The Denver Broncos need to beat the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday in order to secure the No. 1 seed and homefield advantage in the playoffs. Their path to doing that just got easier.
Denver Broncos will face Trey Lance, not Justin Herbert on Sunday
The Los Angeles Chargers will not be starting Justin Herbert when they face off against the Denver Broncos in Week 18. Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh announced that on Monday morning, after Los Angeles lost to the Houston Texans on Sunday.
Herbert, despite the patchwork offensive line around him, has been one of the best QBs in the NFL this season while being sacked 54 times in 2025. On top of that, he’s banged up and continues to take shot after shot.
Harbaugh is giving his star quarterback rest on Sunday against the Denver Broncos and will start Trey Lance in his place.
Herbert is ideally the only key starter that won’t play for them on Sunday, so Denver will still have to prepare for Ladd McConkey, Keenan Allen, Quentin Johnston, Omarion Hampton, and Oronde Gadson II. Even if Herbert doesn’t play, Payton and the Broncos will still approach the game plan as if he does play.
Denver’s reality is simple — win and get the No. 1 seed and homefield advantage. If they lose, they’ll host a Wildcard matchup.
“Historically speaking, it’s extremely important,” Sean Payton said about getting the No. 1 seed. “Every study would show you… And there is a number of reasons for that. These games are three hours long. The first reason would be, you skip a game in which you’re at risk to not play well or an opponent all of a sudden has a great game. You skip the threat of potentially losing a game, if that makes any sense. You skip right to the next round. To be able to play in front of our fans with the crowd noise, the atmosphere. I don’t know, it’s been a while since they’ve hosted a playoff game. Certainly it’s a fan base that deserves that opportunity. I get excited for them, and I get excited for our team. Man, all of it is important. Having been through this like nine, 10 other times, you’ve seen it all and you recognize how important it is: The challenge of winning playoff games on the road and how much more difficult that it is as opposed to trying to win them at home.”
The Chargers’ reality leads to them going on the road regardless. They’ll either face the Jacksonville Jaguars or the New England Patriots if Denver wins on Sunday.
The path to the Super Bowl is one step away from coming through the Mile High City.