Playoffs?!?! There Still is Hope

Don’t talk to me about PLAYOFFS!! We just need to start winning our games!!

The San Diego Chargers no longer control their own destiny and will have to rely on other teams to do the dirty work. We NEED to win our last 4 games of the season!! There is no more room for errors.The Oakland Raiders already hold the tie breaker against us with their victory yesterday on our field. We need them to find a loss down the stretch in order for us to have a chance.

This Chiefs game this Sunday is win or go home. IF we beat the Chiefs this Sunday, then we still need them to lose another game down the stretch.

Here is a look at what the other teams in the division have left on the schedule:

Oakland RaidersRemaining Schedule:@ Jacksonville JaguarsDenver BroncosIndianapolis Colts@Kansas City Chiefs

The Raiders swept the series against us and are now 4-0 in the division. We will have to finish the season with a better regular season record than them to make it into the playoffs and we will have to hope that they lose to the Jags, Chiefs, Broncos or Colts. One more loss from them is all we are asking for.

The Chiefs could give them that loss, but we would hope that the Chiefs already found a loss against STL or TEN before that. The Colts look to be falling apart to end the season but it is still Peyton Manning. The Broncos have not players well all season and the Jaguars might be our biggest hope.

Kansas City Chiefs@San Diego Chargers@St. Louis RamsTennessee TitansOakland Raiders

The San Diego Chargers NEED to win this game against the Chiefs and will still need some help from the other teams. They need to at least go 2-2 in the final four games in order to give us a chance at the playoffs.

So (say we beat them, because it doesn’t matter otherwise) we would need the Rams, Titans, or the Raiders to beat the Chiefs. The Rams are led by a rookie QB and should not be expected to compete in a game that would

San Diego ChargersKansas City ChiefsSan Francisco 49ers@ Cincinnati Bengals@ Denver Broncos

We will have to win out in our final 4 games and hope for a little help from some other teams. Every game is now a playoff for us and a loss would basically eliminate us from competition. Win out and trust that the other teams will not be able to do the same.

Here is how tie-breakers are determined between two teams:

Head-to-head (best won-lost-tied percentage in games between the clubs).

Raiders already beat us twice, would win tie breaker hereChiefs already beat us once, we need to win this Sunday to make it even

Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division.

The Raiders are 4-0 in the division with the Broncos and Chiefs remainingThe Chiefs are 2-2 in the division with the Chargers and Raiders remainingThe Chargers are 1-3 in the division with the Chiefs and Broncos remaining

Best won-lost-tied percentage in common games.

This would only apply if we tie the Chiefs, since the Raiders own the first tie breaker. Here are the common games for the Chiefs and Chargers: 49ers, Colts, Texans, Jaguars, Cardinals, Seahawks, Rams, Titans

The Chiefs are currently 4-2 in these games with 2 to play (Rams and Titans)The Chargers are currently 5-2 in these games with 1 to play (49ers)

Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the conference.

The Chiefs are currently 5-4 within the conference with 3 to playThe Chargers are currently 5-4 within the conference with 3 to play

This is where the Chargers victory over the Chiefs would come into play and make the Chargers 8-4 compared to the Chiefs 7-5

The problem is, WHEN we make it into the playoffs, we will have to play against the same type of physical football team as we played in the Oakland Raiders. Within these last 4 games, we will need to learn how to deal with that physical style of play and take care of the football. Let’s also hope that the playoff game doesn’t come down to a 50 yard field goal from Nate Kaeding either.

Let’s just worry about Kansas City first and then maybe we can start thinking about the playoffs again.

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