Thursday Night Football, Week 16: Broncos and Chargers jockey for Wild Card seeding

An AFC West division matchup finds two teams battling for playoff seeding this evening.

Both of the NFL’s conferences seem to have most of their playoff teams already set. Seven teams have already clinched spots, leaving only seven more up for grabs. In the AFC, three of the four divisions are already locked in, with the fourth division leader already locking in a postseason berth.

Furthermore, in the AFC, the 7th-place Los Angeles Chargers have a two-game lead on the next-closest teams: Indianapolis, Miami, and Cincinnati, which are all locked at 6-8. That makes this week’s Thursday Night Football game between the Chargers and the Denver Broncos — also in playoff position at 9-5 and in the #6 position — important in multiple ways.

For the Broncos, a win locks them into a postseason spot. For the Chargers, a win won’t necessarily do the same, as they will need losses by the Dolphins and Colts this Sunday to lock in a berth. But it will go a long way to ensuring that they are in the playoff field regardless — that would finish off a season sweep of the Broncos, giving them a tiebreaker and pushing them ahead of Denver for the 6th seed, pending the Baltimore Ravens’ result against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday.

Tune in tonight to see which AFC West team takes control of the head-to-head battle for a better seed and the best chance to avoid playing the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the playoffs.