NFL Week 16 Takeaways: AFC Wild Card Picture Still Unclear After Chargers' TNF Win

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmasand the stretch run to the NFL playoffs.

As Week 16 gets underway, half of the league's 14 postseason spots are spoken for, Three division races are settledall in the AFC.

But there's still a lot of jockeying for position to be doneand a lot that can change over the next three weeks.

The week kicked off with a Thursday night battle between two AFC West teams who have exceeded expectations and are jockeying for Wild Card position in the Denver Broncos and Chargers.

That contest went to the home team, with the Chargers prevailing in a back-and-forth 34-27 affair that was the last thing expected from two defenses tied for the NFL lead in points allowed entering Week 16.

Buckle up.

There's no shortage of other games with postseason ramifications over the weekend.

Saturday features a showdown of division champions in Kansas City and a battle for AFC North supremacy in Baltimore between the Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Sunday's slate is highlighted by an opportunity for the Philadelphia to sew up the NFC East in Washington.

A meeting in Seattle between two NFC contenders in the Seahawks and Minnesota Vikings.

And Sunday night the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will try to move one step closer to another NFC South titleand end the Dallas Cowboys' slim playoff hopes.

By the time the dust settles on Week 16, the postseason picture will have cleared significantly.

And just as they do every week, Bleacher Report NFL analysts Gary Davenport , Kristopher Knox , Maurice Moton and Brent Sobleski are here to break down all of Week 16's most impactful happenings with the biggest takeaways from every game.

Per ESPN's Kris Rhim , back in October, Chargers tight end Hayden Hurst said that first-year head coach Jim Harbaugh and franchise quarterback Justin Herbert seemed to be meshing well.

"It is a little bit of a bromance," Hurst said.

"I think Jim wants to really emulate Justin.

He's got all the physical traits that Jim said he doesn't have, so it's kind of funny.

I think they complement each other well." Harbaugh's fingerprints are all over this team already.

But after the Chargers beat the rival Broncos in a matchup with major Wild Card implications, it's clear that it's the combination of quarterback and coach that makes the Bolts a nightmare matchup as the AFC's (likely) sixth seed.

Herbert's numbers have dropped, to be sure.

But that's by design in Harbaugh's offense.

The late scoring strike that salted the game away gave Herbert 284 passing yards for the game, and he may well need more moving forwardone long Gus Edwards run covered up the reality that the Chargers miss running back JK Dobbins tremendously.

But Herbert continues to shine in Harbaugh's offense.

He's efficient.

He's confident.

And when a play needs to be made, he makes it.

Say what you will about Harbaugh.

The oddball quotes.

His exit from Michigan.

But he wins.

The Chargers aren't the best team in the AFC.

Or the second-best.

Or the third.

But no one wants these Chargers coming to town in Round 1.

Not with Harbs and Herbie.

The Denver Broncos had an opportunity Thursday in Los Angelesa chance to not only seize control of the AFC's sixth seed but also send a message to the conference's other contenders.

It was an opportunity squandered.

A test failed.

But all itreally did was tell us what we already knew.

The Broncos are a vastly improved team.

They will still probably make the postseason.

But Denver is no threat to the AFC's heavyweights.

They never really were.

And that's not such a bad thing.

This was a team from which essentially nothing was expected in 2024not with a rookie at the helm in Bo Nix.

But after a bumpy start, Nix has been exactly what Sean Payton wanted him to be.

Against the Chargers, the youngster threw for 263 yards and two scores.

Didn't make costly mistakes.

Those came in the form of ill-timed defensive lapses andcostly penalties.

But both underscore just how young much of this team is.Denver needs better linebacker play.

But the defense is already a strength,with edge-rusher Nik Bonitto spearheading an excellent line.

Here's what's going to happenand frankly, it's the same thing that will happen to the Chargers team that just beat Denver.

The Broncos will hit the road in the Wild Card Round to face one of the AFC's top-three teams.

They will lose.

But it will be the kind of game that makes franchises want the off week.

A nailbiter.

A donnybrook.

Then a Broncos team with a good core on both sides of theball for the first time in a long time will hit the offseason and start fillingin blanks.

And maybe, just maybe, the Kansas City Chiefs won't walk away with the AFC West in 2025.

Here's a look at the rest of the Week 16 schedule.

Saturday, December 21 Sunday, December 22 Monday, December 23.

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