Philip Rivers and the Indianapolis Colts couldn’t pull off the upset of the San Francisco 49ers on Monday night and, as a result, three teams around the league celebrated clinching postseason berths. The Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Chargers and Jacksonville Jaguars are all officially postseason-bound.
The Bills, Chargers and Jaguars entered the weekend needing to win their games and have either the Houston Texans or the Colts lose or tie to punch their ticket to the playoffs.
Buffalo took care of its end by hanging on for a 23-20 win over the Cleveland Browns in which quarterback Josh Allen required halftime X-rays on his foot but returned. The Chargers dominated the second half of their 34-17 win over the Dallas Cowboys, and the Jaguars knocked off the league’s hottest team with their 34-20 win to snap the Denver Broncos’ 11-game winning streak.
The Texans trailed the lowly Las Vegas Raiders in the third quarter Sunday before rallying for a win to put the celebration on hold in Buffalo, L.A. and Jacksonville. But they had to wait only an extra day before the Colts’ loss in prime time sealed the deal. Indianapolis allowed a career-high five touchdown passes to San Francisco’s Brock Purdy in a 48-27 loss.
Five of the seven AFC playoff spots are now accounted for, as the Broncos had already wrapped up a playoff appearance a week ago and the New England Patriots clinched Sunday night with their win over the Baltimore Ravens. The winner of the AFC North — either the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Ravens — will earn one of the remaining two spots.
All of the division titles in the AFC remain up for grabs.
In the AFC West, the Broncos (12-3) hold a one-game lead over the Chargers (11-4), with a Week 18 showdown in Denver looming. The Patriots (12-3) have a one-game lead over the Bills (11-4) in the AFC East.
The Jaguars (11-4) have a one-game advantage over the Texans (10-5) in the AFC South, with the Colts (8-7) now eliminated from the division race (and their wild-card odds down to just 1 percent). The Steelers (9-6) can clinch the AFC North this week with either a win or a loss by the Ravens (7-8).
The Ravens are already eliminated from wild-card contention, so the division is their only path. That would require Baltimore to win out (including a Week 18 game in Pittsburgh) and have the Steelers lose this week to the Cleveland Browns. For the Colts to earn a wild-card spot, they would need to beat the Jaguars and Texans in their final two games, have the Texans lose on Saturday to the Chargers and see how the strength of victory tiebreaker falls.
A potentially wild path for the Bills
To win a sixth straight AFC East championship, the Bills will need the Patriots to step on a couple of rakes, but at least the Bills will enjoy their seventh postseason in a row. Sean McDermott inherited a club in 2017 that hadn’t been in the playoffs for 17 years, but he has made the tournament eight times in his nine seasons. Such stability gave Buffalo the best preseason odds of any team to win its division, although uneven play, including four losses in a seven-game span, let New England take control.
That little swoon could prove costly in a winter when Patrick Mahomes and probably Lamar Jackson will be out of the way. If the Bills remain a wild card, then they could have to win three times on the road to reach the Super Bowl. That kind of streak seems virtually impossible based on how vulnerable the Bills’ defense has been. Of course, their hopes rest on Allen being elite enough to overcome their flaws. James Cook is battling the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor for the rushing title, but opponents that have mitigated Cook, forcing Allen to generate offense with his substandard pack of receivers, have been successful. Imagine that: daring the reigning MVP to beat you. But the Bills’ wideouts are invisible and have shown no signs of emerging down the homestretch. — Tim Graham, Bills beat writer
Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers have won 11 games and made the playoffs in both of his seasons in L.A. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Imagn Images)
The value of Jim Harbaugh
The Chargers have earned consecutive playoff appearances for the first time since going four straight years from 2006 to 2009 under Marty Schottenheimer and Norv Turner. The tide has shifted, and coach Jim Harbaugh has led this franchise back to consistent winning. This season has been a true masterpiece from Harbaugh. The Chargers lost starting tackle Rashawn Slater to a season-ending knee injury in training camp. They lost starting tackle Joe Alt to a season-ending ankle injury in Week 9. Other injuries have forced the Chargers to play 22 different offensive line combinations this season. Edge rusher Khalil Mack spent time on injured reserve. The Chargers lost running back Najee Harris to a torn Achilles in Week 3. They spent almost half the season without rookie first-rounder Omarion Hampton, who injured his ankle in Week 5.
These injuries would have sunk a lesser team. They would have sunk a lesser coach. Instead, Harbaugh has already matched his win total from 2024 with two games to go. He instilled unwavering belief in his players. And the Chargers are back in the postseason and would win their first division title since 2009 should they win out. Harbaugh, take a bow. — Daniel Popper, Chargers beat writer
Jags can make some noise
First-year head coach Liam Coen has gotten the Jaguars back into the playoffs for the first time since 2022, and they’ve still got an outside chance to seize the No. 1 seed for the first time since 1999 if they win their final two games against the Colts and Tennessee Titans while the Broncos (Kansas City Chiefs, Chargers) and Patriots (New York Jets, Miami Dolphins) each trip up once. The Jags will take the AFC South with any combination of two wins or Texans losses. The Texans, however, own the tiebreaker, so the Jaguars can’t afford a letdown.
The Jags are 5-3 against teams in position to make the playoffs, including their 34-20 dismantling of the Broncos on Sunday at Mile High. They’ve averaged 33 points per game since Week 9, which ranks second in the NFL over that span, and quarterback Trevor Lawrence has completed 60.8 percent of his passes for 1,082 yards and 12 touchdowns to go along with 112 rushing yards and two scores over the last four games. The Jaguars are capable of making noise in January. — Jeff Howe, NFL national insider