The Chargers came away winners on Thursday night after a 27-7 road victory over the Texans.

Here are five takeaways from the Bolts first preseason game:

1. Harbaugh thrilled with opener

After 12 training camp practices and months of hard work this offseason, it was clear the Bolts were ready for a game on Thursday night.

Even if it was a preseason contest.

Jim Harbaugh's squad cruised past Houston in their first preseason game behind an offense that outgained the Texans by 170 yards and a defense that allowed just a lone touchdown.

And while there were plenty of individual standouts, the Chargers Head Coach said he was most pleased with the entire roster's attention to detail.

"Overall, offense, defense, special teams, I really thought our players took the coaching that they had," Harbaugh said.

"And to go out and execute that in the game and keep falling back on that technique in the coaching and the way they were trained, really, really good," he added.

Harbaugh pointed out the defense first in his postgame press conference, noting the fact that new Chargers Defensive Coordinator Chris O'Leary was locked in all night.

"I thought he called a really good game. Loved the three and outs, loved the fourth downs stops," Harbaugh said. "Calm, cool, collected the whole night."

Houston had 11 total drives, seven of which lasted four plays or fewer.

And on offense, Mike McDaniel's crew racked up a whopping 379 yards of offense and 23 first downs.

"Mike McDaniel, getting nearly 400 yards of offense in a preseason game is really hard to do," Harbaugh said. "Haven't seen that many times. Didn't quite get 400, but it was pretty close."

The Chargers had four drives of at least eight plays and held the ball for 32-plus minutes.

Was it a perfect game? Of course not.

But the Bolts young players who saw extensive action Thursday night are likely to improve ahead of next week’s home preseason matchup against the 49ers, a game where the Chargers starters are likely to suit up and play a series.

"A lot of good, can't wait to see the tape. A lot to coach on," Harbaugh said. "We'll have a lot of work to do, but good learning from the tape. We'll keep at it."

2. Slaughter sees extensive action along O-line

Jake Slaughter put in quite the effort against the Texans by playing seven of the Chargers 10 offensive series, sharing time at two positions in the process.

Slaughter, the Chargers 2026 second-round pick, started the game at center with a group that featured Travis Burke (left tackle), Branson Taylor (left guard), Kayode Awosika (right guard) and Logan Taylor (right tackle).

Slaughter played the initial series at center before he switched to left guard for the next six series, earning postgame praise from Harbaugh on how he's handled that transition.

"His demeanor, his physicality, knowing what to do," Harbaugh said when asked what stood out about Slaughter. "Especially on the offensive line, or any position in football, when you know what to do, you're in control. Knowing what to do puts you in control as a player.

"To play center, then guard, he's handling it with aplomb, I'm going to be honest with you," Harbaugh added. "That's a hard thing to do for a first-year player. It's been a really nice progression for him."

Harbaugh then noted that Slaughter turned some heads in last Saturday’s practice before stringing together multiple solid days in a row, including in game action Thursday night.

We really saw the confidence and play hit an inflection point five days ago … he's on an ascending path," Harbaugh said.

Elsewhere up front, Branson Taylor played left guard and both tackle spots while Burke only played left tackle.

Harbaugh had plenty of kudos for the entire offensive line after the game.

"I'd really say they all played good. Everybody that went in there on the offensive line, for the most part, from watching the game," Harbaugh said. "We saw it in the protection, there was good protection throughout the game."

He later added: "I think it bodes well for us. They just keep learning the technique, learning what their job is, their responsibility."

3. Lance, Uiagalelei solid in opener

With Justin Herbert not taking the field in the preseason opener, it was all up to Trey Lance and DJ Uiagalelei under center.

Lance led the offense through six drives, checking out of the game after a drive in the second half. He had a final stat line of 12 for 20 (60 percent) for 164 passing yards and an interception to go along with 27 yards on the ground.

Uiagalelei then took over the final four drives and finished six for nine (66.6 percent) for 120 yards and a touchdown.

"Trey Lance, thought he played really well, thought DJ played really well," Harbaugh said. "Both of those guys operating drives, a lot of first downs… it was good to look at moving the football."

Both Lance and Uiagalelei led scoring drives on half of their respective drives in the game.

Moving the football was also key on Thursday night, as the two quarterbacks helped the Bolts to 23 first downs to the Texans' 10.

After a camp where each quarterback have had their moments, it was a good first showing for the pair to build on moving forward on what was a good offensive showing with nearly 400 offensive yards.

"Can you move the football team, can you the team in 11-on-11 and pick up first downs, end the drives with field goals or touchdowns? More times than not, those points were [there]," Harbaugh said. "Things to get better on, yeah.

"You got to give the quarterback a lot of credit for that," Harbaugh added. "It's really encouraging the way both quarterback acquitted themselves in this game."

4. Edwards makes key stop

The entire Chargers defensive line was on one in Houston.

After giving up the opening drive touchdown, the trenches really showed out to shut out the Texans offense the rest of the game.

"Our entire defensive line played pretty darn good," Harbaugh said.

And you could credit some of that to the work of TeRah Edwards.

The second-year defensive lineman was disruptive in the opener, helping set the tone early.

The stat sheet might show he totaled just four total tackles, but they could not have come at a bigger time for the Bolts.

With the Texans inside the red zone, Edwards notched a tackle for a gain of just one on second-and 2.

Jacobian Guillory and Garmon Randolph would then team up for a stop on third down to set up a big fourth-and 1 situation, where Edwards showed up once again.

Edwards stalled Graham Mertz's attempt at a quarterback sneak up the middle — with help from Junior Colson — to force the turnover on downs and keep points off the board.

"First preseason game out there with Coach O'Leary on the calls," Edwards said after the game "We've been bought in since Day 1 defensively, what he called. We just went out there and executed. It's been good, it was fun out there. It was fun to go out there with the guys and see camp and all the grind days pay off."

It would be the closest to the goal line the Texans offense would get to the rest of the game, as Edwards continued his strong preseason play from a season ago.

5. An emphasis on the ground game

The Chargers offense was methodical on Thursday, and a large part of that was the first glimpse we got of the run game under McDaniel.

They finished the night with 104 yards on 29 carries and two touchdowns, getting meaningful gains and chipping the clock away at various points throughout the game.

There were things to build on, but it was a strong early look at the group on the ground.

"It was so much good, there was a lot of good," Harbaugh said about the run game. "There was quite a bit of scheme that the players were able to execute at a pretty high level.

"Some things that you think about, some alignments that weren't right, but for the most part we were blocking the man we were supposed to block and guys were moving them and holding up really well in protection," Harbaugh added. "I thought we played really well aggressive up front and played really well."

Gregory Desrosiers got the most carries with 10, but there was a good mix between Kimani Vidal, Amar Johnson and Jaret Patterson in the backfield.

Perhaps the best stretch of the run game came when the Chargers took the lead and never looked back.

After a pair of chunk completions from Lance, the Bolts rattled off runs of six, eight, nine, three, six and seven yards consecutively, the final one being for a score.

Even in a preseason setting, it was a solid showing when all phases came together.

"He could tell and read defenses well. Stretch the defense out, try to get underneath, get outside," Johnson said about McDaniel. "There's plenty of plays that we can make look the same and you just have to trust your read and trust your O-line that they will do their job.

"They make us look good and we make them look good, so I have to give it all to them today," Johnson added.