The Seattle Seahawks have bounced back from their Week 3 road loss with a convincing, yet sloppy, home victory in Week 4 over the Los Angeles Chargers. It was far from pretty, but the Seahawks took care of business with a 30-23 win to improve to 3-1 before a Week 5 showdown with the San Francisco 49ers.
But before we look ahead, we have to take care of some housekeeping from Week 4. Seattle won, but this was about as sloppy as it gets from them. The Seahawks were penalized 14 times for 150 yards. On the other side of the field, the Chargers were just as bad, getting flagged 16 times fro 130 yards. For those who are fans of simple arithmatic, the Seahawks and Chargers were penalized 30 times for 280 combined yards. It’s the most combined penalty
yards in a Seahawks game since they beat the Bucs 13-10 in 1976 when both teams were flagged 39 times for 310 yards… which is still a post-merger NFL record!
Seattle and Los Angeles also made history on the first two plays of the game. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert threw an interception on Los Angeles' first play of the game. But the good times didn't last long, because Sam Darnold gave it right back on his first play of the game. According to ESPN's Ben Solak, this is the first game to start with consecutive interceptions by both teams since 1978... which could very well be the only time it's happened as far as we know, because that is as far back as the data goes!
Despite how sloppy the Seahawks were, it didn't really slow them down much as they had built a 20-6 lead at halftime, mainly due to Los Angeles' incompetance. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert was held to 21 passing yards and was picked off an additional time by Ernest Jones.
It was a wild and wacky first quarter. After the traded interceptions on the first two plays, the Chargers eventually coughed it up once more on a muffed punt return, which was recovered by the Seahawks. On the very next play, Sam Darnold found running back Emanuel Wilson for a 23-yard rushing touchdown.
Emanuel Wilson touchdown pic.twitter.com/08EDRL6kXE
— The Seahawks Wire (@TheSeahawksWire) October 4, 2026
It was a day of "firsts" when it came to the Seahawks' touchdowns. Emanuel Wilson's receiving touchdown was the first touchdown of any kind by a Seattle running back. Eventually, he did score an eight yard rushing touchdown near the end of the first half, which was the first rushing score by a running back this year. Electric speedster Rashid Shaheed also found the end zone for the first time this year on a 28-yard rush. It was also his first offensive touchdown since being traded to Seattle last year.
Rashid Shaheed 28 yard rushing touchdown pic.twitter.com/Z7ooKUse0i
— The Seahawks Wire (@TheSeahawksWire) October 4, 2026
This is the first rushing touchdown by a Seahawks running back this year! pic.twitter.com/IxZKooNYVg
— Kole Musgrove (@KoleMusgrove23) October 4, 2026
The "firsts" continued on the opening drive of the third quarter, when Sam Darnold capped off an eight-play, 63-yard drive by finding second year wide receiver Tory Horton on third down. Horton's score made it 27-6, and effectively put the game out of reach for the Chargers.
Darnold ➡️ Horton pic.twitter.com/5tOCIF3cWB
— Kole Musgrove (@KoleMusgrove23) October 4, 2026
Although the Chargers were in too deep a hole to climb out of, it didn't stop them from trying. Los Angeles hung around long enough to eventually make it a one-score game late. The Chargers settled for a field goal on first down just before the two-minute warning, hoping to use that clock stoppage and all three timeouts to get the ball back for one final shot. The gambit paid off, and LA had a chance to engineer an improbable comeback drive down 30-23 at their own 11-yard line.
Fortunately for the collective cardio health of the Pacific Northwest, their comeback attempt was snuffed out almost immediately. On their third play, Justin Herbert was sacked by Uchenna Nwosu, who was playing his former team. Herbert fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Derick Hall to end the game.
Now the Seahawks are 3-1, and can officially look forward to an incredibly difficult slate of games ahead of them. Seattle will need to clean up plenty before they take on the currently undefeated San Francisco 49ers.
This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Seahawks prevail 30-23 in sloppy home victory over the Chargers
