A 2-2 record after the first quarter of the season

COSTA MESA Miles Boykin Jersey , Calif. (AP) — is not where Philip Rivers thought the Los Angeles Chargers would be, but it is a vast improvement compared to the past couple seasons.The Chargers got to .500 with a 29-27 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday. It is the first time since 2015 they are even after four games and better than their 0-4 start to last season.If the Chargers are going to start stringing together wins, the next two weeks present a prime opportunity. They host Oakland (1-3) next Sunday and then are at Cleveland (1-2-1) on Oct. 14. The Chargers then have an Oct. 21 game at London against Tennessee (3-1) before their bye week.For a team that won six of its final nine games last season, the Chargers know that they need to position themselves well before November to make a run for their first postseason berth since 2013.“We’ve got to go. We can’t keep going win for loss the whole way there. We know what that does — that usually leaves you on the outside looking in,” said Rivers, who was 25 of 39 for 250 yards with three TD passes and an interception. “Now we have a chance to win two in a row next week with the Raiders coming in.”Rivers did end up reaching a couple milestones in Sunday’s game. It marked the 200th game of his career and he passed John Elway for the eighth-most passing yards in NFL history. Rivers has 51,504 yards in 15 seasons.Coach Anthony Lynn and Rivers have talked all year about the versatility of the offense, and they showed it off on Sunday. Rivers completed passes to eight players while running backs Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler averaged 5.6 yards per carry against a Niners defense that was 10th against the run and allowing only 97 yards per game.“I think last year when we were rolling, we were balanced. We’ve been that this year for the most part,” said Rivers who has thrown for three or more touchdowns in five of the past six games.BEATHARD MAKES STRIDESSan Francisco’s C.J. Beathard showed improvement from his rookie season. The second-year quarterback was 23 of 37 for 298 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. His 82.9 passer rating is his second highest in six career starts.“I felt a lot more comfortable being out there in control. I definitely felt a lot more comfortable than last year,” he said.Beathard’s best throw of the day came on an 82-yard touchdown to George Kittle Deandre Baker Jersey , where he found a wide open Kittle at the at the Niners’ 40. Kittle, who was also a teammate of Beathard’s at Iowa, caught it in stride and was able to outrun Chargers’ defenders to the end zone.GROUND GORDON: Most of Gordon’s big plays the first three games were as a receiver, but he had his first 100-yard rushing game of the season on Sunday with 104 yards on 15 carries. He had two carries of 15 yards or more, including a 34-yarder to the San Francisco 4 during the fourth quarter that helped set up Sturgis’ go-ahead field goal.“I think I had some good blocks, made some guys miss and guys kind of got lazy on the tackles, and you got to make them pay for it,” Gordon said.It is the sixth 100-yard rushing game of Gordon’s career and his first since last Oct. 29 against New England.GROUNDED: It was a bad day for San Francisco’s running game and its run defense. Matt Breida came in tied for the league lead in rushing but he was held to 39 yards on nine carries.The defense was 10th against the run and allowing only 97 yards per game but allowed a 100-yard rusher for the first time in 11 games.KICKING WOES: Sturgis made three field goals, but he also missed two extra points and a 54-yard field goal attempt. Lynn wasn’t immediately saying that Sturgis’ job is in danger, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if the team brought in kickers for tryouts this week.The Chargers have missed eight PATs since the start of last season, which is the most in the league.TACKLE TROUBLES? The starting left tackles for both teams ended up getting injured during the first half and did not return. San Francisco’s Joe Staley suffered a knee injury midway through the second quarter and Los Angeles’ Russell Okung strained a groin on the last offensive play of the first half. SANTA CLARA http://www.giantsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-oshane-ximines-jersey , Calif. (AP) �� About the only thing Jimmy Garoppolo hasn’t thrived at in his three starts with San Francisco is finishing off drives with touchdowns. Luckily for him, the 49ers have Robbie Gould’s right leg to turn those drives into points and help Garoppolo join Hall of Famer Y.A. Tittle as the only San Francisco quarterback to win his first three starts with the team. Gould made all six field goals in Sunday’s 25-23 win over Tennessee, including a 45-yarder on the final play, to win NFC Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks and get carried off the field by his teammates in a memorable moment in his career. “I love to win,” Gould said Wednesday. “I’m a competitor. I don’t think of myself as a kicker. I think of myself like a receiver or offensive lineman. I only play between one to five, six plays a game but all of them matter, all of them count.” Gould has made the most of those limited opportunities, making 20 consecutive field goals. Fifteen of those kicks have come during San Francisco’s current three-game winning streak, which is a record for the most field goals in a three-game span, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Gould hit the game-winner in Chicago on Dec. 3 and then a late kick the following week in Houston that gave the 49ers a 10-point lead and put the game away. “I think Robbie’s playing as good as anyone I’ve had,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “When he goes out there Julian Love Jersey , I never think he’s going to miss it. He’s been automatic. I’m glad he’s not getting too fatigued. I wish we didn’t have to use him so much. I wish we were scoring touchdowns more, but the fact that every time we don’t he makes it.” The Niners have called on Gould so much of late because Garoppolo has gotten a stagnant offense moving but hasn’t been able to finish off those drives. The 49ers have scored on 18 of 28 non-kneeldown drives since Garoppolo took over as starter earlier this month at Chicago but only three of those scores were touchdowns. San Francisco has scored TDs on just three of 10 red zone trips in those games, the fourth-worst rate in the league during that span. “It’s probably one of the toughest areas in football offensively to execute,” Garoppolo said. “Everything has to go perfect down there. If you have a negative play or penalty, it’s tough to overcome those in general but especially in the red zone. Your percentages go way down when that happens so we have to avoid those.” The 49ers haven’t had to dwell on those mistakes because Gould has been so consistent. He was one of several free-agent additions for San Francisco this past offseason. After a successful 11-year run in Chicago, Gould was cut by the Bears before the 2016 season. He spent 10 games with the New York Giants last season – making all 10 field goal attempts – before joining the 49ers this spring. He has made 36 of 38 field-goal attempts with his 94.7 percent success rate ranking as the best of his career for a full season. But he gives much of the credit to long snapper Kyle Nelson and holder Bradley Pinion. “It’s been a fun year,” Gould said. “It has a lot to do with the guys in the locker room. I think Kyle and Bradley have done a great job all year. It’s been really easy since I got here in April. The guys who have been on our field goal unit have taken a lot of ownership and pride for putting points on the board. Those guys have a way harder job than I do.” Since entering the league, Gould has been the sixth most accurate kicker among all players with at least 100 field-goal attempts by making 86.8 percent of his field goals and ranks third overall with 322 made field goals in that span. But Gould prides himself on being more than a kicker. He gives suggestions to special teams coordinator Richard Hightower and is learning as much as he can so one day he maybe can be an executive in the league. “He’s the only kicker I’ve been around who truly knows everything that’s going on,” Shanahan said. “He’ll call Hightower on Tuesday nights and try to suggest things they should do in their blocking patterns and stuff on kickoffs and punts and things like that. He really enjoys football. He comes in early. He talks to everybody, is a part of everything. He’s not just in his own little world kicking the ball and stuff. He’s really a part of this team and that’s why we consider him a leader.” —