A trip to the NFL Playoffs would have been all but clinched with a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 11. Instead, the LA Chargers have a more challenging road ahead with a 7-4 record and several teams in the hunt.
Thankfully, the Chargers were handed a huge lifeline later in the night on Sunday when the Denver Broncos upset the Kansas City Chiefs. This gave the Chargers a 1.5-game lead over Kansas City with the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Another AFC playoff contender may soon slip out of the picture as well. The Houston Texans, who play the Chargers later this season, are also 5-5 and can control their own destiny if they continue their two-game winning streak.
Unfortunately for them, all signs are pointing to that streak ending on Thursday. Houston hosts the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football and will have to do so with Davis Mills at quarterback. C.J. Stroud still has not passed concussion protocol and has been ruled out.
A Texans loss on Thursday gives the Chargers more cushion in the NFL playoff picture
Anything can happen in the NFL, but it's hard to imagine a Davis Mills-led Texans team beating a Buffalo Bills team that is still fighting for the No. 1 seed. The Bills have laid a few eggs this season, but even this would probably be the worst of them all.
Sure, the Texans have one of the better defenses in the sport, but they also struggle to find the endzone with Mills under center. This is the same team that barely beat the Tennessee Titans last week, scoring just 16 points to do so.
The Texans would fall to 5-6 on the season with a loss, creating a 2.5-game cushion between them and the Chargers. This cushion is amplified when looking at the rest of Houston's schedule. The Texans still have to play the Indianapolis Colts twice and the Chiefs in addition to the Chargers. At 5-6, even nine wins seems like a stretch for the Texans.
Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers need every game of cushion they can get. The Chargers are coming off the worst loss of the season to a team that now has the head-to-head tiebreaker over them in the AFC playoff race.
Not to mention the Chargers have one of the toughest schedules remaining as well. The Chargers have to play the Chiefs, Broncos and Eagles in the final six games. There are two winnable games against the Raiders and Cowboys, but anything can happen in those matchups.
The battle for the final three playoff spots in the AFC is going to get messy. The more the Chargers can get out in front of that mess before the holidays, the better.