Game result: The Chargers beat the Raiders to secure the fifth seed in the AFC. They will travel to Houston to face the struggling Texans, who haven’t beaten a team with a current record above .500 since October 6th.
NFL playoff picture: What does Chargers-Raiders mean for AFC standings
The Chargers face the Raiders in Las Vegas on Sunday. We break down what the game means for the NFL playoff picture.
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The Los Angeles Chargers are headed to the playoffs in their first year under head coach Jim Harbaugh. They will be traveling in the first round, but still have something to play for in Week 18. The Chargers travel to face the Las Vegas Raiders with kickoff set for 4:25 p.m. ET. LA is a 6.5-point road favorite at FanDuel Sportsbook.
Chargers playoff picture
The Chargers are 10-6 and sitting in fifth place in the AFC standings. They got some help in the playoff race on Saturday when the Pittsburgh Steelers lost to the Cincinnati Bengals. Pittsburgh had been tied with LA and held the head-to-head tiebreaker. If the Chargers beat the Raiders, they will clinch the No. 5 seed. If they lose, they will drop to the No. 6 seed.
This is significant because of the first round opponent for each of those seeding possibilities. The No. 5 seed will face a struggling Houston Texans squad while the No. 6 seed will face a strong Baltimore Ravens squad. Just getting into the playoffs is important, but that first round matchup could prove critical.
Tiebreaker implications
There are no tiebreaker implications. If the Chargers lose and the Broncos win, there would be a three-way tie for the three wild card berths. The Chargers move ahead of the Broncos due to their head-to-head sweep, while the Steelers would be ahead of the Chargers based on their head-to-head sweep. The conference and divisional record tiebreakers would not matter.
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