Week 10 AFC West Roundup
By Justin Smith
San Diego Chargers
4th Place in AFC West
Record: 4-6
Last Game: lost to Dolphins 31-24 at home
Next Game: Week 11 bye, Week 12 at Houston Texans (6-3)
Oh, Philly Riv. Some weeks you win some, some weeks you lose some. On Sunday, you flat-out lost the game with four 4th quarter picks and some highly questionable play down the stretch.
The Chargers have had one of the stranger seasons in recent memory. If you’re not a Chargers fan it’s been high entertainment. If you are a Chargers fan — well, I’ve never met you because there aren’t many actual Chargers fans.
The Chargers have imploded out of the playoff picture despite having the easiest remaining schedule of any AFC West team. If they were within a game or two of the division lead you could make a case for them being favored, even.
The Chargers have three very winnable games remaining. They are home to the Bucs, and play the Panthers and Browns on the road. They do still have Houston on the road and the Raiders and Chiefs at home. But they have a favorable schedule compared to those of their AFC West rivals.
A historic first-week meltdown, botched field-goal snap and myriad picks at inopportune moments have made that redundant for playoff purposes. The Chargers will likely spend their remaining games trying out some new things and trying to play spoiler.
Even winning out would only give them 10 wins. At this point in the AFC is looking to be bare-minimum to grab the last wild card spot. Rivers may as well have another kid because he’s going to be home a lot this offseason.
