Sports are often poetic. The Los Angeles Chargers, a team and franchise that has spent almost a decade under the iron fist of the Kansas City Chiefs, just happened to get the privilege of walking into Kansas City and officially ending the Chiefs playoff hopes (and making me look like a genius in the process).

My Hottest Take: The 2025 Draft Class is Franchise-Altering

Every couple of years, you look at a player that gets drafted as franchise-altering, but sometimes you’re lucky enough to view an entire draft class and see it almost immediately change the direction of a franchise.

This Sunday was a perfect example of what a strong draft class can do when it comes to impacting a franchise. Omarion Hampton? A 26-yard scamper in crunch time to single-handedly take the Chargers into field goal range for what ended up being the game-winner. Tre Harris? A 37-yard over-the-shoulder grab to flip the game on its head and set the Chargers up for a score right before half. Oronde Gadsden II? Added to his historic rookie campaign by leading the Chargers in yards on the day, including a beautiful grab to set up the game-tying score. And lastly, we have to show some love to KeAndre Lambert-Smith! KLS added some juice with a kick return to set the Chargers up at the 40 before filling in for an injured Tre Harris to catch the aforementioned touchdown right before half.

And that’s just this Sunday. I could rave about the contributions of Jamaree Caldwell, who has done a sensational job helping fill the void left by Poona Ford. As well as RJ Mickens, whose rapid progression and production allowed the Chargers to move on from Alohi Gilman and bring in Odafe Oweh.

The main takeaway is this: when you have a draft class that produces five first-year starters (Hampton, Harris, Caldwell, Mickens, Gadsden II), you’re looking at a very bright future.

What You Need to Know: Welcome to the “Unction”

For years, the Chargers were the soft but flashy team, the bad run game, the swiss cheese run defense, mentally falling apart at the first sign of struggle. Now they are so nasty, tough, and just got done being so physical in a divisional matchup that the other fanbase is claiming foul play.

How the times have changed. Yes, it’s most certainly a Jim Harbaugh mentality. But there’s one player in particular who embodies what Harbaugh has been trying to accomplish since he got into the Chargers facilities. Enter Tony Jefferson, aka “Unc.”

When Unc landed this hit on Rashee Rice I damn near broke the sound barrier with my reaction, and when not long after he was flagged and subsequently ejected for a hit on Tyquan Thornton it sparked a lengthy back and forth on the field where tempers flared and Jefferson walk off the field giving Kansas City fans a “parting message” that all but guaranteed the 33-year-old would be playing next week's game for free considering the fine he was about to incur.

Among all of that, you saw two different reactions from both squads unfold, a Chiefs team that became extremely emotional and lost focus of the goal at hand, and a Chargers team that relished the opportunity to be the heel in this matchup and used the confrontation as a catalyst to send another message. As Jefferson was escorted to the locker room, leaders Derwin James and Daiyan Henley told the vet that they had his back, and responded by ending both of the Chiefs final drives with interceptions, one by Daiyan and one by Derwin.

I could go on and on about his actual on-field production, his 19th-ranked PFF grade amongst safeties, four interceptions on the year, his 33.0 (!!!) passer rating when targeted, the dude has been an absolute baller. But that doesn’t even give full appreciation to the fact that guys like him have entirely transformed the mentality of the entire roster into what looks to be a Super Bowl contender.

Before You Go: Where Does the AFC Stand?

As another week passes, we gain more clarity on the playoff picture as a whole.

The Chargers have all but locked up a spot; it’s now more a matter of where they fall in terms of seeding. And everything is on the table at this point! The Chargers still have a path to the No. 1 seed, which I’m sure is a shock to some, but realistically are looking to maintain a hold on the No. 5 seed, as their path through the playoffs is much easier in that case than if they were to fall to the sixth or seventh seed and draw a stiffer matchup than whoever wins the AFC North.

That brings us to our Week 16 Rooting Guide! To officially clinch a playoff berth, the Chargers would need to win over Dallas; if they are unable to do so, they would have to wait until Week 17 to officially secure a spot in the playoffs.

The division is pretty simple: if the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Denver Broncos this week, the Chargers control their own destiny to host a playoff game.

As far as games that would assist them in gaining a grip on the 5 seed, here’s what you should be looking for:

• The Cleveland Browns over the Buffalo Bills

• The Las Vegas Raiders over the Houston Texans

• The Baltimore Ravens over the New England Patriots

At the end of the day, the Chargers can only control what they do, and if they take care of business, it seems as if everything else will take care of itself.