LAS VEGAS — On Sept. 8 at SoFi Stadium, after the Chargers started their season with a win over the Las Vegas Raiders, outside linebacker Joey Bosa interrupted Jim Harbaugh’s postgame speech to repeat one of the coach’s favorite phrases.
“Turn the worm!” Bosa shouted, eliciting cheers from his teammates.
Four months later and in a locker room nearly 300 miles away, the message still applies. Facing the same team they opened their season against, the Chargers proved how far the franchise’s fate truly has turned by delivering a clutch 34-20 win over the Raiders on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium to finish the regular season and clinch the No. 5 seed in the AFC.
The Chargers will open the NFL playoffs with an AFC wild-card game on Saturday at Houston and the Rams will close the weekend with a Monday night game at home.
The team long known for devastating defeats was not just content to make the playoffs for the first time since 2022 and settle for more difficult road matchups against the Buffalo Bills or Baltimore Ravens. The Chargers (11-6) finished with three consecutive wins to earn a road playoff game against No. 4 seed Houston on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. PST.
From five wins last year to the fifth seed, the Chargers’ six-win improvement is the franchise’s best single-season turnaround since they went from four wins in 2003 to 12 wins in 2004.
“We’ve built something really special here,” running back J.K. Dobbins said. “Nobody expected us to be this good.”
The Chargers completed their first season sweep of the Raiders since 2018.
When the team threatened to live up to its reputation of faltering in crucial situations by getting blown out at home by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Dec. 15, the Chargers responded with three must-have wins. They held off the Denver Broncos on a short week in prime time. They dominated an overmatched New England team in an early kickoff on the road to clinch the playoffs.
Harbaugh told players this week that matters have seemed to just fall in place for the Chargers this season. A loss by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday against the Cincinnati Bengals was the latest break that opened the door for the Chargers to move into the No. 5 seed as long as they could beat the Raiders (4-13).
“Some people call it luck. Harbaugh doesn’t believe in luck,” said linebacker Daiyan Henley, whose first career interception helped the Chargers score 11 points in the final 65 seconds of the second quarter to come back from an early 10-3 deficit. “He’s more so a guy of action, and things fall our way because we make it that way.”
Nearly the entire team watched the end of the Steelers game Saturday night. When Pittsburgh botched the final drive, unable to get into field goal range in a two-point loss, Chargers players cheered.
Quarterback Justin Herbert, tracking the game from the next room while finishing meetings and watching film, could hear the celebration.
“It’s always up to us,” Herbert said. “It’s about those guys in that locker room, the coaching staff in that room.”
Herbert dazzled with 346 yards passing and two touchdowns, completing 28 of 36 passes as the Chargers scored at least 34 points for the third consecutive game. Receiver Quentin Johnston propelled the offense with what the second-year pro called perhaps his best game ever, setting career highs with 13 catches for 189 yards.
The starters probably would have been sidelined for much of Sunday’s game if the Chargers already were locked into the No. 6 seed. Part of why players were watching Saturday’s game so intently was because everyone wanted a chance to get on the field to leave their mark on the season, Henley said.
“That’s really the DNA of our team, our players, coaches, everybody in our organization: we’re all about executing and going to get what we want,” offensive lineman Zion Johnson said. “Nothing’s going to come to you in this game. If you want to win, if you want to be in position to go to the playoffs or be in a nice spot, you have to go get that.”
Check out the game summary from the Chargers’ win Sunday
About a year ago, safety Derwin James Jr. was sitting at the same corner locker in the same cold locker room. He was just waiting for a lost season to come to a merciful end after the Chargers gave up 63 points to their AFC West rivals.
On Sunday, he was ready to strut out of the locker room to the team bus knowing he had a trip to Houston waiting.
“It’s a way better feeling,” James said with a smile. “For sure.”
Go beyond the scoreboard
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