EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Admirers of defensive football should be in for a treat when the Los Angeles Chargers host the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
The Chargers (5-3) — winners of two straight and three of their last four — allow a league-low 12.6 points per game. They are also the sixth club since 1990 and the first since the 2019 Patriots to allow 20 or fewer points in each of their first eight games.
The Titans (2-6) have NFL’s top-ranked unit in overall defense (269.1 yards per game) and against the pass (155.8 ypg).
Tennessee forced a season-high three turnovers in last Sunday’s 20-17 overtime victory over New England, snapping a three-game skid. Safety Amani Hooker picked off two passes, including the final play of the game, and has all three interceptions by the Titans this season.
Chargers QB Justin Herbert has not been picked off in his last six games.
“He’s getting the ball out quick,” Hooker said. “The receivers are getting open to the spots, you know, where he likes to make the throws, and he’s doing a good job of just not turning over the ball.”
The Titans have held seven of eight opponents under 200 passing yards this season. A significant reason for that is the pressure they've put on quarterbacks.
Tennessee has four sacks in each of the past two games. Outside linebacker Arden Key has had four sacks in the past three weeks.
The Titans will face a Chargers offensive line allowing a 39.7% quarterback pressure rate, the fourth-highest in the league. Justin Herbert was sacked a career-high six times in last Sunday’s 27-10 win at Cleveland.
“They play a really sound scheme. They like to try to squeeze you and keep everything in front of you and make you go the long way,” Chargers offensive coordinator Greg Roman said.
The Chargers have one of the most improved units in the league in coach Jim Harbaugh and defensive coordinator Jesse Minter’s first season in Los Angeles. They are eighth in total defense (303.8 yards per game) and eighth against the run (107.9 yards per game).
“So far, it’s going well. But like I always say, it’s a week-to-week league. You can’t sit around going, ‘Hey, look where we’re at right now.’ Happy with where we’re at and always trying to chase ways to get better,” Minter said.
Tennessee quarterback Will Levis will get the start after missing the last three games with a sprained AC joint in his right throwing shoulder.
After some early-season concerns, the Chargers' receivers are beginning to show their potential.
Ladd McConkey is tied for third among rookies with 35 receptions and has five straight games with at least four catches. Quentin Johnston is coming off a career-high 118 yards last week after missing two games with an ankle injury, and Josh Palmer’s last four receptions have gone for at least 26 yards, including a 28-yard TD at Cleveland.
Chargers defensive back Elijah Molden has been anticipating this game since the Titans traded him on Aug. 29. Molden leads Los Angeles with three interceptions and is fifth in tackles with 32.
“Part of the reason I asked for a trade or to be released from the Titans is because I believed my best football was ahead of me. I wanted to play a lot and contribute, and I’m doing that right now,” Molden said.
Molden isn’t the only former Titan who has helped the Chargers this season. Cornerback Kristian Fulton has started six of the seven games he has played but might miss a second straight week with a hamstring strain. Defensive lineman Teair Tart blocked a field goal last week at Cleveland, and linebacker Bud Dupree is averaging 35 snaps per game.
Fulton and Tart were with Tennessee for four seasons (2020-23), while Dupree was there for two (2021-22). Titans defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day was with the Chargers for the past two seasons.
Titans coach Brian Callahan said running back Tony Pollard might not have to practice again if he can play the way he did last week when an injured foot sidelined him from practice. Pollard responded with a season-high 128 yards rushing on a career-high 28 carries. He also had 26 yards receiving for 154 yards from scrimmage, the second-best game in his career.
“It sounds good, but I’m one of those guys I got to go out there and practice it for full speed so I can have a feel for what it’s going to be like the game,” Pollard said.
Pollard might be getting some help in the backfield. Running back Tyjae Spears has missed three straight games with a hamstring injury. The Titans are happiest when they can mix and match the pair.
The home team has won the last eight meetings in the series, including Tennessee’s 27-24 overtime victory last season.
The Titans have not won a road game against the Chargers since 1990 when they were the Houston Oilers, and Warren Moon threw for 355 yards in a 17-7 victory at San Diego. They have lost nine straight — seven in San Diego, one in London in 2018, and a 17-14 defeat in 2022 in the Chargers’ current home.
AP Pro Football Writer Teresa Walker in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Khalil Mack smiles as he leaves the field after an NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Tennessee Titans safety Amani Hooker (37) intercepts a pass intended for New England Patriots wide receiver Kayshon Boutte (9) to end the game in overtime of an NFL football game in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/John Amis)
Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Khalil Mack (52) sacks Cleveland Browns quarterback Jameis Winston (5) for a 6-yard loss in the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Tennessee Titans safety Amani Hooker (37) smiles as he leaves the filed following an overtime win over the New England Patriots in an NFL football game in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/John Amis)
Israeli forces have killed two Palestinian militants who carried out a deadly attack on a bus in the West Bank earlier this month.
The Israeli military said Thursday that the two men barricaded themselves in a structure in the West Bank village of Burqin and exchanged fire with Israeli troops before they were killed overnight. The army said a soldier was moderately wounded.
The military said Mohammed Nazzal and Katiba al-Shalabi were operatives with the Islamic Jihad militant group.
The Hamas militant group released a statement claiming the two men were members of its armed wing and praising the bus attack. Hamas and the smaller and more radical Islamic Jihad are allies that sometimes carry out attacks together.
The Jan. 6 attack on the bus carrying Israelis killed three people and wounded six others.
Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state.
Here's the latest:
TEL AVIV — A survivor of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack will represent Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Switzerland in May.
Yuval Raphael, 24, won first place in a singing contest on Israeli television that determines Israel’s entry to Eurovision, a pan-continental pop extravaganza. She won with a performance of the Swedish group ABBA’s pop hit “Dancing Queen,” which she dedicated to the victims of the attack.
Raphael survived the Nova music festival in southern Israel as Palestinian militants stormed the event, killing hundreds and taking many hostage during Hamas’ cross-border raid. She has testified in the Israeli parliament about her experience on Oct. 7. She described hiding from gunmen under piles of dead bodies for eight hours, and said “I’m going to deal with this thing for the rest of my life.”
Last year’s Eurovision was overshadowed by the war in Gaza, with large demonstrations protesting Israel’s participation. Israel’s representative, Eden Golan, who ended up taking fifth place in the competition, was kept under tight security.
BUDAPEST, Hungary - Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Thursday that Israel would not compromise on its objectives of dismantling Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, and that there were no guarantees for the success of the three-phase cease fire in the war in the Gaza Strip.
Speaking alongside his Hungarian counterpart in Budapest, Hungary, Saar said Hamas leaders had declared their intent to carry out more attacks on Israel similar to the deadly raids on Oct. 7, 2023, and could therefore not be allowed to retain any military capabilities.
“They are committed to the idea of eliminating the Jewish state,” Saar said. “Israel will not accept Hamas’ rule in Gaza. As long as Hamas remains in power, there will be no peace, security or stability in the Middle East.”
“We hope that the framework for the hostage release will continue until its end, but of course I cannot guarantee that,” he continued. “We will not abandon our objectives.”
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Although the ceasefire in Gaza has brought an influx of humanitarian aid and a rare respite from Israeli bombardment, it has done little to change the miserable conditions endured by most of the 2 million people displaced by fighting.
The winter weather has compounded the hardships of those eking out an existence in tattered tents and makeshift shelters. Heavy rains were flooding tents across the territory, leaving Palestinians shivering in the cold.
At one makeshift camp in the central city of Deir al-Balah, the downpour Thursday quickly soaked through flimsy tents that seemed to float on pools of muck. Some used sandbags to keep their tents from washing away, while others tried to clear the huge puddles of mud outside their shelters. Barefoot children trod through paths that had become filthy rivers. A cacophony of coughs emanated from every corner, raising concerns about the spread of illness.
Tareq Deifallah, a displaced resident in Deir al-Balah originally from Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, said water was seeping through his tent from all sides. He said “the truce is useless” when it came to changing his living conditions.
“Before the truce we were suffering, after the truce we are suffering, from the rain and the winter,” Deifallah said.
Monira Faraj, a mother of two young girls, said rain flooded her tent and soaked through her mattress as her family was sleeping.
“We’re afraid we’re going to drown if it becomes too much,” she said.
Residents of the tent camp said they had no choice but to stay put. Even though the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war that took effect Sunday allows Palestinians displaced by the fighting to return to their homes, those who set out to check on their houses in recent days said they found only ruins.
DAMASCUS, Syria — A commercial plane from Turkey landed in Damascus for the first time in 13 years on Thursday, Syrian state media said.
The Turkish Airlines plane flew from Istanbul to the Syrian capital, SANA reported, two weeks after the first international commercial flight landed, from Qatar, since former Syrian President Bashar Assad’s fall.
Ankara backed opposition groups in northwestern Syria that fought against Assad and his allies during the uprising-turned-conflict and never restored ties, even when most Mideast countries did in 2023.
Now Turkey, a key ally of the new authorities under the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, has expressed its intention to invest in Syria’s economy and help its ailing electricity and energy sectors.
JERUSALEM — Israel’s ambassador to the United States says the two countries are in talks about the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon as a deadline in the ceasefire with Hezbollah militants approaches. Israeli media have reported that Israel is seeking to postpone the completion of its pullout.
Michael Herzog said in an interview with Israeli Army Radio on Thursday that he believed Israel would “reach an understanding” with the Trump administration, without elaborating.
Under the U.S.-brokered ceasefire that ended more than a year of fighting linked to the war in the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces are supposed to complete their withdrawal from southern Lebanon by Sunday.
Israeli media have reported that Israel reached an understanding with the Biden administration on staying longer but that President Donald Trump is urging it to withdraw on time.
There was no immediate comment from the United States.
Israeli officials have said Lebanese troops are not deploying fast enough in the areas Israeli troops are supposed to vacate. Under the ceasefire, the Lebanese army is to patrol a buffer zone in southern Lebanon alongside United Nations peacekeepers.
Hezbollah has threatened to resume its rocket and drone fire if Israel does not withdraw on time.
The Al Jazeera news network says the Palestinian Authority arrested one of its reporters after preventing him from covering an Israeli operation in the occupied West Bank.
The Qatar-based news network reported Thursday that its reporter, Mohammed al-Atrash, was arrested from his home.
It said Palestinian security forces had earlier prevented him from reporting on a large Israeli military operation in Jenin, an epicenter of Israeli-Palestinian violence in recent years. The Palestinian Authority launched its own crackdown on militants in the city late last year.
There was no immediate comment from the Palestinian Authority.
Both Israel and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority banned Al Jazeera last year. Israel accuses it of being a mouthpiece of Hamas over its coverage of the war in the Gaza Strip and says some of its reporters are also militants.
The pan-Arab broadcaster has rejected the allegations and accused both Israel and the Palestinian Authority of trying to silence critical coverage.
The internationally recognized Palestinian Authority administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and cooperates with Israel on security matters. It is unpopular among Palestinians, with critics portraying it as a corrupt and authoritarian ally of Israel.
UNITED NATIONS – Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations believes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Washington to meet President Donald Trump “in a few weeks.”
Danny Danon told reporters Wednesday: “I’m sure he would be one of the first foreign leaders invited to the White House.”
Danon said he expects their discussions to include the current ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza and the release of hostages taken during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel.
FILE - Israeli soldiers take up positions next to the Philadelphi Corridor along the border with Egypt, in the Gaza Strip, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)
Humanitarian aid trucks enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, days after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Humanitarian aid trucks enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, days after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
