Sunday

On one side there’s hope. On the other, history.

Three weeks is only a sliver of the NFL season; a backsliding team has plenty of time to correct its course.

That said, only seven teams in the Super Bowl era have rebounded from an 0-3 start to make the playoffs.

That’s a sobering statistic for the Chargers, Houston Texans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, all winless so far. As for the 0-3 Miami Dolphins, well, that isn’t quite as shocking.

“We’re searching for every possible way to give ourselves an advantage,” said Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, whose team lost at Buffalo last Sunday despite five takeaways and a plus-four turnover differential.

The uphill climb continues for the Chargers, who play at Seattle on Sunday, with the defending Super Bowl champions itching to respond to an upset loss at Washington in Week 3.

So far, the change at offensive coordinator to former Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel has been a bust for the Chargers. Their offense has sputtered and wheezed, even as their defense has done its part to keep them in games.

Elsewhere Sunday, the Texans play host to Dallas, Tampa Bay hosts Green Bay, and Miami plays at 3-0 Minnesota.

Of those seven teams that dug themselves out of a foreboding pit, only the 1992 San Diego Chargers turned their season around after an 0-4 start — so it’s pretty much now or never for this year’s class of Sunday strugglers.

The others to make the playoffs after losing their first three games were the 1981 New York Jets, 1982 Buccaneers, 1995 Detroit Lions, 1998 Buffalo Bills, and the Texans, who pulled off the feat in 2018 and last season… and now find themselves back in that dank basement.

“We’ve been here before,” Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud told reporters this week, “so we know we can get this thing turned around.”

For those who have made that euphoric U-turn, there are life lessons to draw upon. Chief among them, don’t panic.

Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh stands on the field before a loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sept. 27.

(Bryan M. Bennett / Getty Images)

Former Lions linebacker Stephen Boyd recalls the composure and calm of Detroit coach Wayne Fontes, after three losses to Pittsburgh, Minnesota and Arizona — two of those by a field goal.

After the third loss, Boyd said, “Wayne Fontes walks into the meeting room with a big smile on his face and says, `Listen, here’s the deal, we’re going to give the ball to Barry [Sanders] a little bit more, and we’re going to get this turned around.’”

Sure enough, the Lions broke through the following week with a win over San Francisco on Monday night. But there were more bumps in the road for Detroit, which by November was still a dismal 3-6. Few could have predicted the club would win its final seven games.

That set the stage for a strange wild-card game against Philadelphia in which the Eagles built a 51-7 lead and held on despite the Lions scoring 30 points down the stretch. The final score: 58-37.

Three years before Fontes kept his cool under pressure, Chargers coach Bobby Ross did the same.

“There were a lot of grumblings that this was just some college coach that didn’t know what he was doing in the pros,” recalled former Chargers linebacker Gary Plummer of Ross, hired out of Georgia Tech. “There were a lot of guys that were essentially jumping off the ship.”

That team held a players-only meeting after falling to 0-3… then got clobbered, 27-0, by the Houston Oilers in Week 4.

Ross held steady, though.

“He told us that he wasn’t changing,” Plummer said. “We were still going to have physical practices. He said that was the only way he knew how to coach.”

The Chargers responded by winning four in a row. Then, after a hard-fought, two-point loss to Kansas City, the Chargers tore off another seven wins.

Defense led the way for those Chargers, allowing just 241 points that season, the fourth-fewest in the NFL.

So far this season, these Chargers are showing similar tendencies. Last Sunday, the defense played a gem of a game, and certainly through three quarters.

Hope still has a heartbeat, but that grows fainter by the loss.

His right arm is unquestionably superb, but does Justin Herbert have two left feet?

NFL linebacker-turned-anayst Tedy Bruschi pondered as much this week in breaking down why the relationship between the Chargers’ quarterback and offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel has yet to click.

“I want to know if Justin Herbert can dance,” the impassioned Bruschi said on ESPN. “Really, like dance on a dance floor. Does he have rhythm?”

Because, Bruschi said, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa seemed much more attuned to McDaniel’s offense when the two teamed up for the Miami Dolphins.

“When Tua ran this offense, he was dancing,” Bruschi continued. “All the fakes, all the rhythmic, on time, left-handed. I mean, you would watch Tua and it was like boom, boom, boom, boom, gone [throwing an imaginary football]. He was dancing back there in the pocket. It was smoke and mirrors. That, at its best, is what this system is.

“And you’ve got a cyborg back there [in Herbert], a quarterback who can do everything under the sun, and now he has to learn to dance? ‘No, man, I don’t dance. I play football.’ So there’s just a little bit of conflict going on.”

The Chargers are 0-3 and Herbert has yet to hit his stride heading into Sunday’s game at Seattle. He has three touchdowns, four interceptions and a ho-hum passer rating of 73.4 after never finishing a season with a rating lower than 93.2. Granted, it’s early and there’s plenty of time for him to course correct, and his receivers have had several key bobbles and drops. But the schedule doesn’t get any easier soon for the Chargers, whose next games are against Denver, Kansas City, the Rams, Houston and Baltimore.

In short, the Chargers had better learn to navigate that dance floor. The night is not so young anymore.

Actor Wilmer Valderrama, who plays Special Agent Nick Torres on CBS’ long-running procedural “NCIS,” has chased bad guys all across Los Angeles. While he appreciates the geographic diversity of the region, Valderrama says his love for the city is actually tied to “the gift of being an immigrant.”

Valderrama moved to L.A. in 1994 from Venezuela with his family. He remembers how scary it was to come to the City of Angels, not knowing how to speak English. The family arrived “right before the Northridge earthquake, so that was our welcome to L.A.,” he says, adding that his family was living nearby in Van Nuys.

In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.

But growing up in Los Angeles, he found a sense of belonging in a multicultural community that gave him an appreciation for different cultures, cuisines and music. “There are so many different cities and ZIP codes here that make for a multifaceted and multi-heartbeat city,” he says.

Valderrama, who starts his 10th season on “NCIS” on Tuesday, founded the production company WV Entertainment, which released the documentary “Suárez,” about the first Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race, in September on FS1. He also launched WV Sound, to help curate iHeartMedia’s slate of Latin-focused podcasts, and is active in numerous philanthropies, such as co-founding Harness with America Ferrera and Ryan Piers Williams to amplify the voices of underrepresented communities.

Today, Valderrama lives in Tarzana with his wife, model and PADI divemaster Amanda Pacheco, and their two children, Nakano Oceana, 5, and Wolf Monte, 1. He was finishing “That ‘70s Show” in 2006, when he noticed that Chuck Norris was selling his house in Tarzana. “I was 26 years old and realized I didn’t know if I was ever going to work as an actor again,” Valderrama says. “I bought this little house and the kids were born here. So it’s been kind of a dream to be here long enough to see that happen.”

Here’s a look at the actor’s ideal Sunday with family.

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for length and clarity.

7 a.m.: Wake up and go for a walk

My son wakes up and Nakano starts asking for mac and cheese. Instead of mac and cheese, we go for a walk to our favorite coffee shop, Laidrey Coffee Roasters in Tarzana. They roast their own coffee beans and have an amazing pastry selection. Everybody’s in their sweats and pajamas, we hang out with some of our local baristas, and have a good time. I’m obsessed with coffee. My grandfather was a coffee farmer in Pereira, Colombia. I grew up with a level of appreciation for coffee that was just insane. For me, coffee is as good as tasting different types of wines. I love going to places that put a lot of emphasis on the curation of their coffee beans and the essence and the blends. How they serve their cappuccino is really important to me. I think it’s a perfect blend of broth and roast. And if the barista wants to add an artistic element, then they have successfully elevated my cappuccino experience. A kiss of hazelnut as a finishing touch too.

9 a.m.: Naps and playtime at the playground

As soon as it hits 9ish, my son needs a nap, so while he sleeps, Nakano and I go to a little playground, and I just let her run off some of her morning energy.

11 a.m.: Brunch at the beach

Then, we’ll go to the Malibu Farm Pier Cafe, and have a really great brunch. I like their chorizo burrito, and I add bacon and avocado to it. Their hot sauce is ridiculous. Nakano gets the Swedish mini pancakes, and Amanda loves the Surfer’s Rancheros.

1 p.m.: Paddleboarding in the Pacific

At this point, we just walk the beach, and maybe paddleboard around the pier. The waters are pretty calm around that time. My wife is a mermaid. She’s a divemaster, so the ocean is something that’s very important to her. So we’ll always try to find ourselves at the beach. We have our own paddleboards, but there are tons of shops where you can rent boards on PCH.

3 p.m.: Time for a snack

Around that time, I’ll get hungry again, and everyone’s like, how can you be hungry? We just ate. We’ll go to Neptune’s Net, which is a nice little coastal drive north on PCH. Neptune’s was famous for being in “The Fast and the Furious.” It’s a really great spot for burgers, fish and steaks, so we’ll just go there for a little snack, and I’ll be the only one eating, because everyone’s still full. I get the fried fish and chips.

4 p.m.: Fun on the Santa Monica Pier

We’ll go for a little drive after that. Sometimes, we’ll take Nakano to the Santa Monica Pier. She loves playing the games, and doing the roller coaster stuff. It tends to be pretty fun and lively.

5 p.m.: Slow drive back to the Valley

Then we slowly snail pace across PCH, and go over Topanga Canyon to get back into the Valley. At that point, the kids are taking a major nap in the car. By the time we get back to the Valley, I’ll probably pitch what dinner is. And they’re like, how can you still be thinking about food?

6 p.m.: Early dinner means Korean barbecue or sushi

We usually end up at this Korean barbecue place called the House of Galbi in Encino. It’s my favorite. They have a great all-you-can-eat menu with really great meats and an assortment of sauces and condiments. They have a prime rib that is phenomenal. Ask for the house hot sauce. It’s probably one of the best things to go with any piece of meat and seafood there. On a Sunday, normally there’s certain games, and they have big TVs in there, so you can watch the game while you’re having family time. I completely overeat on a Sunday.

If not there, we’ll go to Okumura in Encino. A young Japanese man trained these amazing Mexican guys to be incredible sushi chefs. The place is wonderful. It’s been my sushi place for a very long time. There’s a lot of fancy sushi places, but these little hole-in-the-walls are the ones you kind of hang on to, right? They know your usual dishes. They know how to make something up, right? They do this blue crab hand roll and they add some jalapeno and give you a ponzu sauce to dip it in. It’s really special.

8 p.m.: Head home and relax

We get back to the house, and by then, my daughter’s like a bobblehead, trying not to fall asleep. My son is out, so we just take the kids in and put them down. We’ll have a little us time, so we’ll just sit together and chat, talk about the week ahead. We try to watch something together and have movie night as much as we can on Sunday. Sometimes we’ll just pass out on the couch because we’re so tired. We’ll wake up at 2 in the morning and zombie our way to bed, you know?

After sitting out the last two games because of injury, Rams star receiver Puka Nacua appears on track to play Sunday against the Eagles in Philadelphia.

But the status of star defensive lineman Aaron Donald remains unclear.

Nacua was sidelined for a victory over the New York Giants and Sunday’s defeat by the Denver Broncos because of a hip injury that caused groin and abdominal soreness. But Nacua returned to practice in a limited role on Wednesday and was listed as limited again on Thursday.

“It’s exciting,” Nacua said after practice. “That’s my safe space out there, and to be out there with the guys, I think that’s been the most important thing, feeling that camaraderie and then also the ability to put my foot in the ground.”

Nacua, the NFL receptions leader in 2025, caught five passes for 74 yards in a season-opening defeat by the San Francisco 49ers in Australia.

What would it mean to return to action against the Eagles?

“I can’t think of anything else but smiling,” he said.

Donald, a three-time NFL defensive player of the year, has not practiced this week because of a back issue that surfaced after the loss to the Broncos, a defeat that dropped the Rams’ record to 1-2.

Donald, who ended a two-year retirement in late August, did not make the trip to Australia. In his season debut against the Giants at SoFi Stadium, he made three tackles in the Rams’ 28-6 victory.

Donald had one tackle and one quarterback hit in the 30-26 loss to the Broncos.

“Aaron’s been awesome,” defensive coordinator Chris Shula said. “I think he’s really elevated that whole group.”

With edge rusher Myles Garrett out at least two more games while recovering from knee surgery, the Rams for the first time this season could line up without either of the two future Hall of Famers.

“Those are two of the best players in the world — two of maybe the best players of all time,” Shula said. You’re always going to want them on the field, but we’re lucky where if those guys are out we have a lot of depth and a lot of capable guys. … You’re never going to expect them to perform at the level of Aaron Donald or Myles Garrett, but we expect a lot of guys to go out and contribute and play really well and have a really good rotation going.”

The line feature interior players such as Kobie Turner, Braden Fiske and Poona Ford, and edge rushers Byron Young, Josaiah Stewart, Desjuan Johnson and Wesley Bailey.

For more than 15 years, Sunday, a Ugandan asylum seeker, has lived in limbo in Japan. Once detained at the Shinagawa immigration centre, he must now regularly report to the authorities and rely on charity to help feed his children.

Changes to Japan’s immigration laws mean he could face deportation. Refusing to be reduced to a statistic, Sunday throws himself into an unlikely project: a samurai film inspired by Yasuke, remembered as Japan’s first Black samurai. For Sunday, filmmaking becomes an act of survival, dignity and hope.

Sunday in Japan is a documentary film by Antonio Rui Ribeiro, Leo Nelki and Golriz Kolahi.

Drake Maye was almost the NFL’s MVP last year.

The New England Patriots quarterback finished second in the Associated Press poll of national media members, with 23 first-place votes and 361 total points. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford edged him out with 24 first-place votes and 366 overall points.

Chances are, Maye won’t be receiving any votes this year — at least not if the first three games are any indication of how the rest of the season will go. Months after helping the Patriots to a surprise Super Bowl appearance, the third-year player and two-time Pro Bowl selection is not playing close to the standard he established last year.

Maye has thrown only one touchdown pass so far this season after tossing 31 a year ago. And he has been intercepted six times already in 2026 after getting picked off only eight times total last season.

The Patriots are 1-2 at the moment, the same record they had after the first three games last season. But Maye showed promise in those games a year ago, throwing for five touchdowns and two interceptions.

During a 35-6 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, Maye was picked off twice and also fumbled two times, losing one. The lost fumble came first, when an untouched Maye lost grip of the ball while reaching back to pass late in the first quarter.

After the game, Maye told reporters that blood from center Jared Wilson’s hand had gotten on the ball and made it slippery. But, he added, “at the same time, I’ve got to hold onto the football.”

Jaguars two-way player Travis Hunter, the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner and second overall draft pick in 2025, got his first NFL interception when he picked off Maye in the end zone late in the second quarter.

Then in the third quarter, on the Patriots’ first play from scrimmage after falling behind 21-3, Maye had a pass intercepted by Jacksonville’s Jarrian Jones. Jones stepped in front of a pass intended for Kyle Williams and returned it to the New England 5-yard line.

The Jaguars scored on the next play to take a 28-3 lead, after which Patriots coach Mike Vrabel could be seen on the sideline with both hands on Maye’s shoulders in an apparent attempt to comfort his quarterback.

“My conversations with each person on that sideline, I have to do my best each and every play, whoever I’m communicating with, to try to get the best out of them,” Vrabel told reporters Monday. “So I’ll have conversations with a lot of people. I’ve got a lot of faith and confidence in everybody that’s here. That’s why they’re here.”

Maye, who completed 14 of 25 passes for 199 yards and was sacked three times, finished with a passer rating of 48.6, the second-lowest of his career.

“It’s disappointing,” Maye told reporters after the game. “I think the ball starts rolling like that, we can’t get out of our own way — can’t get out of my own way, personally. So I gotta look myself in the mirror and take it to the turning point. … I’ve got to start with myself and lead these guys and we’ve got to get back after it.”

After the 2025 season, Maye revealed that he had injured his throwing shoulder during the AFC championship game against the Denver Broncos and received an injection to help with the pain before the Patriots’ 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX. Both he and Vrabel have said they don’t feel there have been any lingering effects from that injury.

On Sunday, Maye told reporters that his confidence hasn’t wavered despite the rough start to the season.

“This is an opportunity to band together and realize that the best football that we play is together,” he said, “and realize that’s going to start with me, protecting the football and protecting this team. Because that’s my job and I’ve been failing to do that.”