Coming into Week 15, the last time the Los Angeles Chargers had completed a season sweep of the Kansas City Chiefs, the franchise was still in San Diego and Philip Rivers was only in his 10th season and just three weeks removed from this 32nd birthday. To end the brief suspense, that was 2013.
The Bolts, of course, kicked off their 2025 campaign back in September with a 27-21 win over their longtime rivals in Brazil. And on Sunday, behind a dominant defensive effort, they took a hard-fought 16-13 victory, one that not only completed the season sweep but also officially eliminated the Chiefs from postseason contention.
The Chargers' defense was simply superb, as they held Kansas City to just 239 total yards and tallied two interceptions, the first from Daiyon Henley early in the fourth quarter on Patrick Mahomes, who was knocked out of the game shortly after with what turned out to be a torn ACL in his left knee, and the second from Derwin James Jr. on Gardner Minshew that ultimately sealed the three-point victory.
Offensively, Justin Herbert, still playing with plates and screws in his left hand, completed 19 of 29 passes for 210 yards with one touchdown, which represented KeAndre Lambert-Smith's first career score, and an interception. Cameron Dicker took care of the rest of the scoring, connecting on that lone extra-point attempt and all three of his field goal tries.
With the win, the Chargers improved to 10-4 on the season. But while they didn't gain any ground in the AFC West, they did maintain their position as the top wild-card team in the conference.
Chargers continue to hold the No. 5 slot in the AFC standings
Here's a look at the updated AFC playoff picture following Sunday's action. It needs to be noted, of course, that the Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins still have their Monday Night Football matchup left to play, but the outcome of that game doesn't affect the Bolts one bit.
You'll also notice that only 10 teams are included, as the Chiefs (6-8), Cincinnati Bengals (4-10), New York Jets (3-11), Cleveland Browns (3-11), Las Vegas Raiders (2-12), and Tennessee Titans (2-12) have all been officially eliminated.
Updated AFC playoff picture
- Denver Broncos (12-2, 1st AFC West)
- New England Patriots (11-3, 1st AFC East)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (10-4, 1st AFC South)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (7-6*, 1st AFC North)
- Los Angeles Chargers (10-4, 2nd AFC West)
- Buffalo Bills (10-4, 2nd AFC East)
- Houston Texans (9-5, 2nd AFC South)
- Indianapolis Colts (8-6, 3rd AFC South)
- Baltimore Ravens (7-7, 2nd AFC North)
- Miami Dolphins (6-7*, 3rd AFC East)
As you can see, the Chargers hold the same 10-4 record as the Buffalo Bills, who contributed to the Chiefs' elimination with a wild comeback win over the New England Patriots. The reason the Bolts are in the No. 5 slot is because they own a better record than the Bills in conference games, going 8-2 against AFC opponents thus far, while Buffalo has gone 7-3.
As you can also see, the Denver Broncos remain atop the AFC West and the conference as a whole after taking a 34-26 victory over the Green Bay Packers, thus upping their winning streak to 11. The Chargers will somehow need to pick up a game on the Broncos over the next two weeks in order to have a shot to steal the division when the two clubs meet in Week 18.
With Philip Rivers and the Indianapolis Colts falling to 8-6 on Sunday in a loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Bolts now have a chance to punch their ticket to the postseason in Week 16.