Chargers Stay Alive in Tight AFC Race With Saturday Comeback

If you want to see something incredible unfold over the next week, keep a close eye on the AFC playoff race. Currently, there are 12 teams out of 16 that have a record of .500 or better, and the San Diego Chargers basically kept their playoff hopes alive on Saturday night with a huge win over the San Francisco 49ers.

Trailing by 21 points in the second quarter, the Chargers looked like a fish in a barrel, basically done for not only the game, but at 8-7 in the tight AFC race, it would be near impossible for them to have any shot at the playoffs. Philip Rivers, knowing he was playing my fantasy team in the fantasy championship, decided to have a huge game despite throwing three interceptions.

Rivers looked like himself in this game, but he finished looking like his younger self, the one that used to consistently carve up defenses and make awesome comebacks. It looked in overtime to be all for naught but the Chargers forced a fumble on a big run by San Francisco’s Quinton Patton, who had just burst into San Diego territory on a well-designed reverse play.

Eric Weddle, of all people, forced a fumble and made a clutch play as he often does for the Chargers, essentially helping save their season and keep playoff hopes alive. Did I mention there are 12 teams still in the hunt in the AFC with just two games left to play? Right now, the Chargers are on the outside looking in with the Ravens and Steelers holding the top spots for the wild card, but a loss by one or both of those teams makes things incredibly interesting for San Diego.

The Chargers can’t win the division at this point, the Broncos cemented that last week, but there’s no doubt they can still make the playoffs if some things go their way. When I mentioned earlier that Philip Rivers was the catalyst to the comeback, he truly was. He had three interceptions in this game, but he threw for 356 yards and four touchdowns, bringing his team back from a 21 point deficit and a 35-21 hole late in the third quarter.

The Chargers have been here before, especially in recent years. They came almost out of nowhere last year to steal a playoff spot and then a Wild Card round win over the Cincinnati Bengals before falling to the Broncos in the divisional round. They know what it’s like to play from behind, and that’s really been the story of their season. They need to come from behind to get a playoff spot, and taking care of business is the best — maybe only — way to do that.

If San Diego is able to win in week 17, we’ll see if that’s enough to get them that 5th or 6th playoff spot. They are going to need some help from other teams beating the likes of Baltimore or Pittsburgh, who are both favored to win this week in their games. That would keep them a game ahead of San Diego.

For this night, the Chargers took care of business in dramatic fashion, and it was an amazing display by Rivers that kept them alive.