Rams rally past Chargers 20-18 in NFL preseason, Ty Simpson standout in Week 3 finale

The Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers closed out their Week 3 preseason meeting with a low-scoring, back-and-forth finish, and the Rams came away with a 20-18 victory. According to the game recap from Yahoo Sports, Los Angeles got the ball first on offense and built enough momentum early to stay close even as the Chargers responded with their own scoring opportunities.

Quarterback play was a central storyline in the recap, and Ty Simpson was singled out for a notable sequence. The report describes Simpson throwing what it calls the best ball of his career during the game, emphasizing a moment when the Rams generated separation in the passing game and kept the pressure on late. For a preseason outing, those types of throws can matter because they provide a clearer look at a quarterback’s decision-making and arm talent against live coverage rather than situational drills.

What the final margin suggests, though, is that neither side treated the game as a rehearsal with a clear path to a comfortable win. With the Chargers also producing points throughout, the contest stayed within reach until the closing stretch. That makes the Rams’ ability to hold a narrow lead and preserve a late outcome a key takeaway from the final score.

From a roster perspective, preseason Week 3 games often serve as a checkpoint for depth. Teams use these weeks to evaluate who can run plays cleanly, protect the football, and execute at speed when the opponent’s game-plan adjustments start to show up more clearly. The Rams’ win, paired with Simpson’s reported highlight, positions him as a quarterback to watch as Los Angeles continues working toward the end-of-summer cuts and the final distribution of roles.

For the Chargers, the 20-18 result indicates that the game remained competitive and that their offense and defense were both able to influence the scoreboard. In a preseason setting, that matters less as a statement of “form” and more as evidence that the units are still finding ways to move the ball, stop drives, and respond when momentum shifts.

Looking ahead, the next step for each team is to see whether the encouraging moments from this matchup translate into consistency across subsequent practices and preseason dates. For the Rams, the key question is whether the quality of Simpson’s passing, highlighted by the reported career-best throw, shows up again beyond one standout play. For the Chargers, the focus will be on tightening execution so that games decided by a two-point margin do not swing away as late in the process.