San Diego, CA
Takeaways as Chargers avoid embarrassment, beat Bengals 34-27
The Los Angeles Chargers can finally breathe.
After blowing a 27-6 lead with 21 unanswered points, the Chargers eventually staved off the Cincinnati Bengals with a key 34-27 win on Week 11 of Sunday Night Football.
Los Angeles dominated the first half en route to a 24-6 cushion at halftime, which extended to 27-6 in the early minutes of the third quarter.
But Cincinnati woke up from that point on and scored 21 unanswered to stun the SoFi Stadium crowd. However, Bengals kicker Evan McPherson blew two opportunities to give Cincinnati the lead, eventually resulting in J.K. Dobbins’ game-winning run. Justin Herbert also threw multiple dimes to move the chains.
The result moved Los Angeles to 7-3 to maintain its spot near the top of the tight AFC while Cincinnati disappointingly fell to 4-7, where there is almost no more room for error the rest of the way.
Let’s analyze the game further with three takeaways:
Kickers are important
Of course it’s impossible to tell how the game would’ve ended if McPherson made his field goals late on, but it further amplified the importance of kickers.
McPherson’s two late misses failed to give Cincinnati the lead to capitalize on the hard work the offense and defense did to knot the game at 27 all. He did so on back-to-back drives too, missing from 48 and 51 yards out.
He made two first-half field goals, with a long of 27. However, he’ll obviously be known for his misses that may have finally derailed Cincinnati’s underwhelming season.
Chargers avoid embarassment
Los Angeles may have had flashbacks to the 2023 playoffs (2022 season) when it traveled to face the Jacksonville Jaguars in the playoffs.
The Chargers in that game led 27-0 and looked well on their way to advance to the divisional round under Brandon Staley, but infamously allowed a comeback that saw Jacksonville win 31-30.
Los Angeles didn’t return to the playoffs last season with Staley still at the helm, but Jim Harbaugh has helped lead a resurgence in just his first season with the franchise. He didn’t allow a repeat of that performance, though they did need some luck this time.
Are the Chargers contenders?
There’s still plenty of football to be played, but the Chargers are in a very propitious spot after 10 games in the books. At 7-3, they are currently in the No. 5 seed if the playoffs began today, which would set up a wild-card matchup against the Houston Texans.
Los Angeles still has its flaws — defensive injury inconsistencies and a lack of star weapons for Herbert — but it might just be decent enough to be a sleeper team in the conference. The 7-4 Baltimore Ravens and 6-5 Denver Broncos are the two teams behind them, with every other AFC team currently below .500.
Michael Ozanian, Senior Sports Reporter for CNBC, delves into the factors that make the Los Angeles Rams significantly more valuable than their cross-town rivals, the Los Angeles Chargers.
San Diego, CA
City considering cutting funding to resource center for those experiencing homelessness
Last week Mayor Todd Gloria released the budget proposal for the 2027 fiscal budget. Protected homeless services is among his top priorities mentioned in the proposal. However, some of the reductions he’s proposing could impact thousands of San Diegans experiencing homelessness.
Located on 17th and K Street, the Neil Good Day Center offers an array of services to nearly seven thousand people experiencing homelessness. The services include giving them a place to shower and do laundry, and connecting them to a case manager, among others.
“These are critical services that are helping people off the streets, but really better their lives and their health and their employment situation as well,” Deacon Vargas with Father Joe’s Villages said.
Deacon Jim Vargas heads Father Joe’s Villages, which runs the center. He said through their prevention and diversion strategies, they’ve managed to keep nearly one thousand individuals from falling into homelessness.
“So by helping them pay rent, or helping them with their utilities, or helping them to reunite with family,” Vargas said.
Right now, the city allocates at least $850,000 per year to the Neil Good Day Center, according to Vargas.
But the future and funding for these services are in limbo because of Mayor Todd Gloria’s proposed budget cuts.
“The impact to those whom we’ve been serving the Daily Center would be very severe,” Deacon Vargas said.
In a statement to NBC 7, Mayor Todd Gloria said in part, “We must find more efficient and cost-effective ways to address this crisis and prioritize funding for programs that provide shelter beds and maximize resources to programs that place people into permanent housing.”
Since it’s still at a proposal stage, Deacon Vargas said it’s unclear how the city will decide to move forward.
However, Deacon Vargas said services would be significantly reduced because they would be forced to operate solely on a budget of about half a million dollars they receive from philanthropy.
“The hours would be cut. Some days would be cut. We would have showers that might be impacted because they’re given seven days a week and we’d close two days a week, then the showers would be five days a week, the case management,” Deacon Vargas said.
Deacon Vargas is certain of one thing.
He would like to continue offering services at the Day Center, even if the city goes through with the funding cuts.
“As we work with individuals at the Day Center and at Father Joe’s Villages, the community becomes healthier as a result of it,” Deacon Vargas said.
The budget also recommends additional cuts to homeless services, but does not give specifics as to where those cuts would be.
San Diego Padres (14-7) at Los Angeles Angels (11-11), April 19, 2026, 1:07 p.m. PST
Watch: Padres.TV
Location: Angel Stadium – Anaheim, Calif.
Listen: 97.3 The Fan
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San Diego, CA
Solans, Luna, Guilavogui help RSL beat slumping San Diego, extend unbeaten streak to 6 games :: WRALSportsFan.com
SANDY, Utah — SANDY, Utah (AP) — Sergi Solans had two goals and an assist, Diego Luna added a goal and two assists, and Real Salt Lake beat San Diego FC 4-2 on Saturday night to extend its unbeaten streak to six games.
Morgan Guilavogui scored his first goal in MLS and had an assist for Real Salt Lake (5-1-1). The 28-year-old designated player has five goal contributions in his first six career games.
RSL hasn’t lost since a 1-0 defeat at Vancouver in the season opener.
San Diego (3-3-2) has lost three in a row and is winless in five straight.
Luna opened the scoring in the fifth minute when he re-directed a misplayed pass by Duran Ferree, San Diego’s 19-year-old goalkeeper, into the net.
Moments later, Solans headed home a perfectly-placed cross played by Luna from outside the right corner of the 18-yard box to the back post to make it 2-0. Solans, a 23-year-old forward, flicked a header from the center of the area inside the right post and past the outstretched arm of Ferree to make it 3-1 in the 37th minute.
Guilavogui slammed home a first-touch shot to give RSL a three-goal lead in the 45th.
Marcus Ingvartsen scored a goal in the 14th minute and Anders Dreyer converted from the penalty spot in the 66th for San Diego.
Ingvartsen has five goals and an assist this season and has 10 goal contributions (seven goals, three assists) in 16 career MLS appearances.
Rafael Cabral had three saves for RSL.
Ferree finished with five saves.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/soccer
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