The Los Angeles Chargers clinched a playoff spot with their Week 16 win over the Indianapolis Colts, and it may make one feel nothing will matter in Week 18 versus the Denver Broncos.
The Chargers currently hold the fifth seed in the AFC, and they cannot finish worse than sixth-place, and even better than that, the Broncos have had a terrible season and have nothing to play for at this point.
But that is not the mindset that head coach Brandon Staley seems to have.
In fact, he publicly said that his team will be playing to win on Sunday, rather than simply playing out the string and waiting for the playoffs to start.
"There's an advantage of being the 5 seed from where I stand."
– #Chargers HC Brandon Staley on playoff seeding ahead of Week 18.
— Eric Smith (@Eric_L_Smith) January 2, 2023
“Our approach is definitely going to be to try to win this ballgame and play as well as we can play heading into the playoffs,” Staley said. “I think that there’s certainly an advantage to being the 5-seed, from where I stand, so we’re going to try and get there.”
Staley also indicated that unless there is a good reason not to, he will play his starters versus the Broncos.
Right now, Los Angeles controls its destiny as far as getting the fifth seed in the conference, as it will do so if it defeats Denver or if the Baltimore Ravens lose at the Cincinnati Bengals.
Like the Chargers, the Ravens currently hold a 10-6 record, but the Chargers hold the tiebreaker because they have a higher winning percentage against AFC teams.
The fact that they have reached double figures in wins and will participate in the postseason despite a massive rash of injuries this season is an accomplishment in itself.
Los Angeles currently holds a four-game winning streak, and with one of the game’s best quarterbacks in Justin Herbert, anything will be possible for it come playoff time.
