The Houston Texans came into SoFi, and before the Bolts could even take in the playoff atmosphere, they were down 14-0 en route to a crushing loss, so now what?

Today’s Hottest Take: The Bolts Become the 1st 7 Seed in AFC History to Win a Game

Ok, so Saturday didn’t really go as planned. The Houston Texans uncorked two Derrick Lewis-esque right hands to send the Chargers to the canvas in the first five minutes, and despite a valiant effort after that nightmare of a first quarter, they could not rebound from the torrid start, ending their bid at the AFC West title and setting up a mostly meaningless Week 18 contest for the Bolts. I say mostly meaningless considering the outside chance at the fifth seed with a win and Houston loss to the Indianapolis Colts, but it’s clear the Chargers' decision makers aren’t banking on that, as they’ve decided that Rest > (Potential) Seeding.

It’s not guaranteed that the Chargers’ starters could walk into Denver and take down a team looking to lock up the one seed, and it’s even less likely that Riley Leonard, in his first career start, snaps the Colts' six-game losing streak against the Houston Texans and their eight-game win streak. So in that vein, the best course of action is to take the foot off the gas for the first time since the bye week, and prepare to, in all likelihood, walk into Foxborough as a seven seed and take on the number two seed New England Patriots led by MVP front-runner Drake Maye. I say “all likelihood” because if either the Trey Lance-led Chargers win or the Bills lose to a dismal Jets team, the Bills would lock up the seventh seed instead.

There’s also the outside chance the Patriots drop the regular-season finale to Denver, which would cause the Jacksonville Jaguars to vault into the two seed with a win over Tennessee. For the sake of this argument, let’s say Week 18 goes according to the chalk. The Chargers will become the first seventh seed in AFC History to win a game in the playoffs, joining the Green Bay Packers in 2024 as the only sevent seeds overall to do so. It’s simple, not every seven seed is equipped with an MVP-caliber QB, a topfive defense, and an extra week of rest. Justin Herbert will finally get his first playoff win, and it will be a historic one.

[Editor's Note: See you in Foxborough!]

What You Need to Know: We're Getting Much-Needed Rest

The Los Angeles Chargers, and more specifically Justin Herbert, are banged up and hurt. So as stated earlier, Coach Jim Harbaugh made the decision to rest Herbert and other bruised and banged-up vets.

This move effectively ends the regular season for the Chargers starters, and if you are wondering why this is such a popular move among Chargers fans, it’s because no one needs to see #10 behind this offensive line one more time in a virtually pointless scenario.

It takes me back to earlier in the season when Jim Harbaugh rested his guys and sent them home for the bye week after their throttling in Jacksonville, and while he was scritinzed at the time by some for his handling of that situation, it paid dividends when the Chargers came out of the bye week and handled business against a stretch that was deemed a gauntlet by most. Now that said gauntlet is in the rear view mirror, conventional wisdom says a team that prides itself on physicality as much as the Chargers do would benefit from a week to rest their bodies as well as their minds from the grueling stretch of football they’ve played. Now we get to see if the week off lets them come out of the gates strong and take on another gauntlet: the playoffs.

Before You Go: It's Trey Time

In every Week 18 “meaningless” game with backups, there’s always something that can catch the eye of a fan and still excite them enough to turn on the game, this year it just so happens to be the story of Trey Lance. Trey Lance, the former 3rd overall pick, gets his first start as a Charger with a chance to parlay it into a job in what could be an open QB market in the offseason. Lance is a perfect candidate for a Greg Roman offense, with a potent ability to threaten defenses with his legs as well as a willingness to get physical with a six-foot-four 225-pound frame. Lance is up against an elite Denver Broncos defense with a lot to play for, and will be surrounded by the reserve squad of an already terrible offensive line, so to say the deck is stacked against him would be an understatement of insane proportions.

If Trey Lance can put up a respectable performance and show flashes of what made him a former top draft pick it will speak volumes about his development this year and the newfound confidence he has found under Harbaugh, and while it's extremely unlikely, if he’s able to somehow pull out a win and look like a star while doing it, he would immediately shoot to the top of alot of lists when talking about intriguing options at QB for a needy team in the offseason.