INGLEWOOD—An August win won't help the Seahawks in the standings come January, but for a team making its preseason debut under Mike Macdonald and a new coaching staff, Saturday night's win over the Chargers was still a great way to kick things off.

When Macdonald was asked earlier in the week what he wanted to see from his team in its preseason debut, he smiled and said, "Well, we'd like to win the game." And Macdonald got his wish, in dominant fashion, with the Seahawks winning 16-3 behind a standout performance by the defense. Again, preseason wins don't mean a lot once the regular season gets going, but performances like Saturday's can help a young team build confidence under a new coaching staff, so it was still an important evening of football for the Seahawks.

Here are five rapid reactions to Saturday's win at SoFi Stadium:

1. Preseason or not, that was a very encouraging start for the defense.

The Seahawks hired Mike Macdonald to be their head coach in no small part because he is one of the best young defensive minds in football. And while it's way, way too soon to make any definitive statements about Macdonald's defense in Seattle, that unit got off to a great start in its preseason debut.

Yes, it was only the preseason, and yes, Chargers starting quarterback Justin Herbert didn't play, but even with those caveats out of the way, it's hard not to be encouraged by what the defense showed on Saturday.

Seattle's starters, minus linebacker Jerome Baker, who is dealing with a hamstring injury, played two possessions, both of them Chargers three-and-outs. Not much changed when the Seahawks brought in their backups, with the No. 2 defense forcing another three-and-out, then getting an interception on L.A.'s fourth possession. That turnover, which featured a huge hit over the middle of the field by safety K'Von Wallace to set up a Coby Bryant pick, gave the offense a short field it was able to take advantage of, with rookie George Holani scoring on an 11-yard touchdown run.

The Chargers finished the first half with just three first downs, the first of which came with under five minutes to go in the half, and started the game 0 for 8 on third down before getting their first conversion late in the third quarter.

In addition to forcing eight punts and a turnover, Seattle's defense also got sacks from Derick Hall, Jon Rhattigan and DeVere Levelston, and held the chargers to 198 yards and a 2 for 13 conversion rate on third down.

2. The offense functioned pretty well with Sam Howell at quarterback.

With Geno Smith, and a lot of the starting offense, getting the night off, Sam Howell started at quarterback and played into the third quarter, helping lead the Seahawks to a pair of touchdowns, one a nice catch-and-run from tight end Brady Russell.

It wasn't a perfect Seahawks debut for Howell—he missed a couple throws he'd no doubt like to have back and had to deal with a pretty good amount of pressure—but there were a lot of things to like about the way he played. Howell finished the game 16 for 27 for 130 yards and a score, giving him an 83.9 passer rating, but he also added 17 rushing yards, 14 of which came on a third-down that extended a scoring drive. Two plays before that run, Howell dodged what looked like a sure sack on first down, avoiding what could have been a drive-killing play.

Howell also led a long drive to start the third quarter but that possession came up empty when the Seahawks went for it on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line and came up short.

And perhaps most encouraging given the team's struggles on third-down last season, the Seahawk were 8 for 15 while Howell was in the game running Ryan Grubb's offense, and finished 11 for 20 in the game.

3. Byron Murphy II flashed in his debut.

There's been a lot of buzz around first-round pick Byron Murphy II in the past week or so of training camp, and his preseason debut did nothing to quiet the hype. Murphy's stat line shows just one tackle, an impressive tackle for loss in which he drove Chargers lineman Brenden Jaimes into the backfield before disengaging from the block in order to make a tackle, but he showed up in a lot of other ways that didn't lead to stats, including a bull rush that pushed a lineman into quarterback Easton Stick, leading to an incomplete pass. Murphy nearly had a sack as well, but couldn't finish the tackle, leading to Derek Hall and Jon Rhattigan cleaning up for the sack.

4. Laviska Shenault Jr. in space is fun to watch.

The Seahawks signed receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. in large part due to his return ability, and sure enough, his first chance at the new-look kick return was a 44-yard return. And while his return ability may very well be what earns Shenault a spot on the 53-man roster, he showed he can be a weapon on offense as well, with the Seahawks finding ways to get the dynamic receiver the ball in space. Shenault had two receptions for 31 yards, both of them short passes with long runs after the catch, and he also had a 5-yard rush on an end-around.

5. A couple of undrafted rookies helped themselves out.

Nearly every year, an undrafted rookie or two finds his way onto the 53-man roster, and while it's way to soon to know for sure which, if any UDFAs will make the team this year, a couple of them got off to a good start on Saturday.

Running back George Holani, who is pushing Kenny McIntosh for the No. 3 running back job, showed good vision and agility on an 11-yard touchdown run, was physical as a blocker, and most importantly, he made some plays on special teams, including a tackle on kick coverage.

Cornerback Dee Williams, a standout return man at Tennessee, was one of two returners on the field for Seattle's first kick return, though Shenault ended up taking the return, and was one of several players used in punt return duty along with Dee Eskridge and Easop Winston Jr. And Williams showed his special teams value beyond the return game, downing a punt at the 2-yard line and making a tackle on kickoff coverage.