to just 14 yards.

"New kickoff is interesting. Everybody kind of figured that out today," Dicker said. "We'll see what we do next week."

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