Game result: The Bucs beat the Chargers 40-17 after trailing 17-13 at halftime. They lit up LA and improved to 8-6 with the win. The Falcons play on Monday night, but Tampa is guaranteed no worse than a one-game lead in the NFC South. The Chargers dropped to 8-6 with the loss, which moves them to the final wild card berth. They will head into Week 16 with a two-game lead on the Colts, Dolphins, and Bengals.
NFL playoff picture: What Bucs win over Chargers means for NFC & AFC standings
The Buccaneers face the Chargers in Los Angeles on Sunday. We break down what the game means for the NFL playoff picture.
Photo by Ric Tapia/Getty Images
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Chargers face off in a Week 15 inter-conference matchup of teams that can firm up their playoff position coming down the stretch. The Chargers are a field goal favorite at FanDuel Sportsbook in a game they’ll host with kickoff scheduled for 4:25 p.m. ET.
Bucs playoff picture
The Bucs improved to 7-6 last week and thanks to a Falcons loss, moved into first place in the NFC South. Atlanta has the head-to-head tiebreaker thanks to a sweep of their two-game series, but Tampa now has a full game lead in the division. The Bucs sit in the No. 4 seed due to the division lead. They could theoretically make the playoffs instead as a wild card — currently sitting a game back of the seventh place Commanders — but their clearest path to the playoffs is winning the NFC South.
Chargers playoff picture
The Chargers are 8-5, sitting in second place in the AFC West and sixth place overall in the conference. The Chiefs have clinched the AFC West, so the Chargers can only make the playoffs with a wild card berth. They are tied with the Broncos, but have the tiebreaker due to a win in the head-to-head series. LA and Denver face off in Week 16, which will be big for the playoff picture. The Chargers are also tied with the Ravens, but the Ravens won their Week 12 matchup, so LA would need to finish at least a game ahead of them to climb in the wild card standings.
Tiebreaker implications
Inter-conference matchups don’t usually have a huge impact on tiebreakers, but if any get down to common opponents, this would fit in. The NFC South faced the AFC West. Additionally, the Ravens faced the Bucs, so the wild card standings could end up impacted by this result.
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