What if the Chargers earned the top seed in the AFC playoffs?
The LA Chargers’ last-second win over Kansas City was amazing in so many ways. It showcased former N.C. State star Philip Rivers, who has been buried in San Diego his entire career. At 37, he is still one of the best quarterbacks in the game and best interviews after his two-point pass upset the Chiefs Thursday night to forge a tie atop the AFC West.
Rivers drove his team to a pair of late touchdowns and the Chargers disdained overtime by going for two points with four seconds left to play. They completely bamboozled the Chiefs into broken coverage and Rivers found Mike Williams wide open in the right corner of the end zone to stun the Kansas City home crowd at Arrowhead Stadium.
The outcome opened up so many possibilities for the playoffs and the No. 1 seed in the AFC, now that the Chargers – heretofore the kings of losing close games – have a chance to win their division for the first time since 2009. But the most intriguing possibility is if the Chargers wind up with home field “disadvantage” in the post-season.
They play their games at the home of the LA Galaxy soccer team — at the 28,000-seat StubHub Center, which is a beautiful, but glorified small-college stadium. What visiting NFL team wouldn’t want to go there for the playoffs — great weather and about one-third of the hostile home fans at a normal pro football venue?
Would the NFL let that happen and dramatically benefit the visiting team, or move those games to the 90,000-seat LA Coliseum, if they did not conflict with the LA Rams’ NFC playoff schedule? Especially for the AFC championship game, scheduled for Sunday, January 20, for a trip to the Super Bowl.
The Rams, who moved from St. Louis two years ago, and the Chargers, who moved from San Diego this season, will share the new billion-dollar stadium currently being erected in LA. But, for now, the Chargers would not have much of a home-field edge at their temporary digs.
It’s just the kind of headache the NFL never expected but richly deserves for botching so many other problems it has had in recent years.
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