With four games left in the regular season, the Chargers are one of several teams fighting for playoff spots in the AFC.
After missing the postseason last year, Los Angeles has gone 8-5 in Jim Harbaugh's first season and is in prime position to make it back this season.
Last week, the Chargers went to Kansas City to try and make a dent in the Chiefs' AFC West lead. But Los Angeles couldn't come out on top, with the Chiefs winning on a walk-off field goal to clinch the AFC West for the ninth consecutive season.
Entering the home stretch of the 2024 NFL season, here's a look at where the Chargers stand in the playoff picture.
The Chiefs clinched the AFC West with their win over the Chargers in Week 14, meaning Los Angeles can't get higher than the No. 5 seed in the AFC. Had Los Angeles been able to pull off the upset in Kansas City, the Chargers would have been two games back of the Chiefs with four games to play.
Despite that loss, the Chargers are still in good shape in the wild-card race, allowing them to control their own destiny. All three teams who currently hold a wild-card spot have an 8-5 record, and as it stands, the Chargers are second in tiebreakers among the three.
Los Angeles is still fighting for seeding, however, and must hold off one of their division rivals to get a better seed. The Broncos are also 8-5, but the Chargers won the only game the teams have played against each other so far this season.
As for the Chargers' battle with the 8-5 Ravens, Baltimore owns the head-to-head tiebreaker after beating Los Angeles in late November.
The Chargers have a tough matchup Sunday as they host the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay enters the game with a 7-6 record and currently has a playoff spot as the NFC South leaders through 13 games.
The biggest game left on the Chargers' schedule is in Week 16, when they host the Broncos on "Thursday Night Football." As those two represent the last two wild-card slots as of now, the winner of that game should essentially seal a spot in the playoffs.
Even so, Los Angeles ends the season with a soft landing, as the Chargers play the worst two teams in the AFC to close out the year in the Patriots and Raiders.
ESPN's Football Power Index has the Chargers with a 90.1% chance to make the playoffs, which is 16 percentage points higher than the Broncos despite the two having the same record.