The Los Angeles Chargers are entering the playoffs on a strong note, having won four of their last six games to end the season.
They will now face off against the second-seed New England Patriots, who present perhaps the most favorable matchup on the entire slate for the defense-dependent Chargers squad.
With Milton Williams and Will Campbell likely to be back, the Patriots' vulnerabilities will not be as pronounced, but they are still present. If Los Angeles is able to turn the game into a defensive slugfest, they have a real chance to ride Justin Herbert's superhuman arm into their first playoff victory since 2018.
However, their path does not end there.
The Houston Texans will face the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Jacksonville Jaguars will face the Buffalo Bills this weekend. As a result, there is a real chance that the slate becomes clear for the Chargers to make a deep playoff run.
As shocking as it may seem, a Super Bowl appearance could still be possible.
The AFC Wild Card matchups lay out a path for the Chargers to make a run
The AFC is more wide open than almost any season in recent memory. There are no truly complete teams anywhere in the bracket, and each team has their own distinct flaws they must battle with.
This could bode well for Los Angeles.
The two teams they most definitely do not want to play on the AFC side of the bracket are the Jaguars and the Texans. Both teams have elite pass rushes and offenses that have been trending upwards. The Chargers lost their regular season matchups against them by a combined score of 55-22.
However, there is a chance that both of these teams fail to emerge out of the Wild Card Round. Jacksonville will have to play a Buffalo Bills team that is overwhelming offensively in its best moments. Houston, meanwhile, will have to trust their offensive line to hold off a Steelers' front that absolutely bodied the Baltimore Ravens in Week 18.
The Steelers are not to be trusted offensively, but who would deny their ability to turn a game into a defensive mud-fight?
If the Chargers were to emerge victorious against the Patriots, the teams remaining in the second round could very well include Denver, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, and Los Angeles.
The Chargers defeated the Broncos, 23-20, in their one matchup this season that featured both team's starters. While they have one of the league's most dominant pass rushes, the 19 points and 124 total passing yards they put up against Los Angeles's backups in Week 18 do not inspire confidence in their offense.
A victory over the Broncos would place the Chargers in an AFC Championship Game against either the Steelers or the Bills in this hypothetical scenario. Both of these teams present distinct advantages for Los Angeles.
This is not to say this outcome is at all likely. The most probable scenario is that the Chargers are too limited by the struggles of their offensive line to pull off anything more than a singular playoff victory.
However, given the injuries they have endured this season, even the possibility of making an extended playoff run is certainly tantalizing.