The AFC playoff field has three guarantees: The Chiefs will hold the No. 1 seed, the Bills will have the second seed and the Texans will have the fourth seed. The rest of the seeds will be determined this upcoming weekend.
The Chargers are locked in with either the No. 5 or 6 seed. They can’t finish with the seventh seed after the Broncos lost to the Bengals last Saturday, as Los Angeles holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Denver.
One thing is certain: The Bolts will face one of three teams.
Below is the most straightforward path to each potential matchup in the wild-card round.
(4) Texans vs. (5) Chargers
- Chargers win
- Steelers loss
(3) Ravens vs. (6) Chargers
- Steelers win
- Ravens win
- Chargers win or loss
(3) Steelers vs. (6) Chargers
- Steelers win
- Ravens loss
- Chargers win or loss
Pittsburgh plays against the Bengals on Saturday night, which means the Chargers will know then if they can jump up to the fifth seed before they kick off against the Raiders.
