The Los Angeles Chargers' 27-20 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday afternoon at Nissan Stadium certainly wasn't the prettiest win in the world, and the devastating ankle injury to star offensive tackle Joe Alt undoubtedly made it difficult to celebrate such a victory.
But a win is a win, and the Bolts now have three of them in their last four games, thus improving to 6-3 on the season.
Despite throwing a pick-six on just his second throw of the day and taking a season-high six sacks behind a depleted offensive line that not only lost Alt to his second ankle injury of the year but also saw Bobby Hart exit with a groin injury, Justin Herbert still managed to complete 19 of 29 passes for 250 yards with a pair of touchdowns, also adding a team-high 57 yards and a score on the ground.
Meanwhile, the Chargers' defense held the Titans to just 206 total yards of offense and had four sacks of their own on No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward, two of which came from outside linebacker Odafe Oweh, who now has four sacks in four games since coming over from the Baltimore Ravens. Daiyan Henley added his third of the year, and Tuli Tuipuloto upped his team-high total to seven.
Again, this wasn't the prettiest win in the world for the Bolts, but it was undoubtedly an important one, given how things played out around the AFC in Week 9.
The Chargers remain in the No. 6 slot in the AFC heading into Week 10
Here's a quick look at the full conference standings as we hit the official midway point of this 2025 regular season. The top seven teams, of course (four division winners, three wild cards), earn postseason berths come January.
Updated AFC playoff picture
- Indianapolis Colts (7-2, 1st AFC South)
- New England Patriots (7-2, 1st AFC East)
- Denver Broncos (7-2, 1st AFC West)
- Pittsburgh Steelers (5-3, 1st AFC North)
- Buffalo Bills (6-2, 2nd AFC East)
- Los Angeles Chargers (6-3, 2nd AFC West)
- Jacksonville Jaguars (5-3, 2nd AFC South)
- Kansas City Chiefs (5-4, 3rd AFC West)
- Houston Texans (3-5, 3rd AFC South)
- Baltimore Ravens (3-6, 2nd AFC North)
- Cincinnati Bengals (2-5, 3rd AFC North)
- Las Vegas Raiders (2-6, 4th AFC West)
- Cleveland Browns (2-6, 4th AFC North)
- Miami Dolphins (2-7, 3rd AFC East)
- New York Jets (1-7, 4th AFC East)
- Tennessee Titans (1-8, 4th AFC South)
As they were a week ago, the Chargers currently sit in the No. 6 slot in the overall AFC standings, and their win over the Titans became all that more important as Sunday's action progressed because it kept them within one game of the AFC West-leading Denver Broncos, who needed every second of their matchup with the Houston Texans to earn a hard-fought 18-15 comeback win on a last-second field goal from Wil Lutz, thus improving to 7-2.
The Broncos are now tied with the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots for the best record in the conference (and the entire NFL), as the Colts fell to 7-2 with a loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who the Chargers will battle this upcoming Sunday night, while the Pats upped their record to 7-2 with a win over the Atlanta Falcons. Indianapolis hangs on to the No. 1 spot due to having the best record of the three in games within the conference at 6-1.
The Bolts' win over the Titans also kept them tied in the win column with the Buffalo Bills, who took down the Kansas City Chiefs, who are now on the outside looking in as the No. 8 seed after falling to 5-4. Los Angeles also remained ahead of the Jacksonville Jaguars, who they'll meet in Week 11, after the Jags escaped with a one-point overtime victory on Sunday over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Things are tight everywhere, both in the AFC West and the conference as a whole, so every win (and every loss) will continue to be crucial for the Chargers the rest of the way.