Chargers Playoff Picture: Bolts remain one game behind 7th seed

With five game remaining in the regular season, the Chargers remain one game out from the No. 7 seed at 6-6, alongside the 6-6 Patriots. As of week 14, the three teams that currently hold wild card spots are the Dolphins (8-4), Bengals (8-4), and the Jets (7-5).

According to FiveThirtyEight, the Chargers now have a 30 percent chance of making the postseason following their loss to the Raiders. The win for Las Vegas also boosted their chances of the postseason, but only up to 16 percent. They’re still just a game behind the Chargers at 5-7, so it’s still worth keeping an eye on them.

With the same record, the Patriots are actually less likely to make the postseason right now than the Chargers at 26 percent. That’s quite interesting as they’ve got two soft games coming up with the Cardinals (4-8) in week 14 and the Raiders in week 15. Interestingly enough, New England’s next two games are their easiest remaining games and then they’ve got three tough challenges in the Bengals, Dolphins, and Bills to end the season. That’s the opposite of what the Chargers have in their final five games (MIA, TEN, IND, LAR, DEN)

So looking ahead, we’ll first and foremost need the Patriots to struggle down the stretch.

After that, chances are the Jets are the next best team to falter when it matters most, so rooting against them is also needed.

For those wanting to keep tabs on them, here are the final fives games for each of the three wild card teams:

• Dolphins: @ Chargers (6-6), @ Bills (9-3), vs. Packers (5-8), @ Patriots (6-6), vs. Jets (7-5)
• Bengals: vs. Browns (5-7), @ Buccaneers (6-6), @ Patriots (6-6), vs. Bills (8-4), vs. Ravens (8-4)
• Jets: @ Bills (9-3), vs. Lions (5-7), vs. Jaguars (4-8), @ Seahawks (7-5), @ Dolphins (8-4)

Each of these three teams have at least two games against opponents above .500. When it comes to the Jets and Dolphins, they’ll end the season with a matchup against each other and that game could go a ways in deciding if the Chargers make it in. If Los Angeles can take care of business, and the Jets can’t leading up to that game, it could honestly come down to Miami beating the Jets to open the door for the Chargers.