What happened to the Chargers who started the season with three consecutive wins over AFC West foes?

Injuries along the offensive line and in the backfield account for some of the troubles — three losses in four games — but now the defense is breaking down too, especially against the run.

Enter the Vikings, who have alternated wins and losses all season and are coming off a six-point loss to Philadelphia.

The last time these teams met was two years ago in Minnesota, where the Chargers held on to win 28-24.

How the Vikings can win: Protect the football; Carson Wentz is coming off a couple of head-scratcher interceptions against Philadelphia, terrible throws. Even though they don’t have a top-tier running back, try to establish something of a ground game against a defense that has done a poor job of stopping the run the past two weeks.

How the Chargers can win: The offensive line is getting healthier with Joe Alt and Trey Pipkins III returning to the practice field and questionable for the game, so give Justin Herbert better protection and more time. Get Kimani Vidal the ball in space. Not much of a running game for the Vikings, but a premier receiver in Justin Jefferson and solid threats in Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson.

Bodhana Sivanandan, a 10-year-old chess prodigy from London, made headlines over the summer after she became the youngest female chess player to defeat a grandmaster. This week, Sivanandan reached another important milestone in her young career.

The young talent, known as the “girl wonder,” defeated former women’s world champion and grandmaster Mariya Muzychuk in the first round of the European Chess Club Cup, hosted in Greece on Sunday.

Experts called the stunning victory a “near-perfect game,” The Times reported.

Grandmaster David Howell took to social media to commend Sivanandan for her “incredible win.”

“It’s not every day a 10-year-old defeats a [grandmaster] (and former world champion) in such style,” his post on X read.

Sivanandan seemed quite pleased with her win, but told The Times she’s looking for more victories.

Bodhana Sivanandan, a 10-year-old chess prodigy, competes in the British Chess Championships at St. George’s Hall on Aug. 7, 2025, in Liverpool, England.  (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

CHESS PRODIGY, 10, MAKES HISTORY AFTER DEFEATING 60-YEAR-OLD GRANDMASTER

“I’m happy to win, but hopefully I do even better in the future games … This will inspire me to keep doing better and trying harder to win more games,” she said.

Sivanandan made history this summer when she defeated Grandmaster Peter Wells, 60, in the final round of the 2025 British Chess Championships in August. According to the International Chess Federation, Sivanandan set the record previously held by American Carissa Yip, who set the record in 2019 at 10 years, 11 months and 20 days old.

Bodhana Sivanandan, center, a 10-year-old chess prodigy, competes in the British Chess Championships at St. George’s Hall on Aug. 7, 2025, in Liverpool, England.  (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

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Sivanandan was 10 years, five months, and three days old when she defeated Wells.

She has made a name for herself since first picking up the game during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she was just 5 years old.

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With two weeks left in the regular season for high school football, it’s become clear there’s a large and growing list of candidates for coach of the year. They are considered based on exceeding expectations, winning championships or helping to engineer a program turnaround when no one saw it coming.

Let’s review the great coaching performances so far this season:

• Ray Fenton, Los Alamitos: The man looks so fit he could run around any stadium without breaking a sweat. Few expected the Griffins to be 8-0 at this point, let alone be in the running for a Southern Section Division 1 playoff berth. He’s molded a team of best friends into believing in themselves no matter the opponent. San Clemente and Mission Viejo are the only teams standing in the way of a 10-0 regular season.

• Terrance Whitehead, Crenshaw: When head coach Robert Garrett was placed on administrative leave before the season began, the Crenshaw grad and longtime assistant took over. Garrett helped train him, and Crenshaw is 7-1 going into a Coliseum League title decider against King/Drew on Friday. The Cougars have discipline, resiliency and are playing to make Garrett and his assistants proud.

  

  Crenshaw interim coach Terrance Whitehead speaking with quarterback Danniel Flowers.

  (Robert H. Helfman)

• Brad Vonnahme, Crespi: Who predicted the Celts would be 8-0 and headed to the Del Rey League championship in Vonnahme’s third season of a massive rebuilding job? He hasn’t brought in transfers, rather relying on players who start out as freshmen learning the game and move up. There’s a group of sophomores being developed who could be very good in the coming seasons.

• Jason Negro, St. John Bosco: The Braves have established themselves as the No. 1 team in California, if not the nation, while relying on an improving sophomore quarterback and four receivers headed to college success. He knows championships are won with the help of the offensive and defensive lines, and those are the areas to watch as the playoffs approach.

  

  St. John Bosco coach Jason Negro has his team ranked No. 1 in the nation.

  (Craig Weston)

• Jon Ellinghouse, Sierra Canyon: The Trailblazers are 8-0 and no one has come close to beating them. The season will be based on whether they can break through and disrupt the St. John Bosco-Mater Dei domination. Their defense is clearly the best in Southern California.
• Dylen Smith, Palisades: He lost his field, lost his weight room and nearly lost his team to the Palisades fire. And yet, the Dolphins have persevered and are 8-0 with players who stayed and a couple new ones who wanted to experience an adventure with no guarantee of success.
• Chad Johnson, Mission Viejo: With the Diablos (7-1) having wins over Santa Margarita, Folsom and San Diego Lincoln, Johnson challenged his team with a difficult nonleague schedule and they’ve met that challenge. He placed his trust in quarterback Luke Fahey, and don’t doubt how far this team can advance.
• Rick Clausen, Westlake: An assistant coach all his life, Clausen decided to accept the head coaching position even though his wife died of cancer. He’s somehow managed to balance parenting duties and coaching duties, helping a Westlake team go from 0-10 last season to 8-0 this season in his rookie year.
• Tony Henney, Dana Hills: Wherever Henney goes, he succeeds. He’s been head coach at Nordhoff, Trabuco Hills, St. Bonaventure and Westlake. He has Dana Hills at 8-0 going into a game on Friday against 8-0 Laguna Beach, whose own coach, John Shanahan, surrounded himself with an elite group of assistants, including former JSerra head coach Scott McKnight. The winner of the battle of the unbeatens might not be stopped the rest of the way.

• Kevin Hettig, Corona del Mar: With his team 8-0 and tough games ahead, Hettig has quietly and competently prepared the Sea Kings to stay focused and keep improving each week.

  

  Corona del Mar head coach Kevin Hettig, quarterback Brady Annett, and NMUSD superintendent Dr. Wesley Smith.

  (Don Leach/Staff Photographer)

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• Jason Miller, Leuzinger: Who loses his only quarterback who can pass and still keeps the team winning? Miller and the Olympians (6-1) are on the verge of ending Inglewood’s reign as a league champion by using 5-foot-8 Journee Tonga as his versatile offensive weapon and replacement quarterback.

• Mike Moon, Oxnard Pacifica: Moon is trying to get his always underrated 8-0 team to run the table in the Marmonte League. He’s helped develop junior quarterback Taylor Lee while managing rising expectations and winning close games.

  

  Mike Moon of Oxnard Pacifica has his team at 8-0.

  (Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

• Raymond Carter, Torrance: The former All-City running back at Crenshaw has his team at 8-0, beating local team after local team led by junior quarterback Gibson Turner, who has 20 touchdown passes.
• Mark Carson, Rio Hondo Prep: Year after year, Carson has Rio Hondo Prep ready to succeed. This year’s 8-0 start is no different. A challenge ahead will be playing in a tougher playoff division.
• Darryl Goree, Palm Springs: An 8-0 start has the Indians being the talk of town. Senior linebacker Koa Rapolla has been turned loose and is averaging 13 tackles a game.
• Rick Curtis, Crean Lutheran: Curtis figured out how to best use one of the best athletes in the Southland, quarterback/point guard Caden Jones, and it has led to an 8-0 record.