San Diego, CA
Regrouping Chargers take on the struggling Raiders
Khalil Mack couldn’t wait to watch and rewatch all that went haywire during the Chargers’ 35-6 loss Nov. 16 to the Jacksonville Jaguars. So, he said he began dissecting the video as the team’s bus departed the stadium for the airport and a cross-country flight home.
Mack didn’t have to do it at that moment, but he was eager to learn what he could from the Chargers’ widest margin of defeat in Jim Harbaugh’s two-season tenure as their coach. He could have waited until after the Chargers’ bye in Week 12 and used it as preparation for Week 13.
But he believed it was best to begin the process of fixing all that went wrong as soon as possible, the better to prepare to face the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday at SoFi Stadium and for the final five regular-season games to follow. Clearly, something was amiss in the game against the Jaguars.
There was no time to waste. So, Mack, a future Hall of Fame outside linebacker, went right to work.
It wasn’t pleasant. It wasn’t fun. It was work.
“I was on the bus, I watched it on the bus on the way to the plane, and some on the plane,” Mack said earlier this week of reviewing the Jacksonville horror show. “So, just to talk through a lot of stuff and correct a lot of stuff and, yeah, looking forward to this opportunity, the next opportunity.”
What did Mack learn from his video study? How can the Chargers improve after hitting rock-bottom during their loss to the Jaguars?
“Just the details, fine-tuning the details,” he said.
No question, it would be a start for a team with a 7-4 record that didn’t play like a team with a 7-4 record against Jacksonville. The Chargers must get back in sync if they are to defeat the Raiders, as expected, and enter the toughest part of their schedule. The Chargers are 9½-point favorites Sunday.
“Fine-tuning the details,” Mack said again and not for the last time.
It didn’t matter that the Chargers are favored to win by more than a touchdown or that their reeling opponent was 2-9 and fired offensive coordinator Chip Kelly after its latest defeat or that the first meeting between the teams was an easy Chargers victory. Mack believed they must get it right Sunday.
“This is no different than any other week, it’s a game we’ve got to win,” said Mack, a nine-time Pro Bowl selection over his 12 seasons in the NFL.
The Chargers’ stretch run gets more difficult after they face the Raiders. They end the regular season with games against the Philadelphia Eagles, Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans and Denver Broncos, each opponent jockeying for better playoff position.
The Raiders were the Chargers’ sole focus this week, though, and they weren’t sure what they would see from a Las Vegas team that has lost five consecutive, including a 24-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 12. The Raiders’ only wins were over the New England Patriots in Week 1 and the Tennessee Titans in Week 6. The Chargers defeated the Raiders in Week 2.
A change in offensive coordinators, with Greg Olson taking over for Kelly, meant throwing out the game plan, according to Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. He said they would approach Sunday’s game like a Week 1 matchup, focusing more on themselves than on the opposition.
“We spent the majority of the bye week looking at ourselves and then the last part of the week we started on the Raiders,” Minter said. “Obviously, you want to be prepared for the things they like (to run). We need to know where the really good players are that they’re going to feature.”
In the final analysis, the Chargers lost the battle of the offensive and defensive lines in their loss to the Jaguars. They failed to protect quarterback Justin Herbert and didn’t apply sufficient pressure on Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence while also giving up far too much on the ground.
The Jaguars rushed for 192 yards and four touchdowns on 47 attempts.
Harbaugh said Jamaree Salyer would start at left tackle Sunday, the Chargers’ third different starter as Herbert’s blind-side protector after Rashawn Slater suffered a season-ending knee injury during training camp in August and Joe Alt sustained a season-ending ankle injury in Week 9.
The Chargers also could get a boost on their defensive line if Otito Ogbonnia is sound enough to play against the Raiders. He was listed Friday as questionable to play because of an elbow injury that sent him to injured reserve after a loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 7.
“Everybody cares, everybody wants to be good at their work, and that’s what I’ve seen throughout the season,” Harbaugh said of the Chargers’ mindset coming out of the bye week. “The guys came back Monday and I couldn’t have scripted it any better. Every guy was locked in.”
CHARGERS (7-4) vs. RAIDERS (2-9)
When: 1:25 p.m. Sunday
Where: SoFi Stadium
TV/Radio: Ch. 2; 640 AM/94.3 FM (Spanish)
San Diego, CA
5 things to know about Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei
San Diego, CA
Joan Endres – San Diego Union-Tribune
Joan Endres
OBITUARY
Born January 1939 in Cincinnati Ohio. Died February 14, 2026, in San Diego, California, with her sons at her side. Her beloved husband Dean passed away in 2010.
Joan was the only child of Thomas and Edna Palmer. In 1943, the family moved to San Diego, where Joan graduated from Helix High School in 1956.
In 1957 Joan married Dean Endres of San Diego, where they raised two sons. Joan followed her two great passions outside the home, the Arts, and Gardening. Both activities being a way to bring beauty to others and to the community.
Joan received a degree in Environmental Design from San Diego State University, and afterwords worked at UCSD, for the Campus Architect.
As an artist, Joan worked in various media, especially ceramics. She was active in many cultural and arts organizations, eventually becoming President of the Combined Organization for the Visual Arts (COVA). Later she turned to gardening, with the Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca Community College and the Master Gardener Association of San Diego County.
Joan is survived by her son Jeff and wife Katrin, grandson Jackson, and son Todd Endres, all of La Mesa, and sisters Alice Buck of Phoenix, Elaine Kennedy of San Diego, Nancy and husband Don Jones of Vista, Eva Budzinski of Cloudcroft, New Mexico, and their children and grandchildren.
There will be a Celebration of Life for Joan in the near future. Those who wish to attend should contact celebratejoanuvart@gmail.com to receive details when they are confirmed. In lieu of flowers, the family respectfully suggests a donation to the Water Conservation Garden or the Diego Visual Arts Network (SDVAN).
San Diego, CA
San Diego State moves back into NCAA Tournament field in latest ESPN Bracketology
The San Diego State Aztecs’ have moved off the bubble and back into the NCAA Tournament’s Field of 64 in the latest ESPN’s Bracketology projections.
The Aztecs must feel like a yo-yo, but now it’s in a good way. Bracket expert Joe Lunardi moved them from the bottom of the First Four Out — No. 72 — to holding the Mountain West’s automatic bid after an 89-72 home romp Wednesday night over Utah State, which had held the auto-bid in bracketology for a few weeks now.
Lunardi now has the Aztecs as the No. 11 seed in the West Region, with a projected first-round date against former MW rival BYU in Portland.
Lunardi wrote that SDSU’s auto-bid “shifts the entire bubble.”
Wednesday night’s victory not only pulled the Aztecs (19-8, 13-4) into a tie with Utah State (23-5, 13-4) atop the MW standings, but it was just their second Quad 1 victory in six such opportunities.
SDSU’s next two games are both Quad 1 chances, at New Mexico on Saturday and then at Boise State on Tuesday night.
The win lifted the Aztecs only one spot in the NCAA NET Rankings, to No. 43. Those rankings are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee as the primary sorting tool for selection and seeding for March Madness.
SDSU’s resume for earning an at-large berth has been on shaky ground all season, and was seriously damaged last week when the Aztecs lost at home to Grand Canyon and were then routed at Colorado State, both Quad 2 games.
SDSU’s best bet to assure a trip to March Madness for the sixth straight season is to win the MW tournament in Las Vegas and claim the automatic bid. That requires winning three games in as many days, and perhaps a third showdown against the Aggies, who beat the Aztecs 71-66 in Logan on Jan. 31.
Lunardi now has Utah State projected as an at-large team, but still with the No. 7 seed in the East, facing No. 10 Texas A&M in a first-round game in St. Louis.
New Mexico (21-7, 12-5), lurking just a game behind SDSU and USU, has dropped from the Last Four In at No. 68 to the First Four Out at No. 70.
The Aztecs were the unanimous preseason pick to win the MW regular-season title in their final season in the league before moving into the Pac-12 along with Utah State, Boise State, Fresno State and Colorado State.
Saturday’s game at New Mexico is set to tip off at 11 a.m. PT and will air on CBS.
-
World3 days agoExclusive: DeepSeek withholds latest AI model from US chipmakers including Nvidia, sources say
-
Massachusetts3 days agoMother and daughter injured in Taunton house explosion
-
Montana1 week ago2026 MHSA Montana Wrestling State Championship Brackets And Results – FloWrestling
-
Louisiana6 days agoWildfire near Gum Swamp Road in Livingston Parish now under control; more than 200 acres burned
-
Denver, CO3 days ago10 acres charred, 5 injured in Thornton grass fire, evacuation orders lifted
-
Technology1 week agoYouTube TV billing scam emails are hitting inboxes
-
Technology1 week agoStellantis is in a crisis of its own making
-
Politics1 week agoOpenAI didn’t contact police despite employees flagging mass shooter’s concerning chatbot interactions: REPORT