Bolts From The Blue
The Los Angeles Chargers are playoff-bound for a second straight season after finishing the regular season with an 11-6 record.
The Chargers will travel to Foxboro to take on the New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football for a chance to advance to the Divisional Round, where the team would play the Denver Broncos.
The Chargers are the No. 7 seed in the AFC, which is part of the reason why FanDuel Sportsbook lists the Chargers as a 3.5-point underdog against the Patriots, who finished the season with a league-best 14-3 record.
The Chargers may have lost the last two games of the regular season to the Houston Texans and Broncos, but they have played well enough to clinch a playoff spot and have some quality wins on the schedule. The team beat the Broncos, Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles earlier in the season, all of whom are in the playoffs.
Since the NFL moved to a 14-team playoff, the No. 7 seed has struggled against the No. 2 seed in the Wild Card round. The lower seed is just 1-9 in these games, with the Green Bay Packers beating the Dallas Cowboys two years ago as the only instance where an upset took place. The Chargers will look to become the second team to accomplish that feat.
Kickoff between the Chargers and Patriots is set for Sunday at 5:00 p.m. PT from Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. Fans can watch the game on NBC or stream it on Peacock.
