The Sports Report: Chargers fall to the Cowboys

Howdy, I’m your host, Houston Mitchell. Let’s get right to the news.

From Jeff Miller: The Chargers’ first appearance in prime time this season ended in a spotlight of disappointment.

Under pressure, Justin Herbert was intercepted by Dallas’ Stephon Gilmore in the final 90 seconds to end the Chargers’ last possession and cap a 20-17 Cowboys’ victory at SoFi Stadium.

The Chargers had third-and-10 at their 25-yard line when Herbert was picked off. In the play before the interception, Herbert was sacked by Micah Parsons for an eight-yard loss.

The defeat ended the Chargers’ two-game winning streak and dropped them to 2-3. Dallas improved to 4-2.

The Cowboys took a 20-17 lead on a 39-yard field goal by Brandon Aubrey with 2:19 remaining in the fourth quarter. The boot finished a 14-play, 54-yard drive.

Dallas converted three third downs during the possession — one on an illegal contact penalty on cornerback Ja’Sir Taylor, one on a Dak Prescott completion to CeeDee Lamb and one on a pass to Brandin Cooks.

The Chargers had tied the score 17-17 on a one-yard touchdown pass from Justin Herbert to Gerald Everett with 7:11 to go in the fourth quarter.

The completion came on fourth-and-goal and capped a 20-yard possession set up by a muffed punt by the Cowboys. Amen Ogbongbemiga recovered the muff to give the Chargers their excellent starting position.

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Chargers box score

NFL standings

RAMS

From Sam Farmer: Cooper Kupp is a team guy and decidedly not a clubhouse lawyer. But the All-Pro receiver was stubbornly dug in about returning to play as quickly as possible after his hamstring injury, even though some people within the Rams thought he might be rushing the process.

“There were some healthy debates going into it, whether it was going to be even the smart thing to come back when I did,” Kupp said Sunday, with a second highly productive game under his belt. “There were some conversations around that.”

Safe to say Kupp was firmly entrenched on one side of that debate.

“I was always…” he said, smiling and rubbing his beard like a sure-handed Socrates. “Well, we’ll leave those conversations in house.

“But we handled things the right way.”

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From Gary Klein: Rams cornerback Derion Kendrick was arrested Monday on suspicion of illegal gun possession, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the situation said.

Kendrick, 23, was arrested after he was stopped in a car for a traffic violation in Hollywood, the source said. Kendrick was booked on a felony charge at 2:14 a.m. according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept. website.

Kendrick made two tackles Sunday in the Rams’ 26-9 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

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Who’s left in backfield for the Rams? Injuries sideline Kyren Williams, Ronnie Rivers

BASEBALL

From Chuck Schilken: Alyssa Nakken has made baseball history again.

More than three years after becoming the first woman on a Major League Baseball coaching staff and 18 months after becoming the first woman to coach on the field during an MLB game, the San Francisco Giants assistant coach is the first woman to interview for a major league managerial position.

Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi confirmed to the Associated Press on Sunday night that Nakken had a first-round interview last week as the team searches for a replacement for fired manager Gabe Kapler. Nakken, 33, and husband Robert Abel are expecting their first child, a girl, in February.

A former softball standout at first base for Sacramento State, Nakken joined the Giants in 2014 as an intern in baseball operations and was named an assistant coach by Kapler six years later. At the time, Kapler said Nakken would assist the rest of the coaching staff on the field, as well as working toward “fostering a clubhouse culture that promotes high performance through, among other attributes, a deep sense of collaboration and team.”

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Kim Ng, first female general manager, leaves Marlins for same reason Derek Jeter did

NLCS SCHEDULE

All times Pacific
All games on TBS

Arizona vs. Philadelphia
Philadelphia 5, Arizona 3 (recap, box score)
Today at Philadelphia, 5 p.m.
Thursday at Arizona, 2 p.m.
Friday at Arizona, 5 p.m.
*Saturday at Arizona, 5 p.m.
*Monday at Philadelphia, 2 p.m.
*Tuesday, Oct. 24 at Philadelphia, 5 p.m.

ALCS SCHEDULE

All times Pacific

Texas vs. Houston
Texas 2, Houston 0 (recap, box score)
Texas 5, Houston 4 (recap, box score)
Wednesday at Texas, 5 p.m., FS1
Thursday at Texas, 5 p.m., FS1
*Friday at Texas, 2 p.m., FS1
*Sunday at Houston, 5 p.m., FS1
*Monday at Houston, 5 p.m., Fox/FS1

*-if necessary

UCLA FOOTBALL

From Ben Bolch: The young quarterback isn’t ready.

What was the offensive tackle doing, committing a false start coming out of a timeout?

How does an entire defense fail to cover a tight end?

Social media and message boards were not fun places to be over the weekend if you were a UCLA football player, family member or friend. The Bruins lost to Oregon State in Corvallis on Saturday, and it was as if some fans lost their minds.

It’s the same sort of criticism that pops up whenever a team falters and fans turn testy. Might those fans feel more justified in their vitriol in 2023 given that some of these college players now earn more income than they do through name, image and likeness deals?

“I don’t look at it that way,” UCLA coach Chip Kelly said Monday. “And I also don’t think because a pro athlete makes money that people should be allowed to criticize them, you know what I mean? You know, do people go into the workforce of some banker and just start heckling him? Saying, ‘Hey, you make $750,000 and the mortgage rates are this, inflation is at an unbelievable pace so what the heck are you guys doing? You’re absolutely out of your mind, let’s get rid of you, let’s fire this guy and cut this guy and do all that?’”

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OLYMPICS

From David Wharton: Now that baseball has been approved as one of several “new” sports for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, fans in Southern California might have a question or two.

Will Mookie Betts go for the gold? What about Shohei Ohtani?

And will the Summer Games commandeer Dodger Stadium for two weeks in the middle of the Major League Baseball season?

“We’ve had great conversations with MLB and the players union,” said Casey Wasserman, chairman of the LA28 organizing committee. “I have no doubt that both the league and its players are excited about the opportunity to compete.”

The International Olympic Committee voted to adopt LA28’s additional sports proposal during a session in Mumbai early Monday morning. The approved list also includes flag football, cricket, softball, lacrosse and squash.

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HORSE RACING

From John Cherwa: Santa Anita Park has made a point of trying to be a leader when it comes to horse safety, often proactive in its enforcement of rules, even before official adjudication.

But now, it is raising some eyebrows in not taking any action against trainer Dan Blacker, who has been cited for 527 violations by the California Horse Racing Board. The violations are all the same, not scheduling a veterinary exam 72 hours or less before a workout, a timed high-speed training run.

The reasons the trainer, the track and the regulator find themselves in this spot of muddled action underscores how the sport sometimes can be weighed down by its own doing.

The alleged transgressions were detected after Animae, an unraced 2-year-old filly, broke down in training and was euthanized because of injuries to her pelvis and vertebrae July 1. Animae, a $250,000 purchase, had just completed a three-furlong workout over the dirt training track.

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THIS DATE IN SPORTS

1948 — The Green Bay Packers intercept seven passes off Bob Waterfield in a 16-0 victory over the Rams.

1954 — Adrian Burk of the Philadelphia Eagles passes for seven touchdowns in a 49-21 victory over the Washington Redskins. Burk completes 19 of 27 passes for 232 yards and his longest touchdown pass is 26 yards.

1960 — The National League formally awards franchises to the New York Metropolitan Baseball Club Inc. headed by Joan Payson and a Houston, Texas, group headed by Judge Roy Hofheinz, Craig Cullinan and R.E. Smith.

1989 — The Calgary Flames tie an NHL record by scoring two goals, both short-handed, in 4 seconds and also three goals in a 27-second span during the third period to pull into an 8-8 tie with the Quebec Nordiques.

1991 — Paul Coffey of the Pittsburgh Penguins becomes the highest-scoring defenseman in NHL history. Coffey gets two assists in an 8-5 victory against the New York Islanders at the Civic Arena, giving him 1,053 career points (309 goals and 744 assists). Coffey passes longtime Islanders star Denis Potvin.

1991 — Angel Cordero Jr. becomes the 3rd jockey to win 7,000 races.

1992 — Jari Kurri of the Kings scores his 500th goal in an 8-6 win over the Boston Bruins. Kurri becomes the first European-trained player and 18th player overall to reach the mark.

2000 — Patrick Roy sets an NHL record with his 448th career victory as Colorado beats Washington 4-3 in overtime. Roy snaps a tie with Terry Sawchuk, who held the mark since 1970. Sawchuk earned his 447th victory in his 968th game, while Roy wins No. 448 in his 847th game.

2021 — The Chicago Sky defeat the Phoenix Mercury 81-74 to win their first WNBA Championship three games to one. The Sky’s Kahleah Copper is named Finals MVP.

—Compiled by the Associated Press