From Sam Farmer: All that talk about the left hand of Justin Herbert, and it’s the right foot of Cameron Dicker that made the difference.
Dicker kicked five field goals Monday night to lift the Chargers to a 22-19 overtime victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in a wild, turnover-filled game at SoFi Stadium.
On a night when the teams combined for eight turnovers — including a career-high four interceptions by Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts — the game fittingly ended with an interception. Tony Jefferson latched onto a pass that was tipped by fellow Chargers defensive back Cam Hart, snuffing out the Eagles’ last chance.
So Dicker’s 54-yard field goal with 6:24 remaining in the extra period provided the margin of victory, just as it was Dicker who forced overtime with a 46-yarder in the waning moments of regulation.
“What a team we have,” Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said, practically shouting at the postgame podium. “That’s my reaction — what a team we have. They refuse to lose.”
DODGERS KNOCK DOWN RUMORS
From Jack Harris: It’s been an offseason of few acquisitions thus far for the Dodgers.
So much so that, on the first day of MLB’s annual winter meetings at the Signia by Hilton Orlando on Monday, the most intriguing rumor surrounding the team had to do with a potential subtraction from their big-league roster.
According to multiple reports, Teoscar Hernández has come up in the Dodgers’ trade talks with other teams this winter. USA Today went as far as saying the club was “shopping” the two-time All-Star, who is entering the second season of the three-year, $66-million deal he signed last offseason.
However, both manager Dave Roberts and general manager Brandon Gomes downplayed that notion while addressing reporters on Monday.
“Teo certainly fits [our roster still],” Roberts said. “He’s helped us win two championships. He’s one of my favorites.”
“That doesn’t feel likely,” Gomes added of the possibility of trading Hernández. “Obviously, you can never say never on those types of things. I know that’s come up [in reports]. But that’s not something we anticipate at all.”
The idea of the Dodgers trading Hernández has felt like a long shot from the start. Though the 33-year-old slugger suffered an inconsistent and injury-plagued regular season in 2025 — both at the plate, where he had 25 home runs but hit only .247, and especially defensively, where he had several notable lapses after moving to right field — the 10-year veteran has made crucial contributions in each of the Dodgers’ two World Series runs the last couple years, and has served in a mentor role to young players in the clubhouse; none more so than Andy Pages.
MORE DODGERS:
A quiet Dodgers offseason has yet to heat up. Will winter meetings help them find a move?
From Ben Bolch: The eight remaining candidates met with UCLA’s search committee on Zoom, each answering the same set of questions.
When those conversations ended, Martin Jarmond, the athletic director who was presiding over the Bruins’ quest to find their next great football coach, asked everyone on the committee to prioritize which candidates needed to be seen in person.
Everyone’s list included the same name: Bob Chesney.
The James Madison coach had already wowed the committee by then, according to multiple people with knowledge of the search who spoke with The Times on condition of anonymity because of the private nature of the process.
Chesney’s experience building programs into winners, established track record of success at multiple levels, ability to develop talent and appreciation for everything UCLA had to offer were all selling points that made him an attractive candidate early in a search lasting 2½ months.
From Ryan Kartje: USC will face Texas Christian in its first trip to the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 30, the night before the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff kick off. Throw in the fact that the Horned Frogs finished in seventh place in the Big 12, and you don’t exactly have a marquee, made-for-TV matchup.
But for USC’s coach, the Alamo Bowl should carry a certain significance — if only for the fact that it’s where his reputation as a budding offensive mastermind was born.
Sixteen years ago this December, Lincoln Riley was on his way to a team meeting ahead of Texas Tech’s bowl game, when defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill pulled him aside. Mike Leach, the Red Raiders’ head coach had been suspended for the bowl for allegations of player mistreatment — and would be fired days later. McNeill, the interim coach, wanted Riley to call plays for him.
Riley was 26, and reeling from the news about his mentor.
“An opportunity arose out of a not-very-positive situation,” Riley said Sunday.
NOTRE DAME CFP FALLOUT
From Chuck Schilken: One day removed from learning that Notre Dame had been left out of the College Football Playoff’s 12-team field, Fighting Irish athletic director Pete Bevacqua was still fuming.
In addition to reiterating his frustrations with the CFP ranking process, Bevacqua also turned his ire on the Atlantic Coast Conference during a Monday morning appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show.”
“We were mystified by the actions of the conference, to attack, you know, their biggest, really, business partner in football and a member of their conference in 24 of our other sports,” Bevaqua said. “And I wouldn’t be honest with you if I didn’t say that they have certainly done permanent damage to the relationship between the conference and Notre Dame.”
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL
From Eric Sondheimer: Palisades, hoping to be a City Section basketball title contender, unveiled two 6-foot-5 twins from Detroit, EJ and OJ Popoola, on Monday night, but there was no stopping Windward shooting threes in its home gym.
The Wildcats made 14 threes and received a terrific performance from 6-6 junior Davey Harris in an 80-60 victory. Harris, who said he was “80%” several weeks ago in Windward’s season opener after recovering from a knee injury that sidelined him for two seasons, now says he’s “85 to 90%.” If that’s true, wait until he’s 100% because he finished with 31 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
Palisades (0-3) is doing exactly what City Section football teams did during their nonleage seasons — play tough Southern Section opponents to prepare for league play. The Dolphins open Western League play on Wednesday against Venice and will be an Open Division title contender.
MORE HIGH SCHOOLS:
High school basketball: Monday’s boys’ and girls’ scores
Prep Rally: A big high school basketball record could be broken this week
KINGS
Joel Armia scored twice, Adrian Kempe had a goal and assist, and the Kings beat the Utah Mammoth 4-2 on Monday night.
Anze Kopitar also scored and Kevin Fiala had two assists to help the Kings get their third win in five games. Darcy Kuemper stopped 19 shots.
Clayton Keller had a goal and an assist, and Dylan Guenther also scored for the Mammoth in their sixth loss in eight games. Karel Vejmelka finished with 23 saves.
THIS DAY IN SPORTS HISTORY
1934 — The New York Giants wins the NFL championship by beating the Chicago Bears 30-13 in the famous “Sneakers Game.” With the temperature at 9 degrees and the Polo Grounds field a sheet of ice, the Giants open the second half wearing basketball shoes and score 27 points in the final period to overcome a 13-3 Chicago lead.
1938 — The Chicago Cardinals select TCU center Ki Aldrich with the first pick of the NFL Draft.
1939 — The Chicago Cardinals select Tennessee half back George Cafego with the first pick of the NFL Draft.
1949 — The All-America Conference merges with the National Football League. Three teams from the AAFC — the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Colts — join the 10-team NFL. The league is called the National-American Football League, but months later the National Football League name is restored.
1973 — Jim Bakken of the St. Louis Cardinals kicks six field goals in a 32-10 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
1977 — Moses Malone scores 20 points and grabs nine rebounds in the second half to lead the Houston Rockets to a 116-105 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. The game s marred by a one-punch knockout of Rockets’ forward Rudy Tomjanovich by Los Angeles forward Kermit Washington.
1984 — Eric Dickerson of the Los Angeles Rams rushes for 215 yards and two touchdowns against the Houston Oilers, breaking O.J. Simpson’s NFL single-season rushing record of 2,003 yards. Dickerson ends the season with 2,105 yards.
1993 — Kevin Johnson of Phoenix becomes the 13th player to record 10 steals in an NBA game, during the Suns’ 114-95 win over Washington.
2000 — Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith rushes for a season-high 150 yards, putting him over 1,000 for a record-tying 10th straight season and joins Walter Payton and Barry Sanders as the only players in NFL history with 15,000 career yards.
2001 — Bode Miller becomes the first American since 1983 to win a World Cup giant slalom race. Miller, third after the opening leg, has an excellent second run to win in a combined time of 2 minutes, 36.02 seconds in Val D’Isere, France.
2007 — Peyton Manning of Indianapolis becomes the fifth quarterback in NFL history to throw 300 touchdown passes, getting four and going 13-for-17 for 249 yards in a 44-20 win over Baltimore.
2009 — Cassidy Schaub rolls consecutive 300 games and sets a Professional Bowlers Association 16-game scoring record, averaging 257.25 to retain the second-round lead in the Pepsi Red, White and Blue Open. Schaub had a 16-game total of 4,116 pins to erase the PBA record of 4,095 set by John Mazza in Las Vegas in 1996.
2016 — Russia’s sports reputation is ripped apart again when a new report into systematic doping details a vast “institutional conspiracy” that covers more than 1,000 athletes in over 30 sports and a corrupted drug-testing system at the 2012 and 2014 Olympics. This second and final report by World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren says the conspiracy involves the Russian Sports Ministry, national anti-doping agency and the FSB intelligence service, providing further details of state involvement in a massive program of cheating and cover-ups that operated on an “unprecedented scale” from 2011-15.
2017 — Jozy Altidore opens the scoring in the 67th minute and Toronto FC beats the Seattle Sounders 2-0 in the MLS Cup to become the first Canadian champion in league history.
2018 – New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady breaks Peyton Manning’s record for most touchdown passes in NFL history.
2018 — Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers breaks Tom Brady’s NFL record with his 359th straight pass without an interception during Packers 34-20 win over Atlanta Falcons; finishes game with streak intact at 368.
2021 – Chicago Black Hawks Marc-Andre Fleury becomes 3rd NHL goaltender to reach 500 career wins.
2023 — Japanese baseball two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani signs a North American pro-sports record 10-year $700m deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Compiled by the Associated Press
Until next time…
That concludes today’s newsletter. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, email Houston Mitchell at houston.mitchell@latimes.com. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.