The Los Angeles Chargers will be capping off the regular season how they started: a matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders. The Chargers came out on top in September, and these teams’ seasons couldn’t have gone differently. The Bolts are playing to finish 11-6, while the Raiders would likely rather lose and finish 4-13, picking up whatever draft pick it brings. Since the first meeting, Davante Adams has been traded to the Jets, and Maxx Crosby was shut down for the year after an injury. After the Chargers beat the Raiders in week one, they are facing a squad that is a shell of the team they came into the year with.
The most important thing to note for this matchup is the AFC’s playoff seeding. The Chargers hope to see the Steelers lose on Saturday. This would cause the Raiders game to let LA play for the fifth seed in the conference. Should the Steelers win, there’s a good chance the Chargers are locked into the sixth seed. If this game is meaningless, there would be no incentive to play the stars for more than a few drives.
The best thing to do if the five seed is out of reach would be to let the Raiders win. Sitting the starters would make it hard for Vegas to lose, and winning would worsen their draft spot even more. Stopping the Raiders from being able to take a top-tier talent that could change the direction of the franchise is better than beating them ten times out of ten.
An important idea to note is about resting the starters. Week 18 a few years back, the Chargers had their playoff seeding locked in. Nothing could’ve changed, but Brandon Staley played his starters for much longer than he should’ve. This resulted in Mike Williams injuring his back, leaving him out for their playoff game. On top of this, Joey Bosa aggravated his groin injury, causing him to play poorly and have a shorter temper in the Jacksonville game. Should these two injuries not have happened, the blown lead would’ve never happened that night in Florida. Jim Harbaugh should be competent enough to avoid putting his players in harm’s way in a game that doesn’t matter. Of course, seeding hasn’t been guaranteed yet.
Depending on what happens this weekend, the Chargers could face one of three teams: the Ravens, Steelers, and Texans. The five seed would ensure that they travel to Houston, the most favorable of the matchups. As the sixth seed, they would face whoever comes out on top of the AFC North. Heading into Sunday morning, the Bolts will know what they are playing for.
Injury-wise, the Chargers look healthy heading into the postseason. Gus Edwards and Josh Palmer will not suit up while Alohi Gilman & Denzel Perryman’s statuses are still up. Other than them, however, the Chargers are as healthy as they’ve been all season, and it is coming at the perfect time. Things seem to be coming together for the Chargers when they need to be.