Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert will not play in Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Broncos.
The Chargers have already clinched a wild card, and head coach Jim Harbaugh said today that he’s keeping Herbert healthy for the playoffs. Herbert is playing with an injured left hand and has taken a beating this season.
Trey Lance will start at quarterback for the Chargers.
Harbaugh also indicated some other starters who are banged up will get this week off.
That’s good news for the Broncos, who only need to beat the Chargers on Sunday to earn the No. 1 seed in the AFC. It’s also bad news for the Patriots, who can still earn the No. 1 seed, but only if they win on Sunday and the Broncos lose.
The Chargers will open the playoffs on the road in the wild card round, and Harbaugh wants Herbert to be healthy and well rested. If that means accepting that the Chargers are going to lose to the Broncos on Sunday, Harbaugh will take that.
Houston’s win over the Chargers got the Texans into the playoffs. And it leaves only one spot in the AFC unclaimed.
Six teams are now in: Broncos, Patriots, Jaguars, Texans, Chargers, and Bills.
That leaves one more seat at the table, for one of two teams. Either the Steelers or the Ravens will be the AFC North champions. Pittsburgh’s magic number is one; a Baltimore loss to the Packers tonight or a Steelers win over the Browns on Sunday seals the deal.
Plenty of seed remain TBD, including the AFC East and AFC South champions, along with the all-important No. 1 seed.
Still, six of seven AFC teams are set. Which is the same situation as the NFC, where the only remaining spot will go to eventual NFC South champs, Carolina or Tampa Bay.
If the betting odds are correct, the path to the Super Bowl in the AFC will go through Denver.
The Broncos are heavy -175 favorites to earn the AFC No. 1 seed, which comes with a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. The Broncos could clinch the No. 1 seed as soon as Sunday, if the Chargers, Patriots, Bills and Jaguars all lose. The Broncos would also clinch the No. 1 seed with a win in Week 18.
The next-best odds go to the Patriots, who are +190 to earn the No. 1 seed. New England needs to win its final two games and hope the Broncos lose to the Chargers in Week 18.
The Jaguars are longer shots at +1200 to earn the No. 1 seed. The Jaguars would get the No. 1 seed if they win their final two games and both the Patriots and Broncos lose a game.
The Chargers are significant long shots at +3000. They would need to win their final two games while the Patriots and Jaguars both lose a game.
The Bills are the longest shots on the board at +4500. Buffalo needs to win both of its final two games while the Jaguars, Patriots, Chargers and Broncos all lose at least one game.
The Broncos placed starting center Luke Wattenberg on injured reserve on Thursday with a shoulder injury. He will miss the final two regular-season games and the first two weeks of the postseason before becoming eligible to return.
Alex Forsyth started in Wattenberg’s place in Thursday’s win over the Chiefs and earned a game ball.
The Broncos, though, needed another center for depth purposes. They announced they signed Sam Mustipher off the Chargers’ practice squad on Friday.
The Broncos waived offensive guard Calvin Throckmorton in a corresponding move.
Mustipher has appeared in 64 games and started 43 in his NFL career. He last saw regular-season action in 2024, when he appeared in 12 games for the Chargers.
He spent the 2024 offseason with the Broncos after signing with the team in April.
Throckmorton played four special teams snaps in Denver’s win over the Chiefs on Thursday night after being promoted to the active roster.
The Broncos’ win over the Chiefs on Thursday night was the 23rd game they’ve won in two seasons with Bo Nix as their starting quarterback. That puts Nix in some rare company.
Nix now has the second-most wins in NFL history for a quarterback in his first two seasons.
Russell Wilson, who won 24 games as the Seahawks’ starting quarterback in his first two seasons, 2012-2013, has the record for the most wins by a quarterback in his first two seasons. Nix can tie that record if the Broncos win their regular-season finale next week, although it’s worth noting that Wilson did it in 16-game seasons and Nix is playing 17-game seasons.
With the Broncos’ win on Thursday night, Nix broke a tie with Andrew Luck, Dak Prescott and Ben Roethlisberger, all of whom had 22 wins in their first two seasons in the NFL.
