Preseason Regular season Note: Intra-division opponents are in
bold text.
Game summaries Week 1: at Arizona Cardinals Arizona Cardinals rookie receiver
John Brown scored on a 13-yard pass from
Carson Palmer with 2:25 left in the game to defeat San Diego 18–17 on
Monday night. The Chargers led 17–6 after three periods, but did not convert on multiple opportunities throughout the game. It was the fifth loss for San Diego over the prior three seasons in which they led by a touchdown or more in the fourth quarter, tied for the most in the NFL. Rookie
Jeremiah Attaochu set up the Chargers only first-half score with a blocked punt off
Drew Butler. San Diego trailed 6–3 at halftime when Chargers quarterback
Philip Rivers went 6-for-6 for 82 yards and threw a 6-yard touchdown to
Malcom Floyd for a 10–6 lead. Attaochu forced a Palmer fumble on a
strip sack to set up a 20-yard touchdown run by
Ryan Mathews for a 17–6 Charger advantage. The Cardinals pulled to 17–12 after a 10-play, 64-yard touchdown drive with 12:30 remaining; their
two-point conversion failed. San Diego held a 42:15 to 17:45 advantage in time of possession under hot weather conditions. The official game-time temperature was , while readings at field level read closer to . The Chargers had six drives of eight plays or more—including possessions of 14, 12, and 10 plays—while the Seahawks had one eight-play drive. San Diego's first possession was a 14-play drive that led to a 50-yard field goal by
Nick Novak, ending the Seahawks' 20-game streak without allowing a score on the opening possession. Following a 10-play field goal drive by the Chargers in the second quarter, linebacker
Kavell Conner forced a fumble on the kickoff, which led to a six-play touchdown drive; the two drives combined to keep the Seahawks offense off the field for almost nine minutes. The Chargers' defense held the Bills to just 19 yards and forced a
safety in their first four series in the fourth quarter, denying Buffalo their third 3–0 start since 1993. After Jacksonville took a 7–3 lead on a
Toby Gerhart 1-yard TD run early in the second quarter, Rivers spotted Royal—guarded by linebacker
Geno Hayes—who got open for a 47-yard touchdown reception. Jaguars rookie
Blake Bortles, making his first start, followed with a scoring pass to
Nic Jacobs. Before halftime, Rivers found Royal on third-and-10 as the receiver outran defenders for 43-yard TD pass, staking San Diego to a 17–14 lead. Rivers completed 29 of his 37 passes and had a 130.0
passer rating, his highest ever in a game in which he threw over 31 passes.
Keenan Allen established career-highs of 10 catches for 135 yards, and Royal had five receptions for 105 yards, his first 100-yard game with the Chargers.
Week 5: vs. New York Jets Mike McCoy's desire to improve the run game came to fruition against the New York Jets. The Chargers ran for 162 yards against the Jets, who came into the game ranked number one in the NFL in rush defense.
Donald Brown was knocked out of the game with a concussion in the first half and
Branden Oliver, their fourth-string running back, played. Oliver ran 19 times for 114 yards and a touchdown. He also caught 4 passes for 68 yards and a touchdown. These were the first two NFL touchdowns for the rookie. Philip Rivers completed 20 throws on 28 attempts for 288 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Two of his touchdown throws were to
Antonio Gates. With 65 touchdowns, Rivers and Gates set the NFL record for most between a quarterback and tight end duo. It was Gates' 91 and 92 career TD catches, moving him into 10th place all-time. After the game, Rivers stressed this year's toughness of the team as its success. The offense of the Jets on the other hand, crossed the 50-yard line for the first time with 7:35 left in the fourth quarter.
Geno Smith threw only four completions on 12 attempts for 27 yards and an interception. In the first offensive possession for the Jets in the second half, he was benched for
Michael Vick. Vick did only a little better by throwing 8 completions on 19 attempts for 27 yards and ran twice for 14 yards. The Chargers were the first team to win by a
shutout in the 2014 season (week five). The Chargers' last shutout victory was 31–0 against Kansas City on December 12, 2010. The Jets were shut out for the first time since losing 34–0 against San Francisco on September 30, 2012. With the day's loss, the Jets had lost four straight games.
Week 6: at Oakland Raiders Rookie
cornerback Jason Verrett intercepted
Oakland Raiders rookie quarterback
Derek Carr at the San Diego 5 with 1:13 remaining in the game to seal a 31–28 Chargers win on the road. San Diego had gone ahead with 1:56 to play on a 1-yard touchdown run by Oliver. Verrett's first career interception helped the Chargers extend their winning streak to five, while Oakland suffered its 11th straight defeat. The Chargers 5–1 start to begin the season was their best since
2002. Oliver ran for 101 yards in the game, and Rivers threw for 313 yards and three touchdowns. For Rivers, it was an NFL-record fifth straight game with at least a 120 passer rating. San Diego was just 3-for-10 on third down conversions after entering the game with a 53.8% success rate, the highest in the league. San Diego was limited to just one offensive drive in the third quarter, a three-and-out series that lasted just 1:02,
Week 8: at Denver Broncos Peyton Manning connected with
Emmanuel Sanders for three touchdowns to lead the
Denver Broncos to a 35–21 win over San Diego. Rookie
Juwan Thompson also ran for two TDs to help the Broncos (6–1) expand their lead over the Chargers (5–3) in the
AFC West. A year earlier, San Diego had handed Denver their only home loss of the season. The game was tied 7–7 in the second quarter after Rivers capped a 13-play, 84-yard drive with a 2-yard TD to Allen. On the following
kickoff, the Chargers appeared to recover a fumble by Denver, but the play was overturned. Manning then drove his team eight plays for a 31-yard TD to Sanders past cornerback
Richard Marshall. The Chargers were trailing 28–14 in the fourth quarter with the Broncos on the San Diego 2, when Weddle intercepted Manning; however, the play was nullified by a holding penalty against Gilchrist, and Thompson scored on a 1-yard run the next play. The Chargers followed with an eight-play, 80-yard TD drive in less than two minutes, with Gates scoring for the second time for a 35–21 game with minutes left.
Week 9: at Miami Dolphins The Chargers committed four turnovers and lost 37–0 to the
Miami Dolphins for their most lopsided defeat since
1996. The Dolphins front four dominated the Chargers' offensive line, forcing three interceptions and a lost fumble by Rivers. It was San Diego's third straight loss, and the first time they had been shut out since
1999. On the opening possession of the game, San Diego gambled on fourth and 1 from the Miami 22, but Oliver was stopped for a 1-yard loss. It was the only time the Chargers crossed midfield during the game. Miami led 17–0 after the first 21 minutes. They scored on all but one of their seven possessions in the first half, the exception being
Caleb Sturgis' miss on a 45-yard field goal attempt to end the half. Rivers was limited to 138 yards passing in the game, and was twice intercepted by
Brent Grimes. His quarterback rating of 31.0 was his lowest since
2007. Both teams punted nine times, with Chargers punter
Mike Scifres pinning the Raiders inside the 20 on five of his kicks.
U-T San Diego lauded Scifres' performance, stating that he "arguably was the team MVP." San Diego was a season low 27% (4-for-15) on third-down conversions, after entering the game fourth best in the league (48%). According to McCoy, Rivers had not missed any practice time nor received any treatment from the team trainer.
Week 12: vs. St. Louis Rams Gilchrist intercepted
St. Louis Rams quarterback
Shaun Hill's pass at the Chargers' goal line with a minute left in the game to secure a 27–24 win for San Diego.
Week 13: at Baltimore Ravens Rivers passed to Royal for the go-ahead touchdown with 38 seconds left in the game to defeat the
Baltimore Ravens on the road, 34–33, for their third straight win. The Chargers had trailed the entire game, including 30–20 with 6:13 left and 33–27 with 2:22 to go. Rivers completed 34 of 45 passes for 383 yards and three touchdowns, including two scores to Allen. Rivers was intercepted on the Chargers' first drive of the game, and Baltimore led 10–0 almost eight minutes into the contest. On their next possession, San Diego went 80 yards on 13 plays for their first TD, a 12-yard pass from Rivers to Allen. Each team punted only once in the game. It was the Ravens first loss in November since 2009. They had also been 11–0 at home against West Coast teams. The Chargers used their fifth different center of the season,
Trevor Robinson, after their fourth center,
Chris Watt, left the game with an injury. San Diego was shut out in the second half. The win gave New England their 12th straight 10-win season, the second-longest such streak in NFL history. The Chargers led 14–3 after scoring twice within 2 minutes, 33 seconds in the second quarter. Floyd made a diving catch for a 15-yard TD, and safety
Darrell Stuckey returned a fumble for a 53-yard score. After Patriots kicker
Stephen Gostkowski's second field goal,
Brandon Bolden blocked a punt by Scifres, and New England recovered the ball at the San Diego 28. Scifres was carted off the field after injuring his left shoulder on the play. Four plays later, Brady hit
Rob Gronkowski on a 14-yard TD pass to trail 14–13. Before halftime, Te'o leaped for his first career interception on a pass intended for Gronkowski, preserving the Chargers' lead. In the third quarter,
Devin McCourty returned a Rivers interception for a touchdown, but the play was wiped out by a personal foul on
Brandon Browner for San Diego's Ladarius Green in the head. Mathews entered the locker room early before halftime after limping following a tripping penalty by New England. After rushing nine times for 52 yards in the first half, he had just two carries for minus 8 yards the rest of the game. The ankle sprain sidelined Mathews for the remainder of the season.
Week 15: vs. Denver Broncos San Diego lost 22–10 to the Broncos after struggling offensively for the second consecutive week. After entering the game with the 6th best record in the AFC, the loss was a blow to the Chargers' (8–6) playoff chances. It was their second consecutive home loss to the two teams tied for the best record in their conference. Denver's Manning threw a scoring pass to
Demaryius Thomas at the end of the third quarter for their only touchdown of the game. The Chargers pulled to within six points at 16–10 after a TD catch by Gates with 10 minutes left. Rivers completed 24 of 41 attempts for 232 yards with two interceptions. Gates' touchdown was his 10th of the season, tying him with Gronkowski for most seasons with at least 10 touchdown catches by a tight end. the collarbone sidelined him for the final two games of the season. Rivers, who sat out practice earlier in the week with back and chest injuries, overcame three interceptions to throw for 356 yards and four TDs. The Chargers, who played the game without injured offensive stars Allen and Mathews, outscored the 49ers 31–7 after halftime. The 49ers led 28–7 at halftime, aided by a 49-yard TD return of a Rivers interception by
Antoine Bethea.
Justin Houston had four of the Chiefs' seven sacks against Rivers. The Chargers were shut out in the final 41 minutes of the game, which included three trips inside the Chiefs red zone in the fourth quarter. Kansas City swept the season series against San Diego. Oliver ran for 71 yards and a touchdown. The Chargers lost right tackle
D. J. Fluker, safety
Michael Gilchrist, cornerback
Shareece Wright, and receiver Royal to injuries during the game. ==Standings==