It hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows for the Chargers in 2025, but this week is a celebration, as the Bolts are going to the playoffs back-to-back seasons for the first time since their 2008 and 2009 seasons.

Today’s Hottest Take: The Bolts Will Win Out

Three weeks ago, I stated that the Chargers would go through the gauntlet of the Eagles, Chiefs, Cowboys, Texans, and Broncos and leave with a winning record. Fast forward to now, and with two games remaining, the Chargers have already made me a truth-telling man, with a primetime slugfest win over Philly, a fatal blow to Kansas City, and an emphatic second-half destruction of Dallas (including a shutout of an extremely potent Cowboys offense in said half). Now the Bolts have officially punched their ticket to the dance, but can realistically eye even bigger aspirations such as claiming the AFC West crown, as a Jacksonville Jaguars win over the Denver Broncos past Sunday now allows the Chargers to control their own destiny in that race.

To do that, the Chargers must defeat a Houston Texans team that has rattled off seven in a row (after narrowly escaping a scare against the Las Vegas Raiders) and then go into Denver and once again beat the Broncos to finish off a historic 6-0 divisional sweep for the first time in the Modern NFL era. This would change with a Christmas Miracle (Kansas City beating Denver on Christmas night), which would set up a Week 18 winner-takes-the-AFC-West matchup no matter what the Chargers do on Saturday night against Houston. (It didn't happen, though it got close!)

My take, though, is very simple. The Chargers will overcome the suspension of Denzel Perryman, and the likely loss of standout left tackle Jamaree Salyer, and beat the Texans on Saturday (keeping Philip Rivers and the Colts alive in the process!), and then they walk into Denver, Harbaugh and Herbert move to 4-0 against Payton and Nix. The Chargers have the quarterback, they have the coach, they have the defense, and most importantly, they have the belief and confidence that they are capable of walking into anywhere against anyone and leaving with a win, no matter how they have to get it. As Melvin Ingram said years ago, the last time the Chargers were among the top of the AFC... ASAP.

What You Need to Know: Clicking On All Cylinders

For the first time all season, Justin Herbert was not sacked in a game. The outcome? Genuinely one of the best performances by a quarterback in all of the 2025 NFL season.

The run game produced 150 yards and two scores. The defense shut out one of the most potent offenses in the league in the second half of what was headed directly towards a shootout. Hell, even the special teams units were playing at a shutdown level against one of the most dangerous return men in football, KaVontae Turpin!

The team that showed up to Jerry World this past Sunday is a genuine threat to take home the Lombardi Trophy. The Dallas Cowboys are not a playoff team, but they are a talented team, one that was favored by Vegas heading into Sunday’s matchup, and the Chargers put together a dominant performance that displayed how good the Chargers are right now, and that they may very well be hitting their peak at just the right time.

Before You Go: A Path to the No. 1 Seed?

The Chargers are now realistically staring at a path to not just the AFC West crown by winning these next two games, but also a chance to ensure the AFC runs through SoFi, as well as securing a first-round bye for the playoffs.

To pull off the unlikely feat of taking home field advantage for themselves, the Bolts need a little bit of luck and a lot of skill. As mentioned, they can get the ball rolling by taking home Ws in their next two contests; if they don’t do that, this conversation may as well never happen. The Chargers then need these remaining things to happen:

• The Jacksonville Jaguars to lose in Week 17 against the Indianapolis Colts (Let's Go Phil!) OR lose in Week 18 to the Tennessee Titans

• The New England Patriots to lose in Week 17 to the New York Jets OR lose in Week 18 to the Miami Dolphins

If that happens? Your AFC #1 Seed, the Los Angeles Chargers.

Now, of course, both the Jags and Pats will be heavily favored in both of their remaining games, so it’s not extremely likely, but crazier things have happened, and with the chaos of divisional games in the NFL, I’m not willing to write it off as impossible just yet!