For the second straight season, the Buffalo Bills decided to play a rookie quarterback in his first NFL start against the Chargers and for the second straight season, the result was the same: An easy Charger victory, this time by a 31-20 margin.

The Chargers took an early 28-3 lead and cruised to victory from that point.

Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers had an almost perfect first half, completing 15 of 16 passes for 178 yards and three touchdowns in leading the Chargers to four first-half touchdowns.

Two of the TD passes went to running back Melvin Gordon, who added a third first-half touchdown on a 20-yard run.

On the other side of the field, Bills rookie first-round draft pick Josh Allen threw two interceptions and was sacked five times. He did throw his first touchdown pass of his career with about 38 seconds left but it was too little, too late.

The Chargers were up 28-6 at the half and things were going so badly for the Bills that Vontae Davis, a 10-year veteran cornerback in the NFL, decided to retire. He ended his career at the halftime of an NFL football game.

The Chargers got a lot of help from their young players in the victory. Second-year running back Austin Ekeler had 77 yards rushing to lead the Chargers in that category.

Through two games, Ekeler is one of only four NFL running backs with over 100 yards in receiving and 100 yards rushing.

Second-year wide receiver Mike Williams caught his first NFL touchdown pass.

The Chargers also played three rookies on defense and they all contributed.

Derwin James had eight tackles, one sack and two tackles for loss. James leads the team in sacks and tackles.

Uchenna Nwosu came in with an early sack of Bills quarterback Allen, while Kyzir White had four tackles and an interception.

Charger Head Coach Anthony Lynn was not surprised with the performance of the three rookies. “I thought this week in practice, all three of those guys looked better,” Lynn said.

“They looked faster, and just learning our system is what they’re doing. This is about the time you see those rookies come on. They understand the speed of the NFL game right about now. You saw it in practice and it showed up in the game.”

The Chargers will need those three rookies to play well on Sunday against the Rams in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The Rams enter the game undefeated and look like one of the best teams in the NFL.

The challenge for the Chargers defense will be Rams running back Todd Gurley, the 2017 offensive Player of the Year in the NFL.

The Chargers will counter with Rivers, who will likely spread the ball around in an attempt to keep the Rams defense off-balance.