Chargers (9-4) at Chiefs (6-7), 1 p.m.
Kansas City has reached seven consecutive AFC Championship games but currently sits 10th in the conference playoff standings, two games behind Houston, the third and final AFC Wild Card team. The Chiefs also lost a head-to-head matchup against the Texans on Dec. 7, which eliminated Kansas City from contention for what would have been a 10th consecutive AFC West Division championship.
The loss to Houston was Kansas City’s fourth in its last five games.
The Chiefs would be eliminated from playoff contention with a loss to the Chargers and a Buffalo win at New England, a Jacksonville win over the New York Jets and a Houston win over Arizona; or a loss, a Bills win, a Jaguars win and an Indianapolis win at Seattle; or a loss, a Buffalo win, a Houston win and an Indianapolis win.
The Chargers beat the Chiefs, 27-21, in the regular-season opener on Sept. 5 in Brazil, which snapped a string of seven consecutive losses to Kansas City.
Los Angeles quarterback Justin Herbert had a season-high 10 carries and a team-leading 66 rushing yards in last Monday night’s 22-19 overtime win over Philadelphia. The Chargers didn’t have a running back amass 60-plus yards on the ground or a wide receiver collect 25-plus yards on receptions but turned the Eagles over five times.
Los Angeles ranks in the top five in total defense (282.2 yards per game, fourth), passing defense (173.2 yards per game, fifth), third-down defense (34.4 percent, fourth) and first downs per game (17, fourth).
The Chargers are tied for ninth in points per game allowed (20.8).
Lions (8-5) at Rams (10-3), 4:25 p.m.
The Lions were the NFC’s No. 1 seed in the postseason a year ago but have already lost more than twice as many games (five) as they did in 2024 (two).
Detroit is 3-2 and averaging 31.0 points per game since head coach Dan Campbell took over the play-calling duties. Surprisingly, the Lions have failed on seven consecutive fourth-down attempts, the longest such streak in the NFL in 2025. Detroit was 22-for-33 on fourth downs last season (66.7 percent) but is just 13-for-25 this season (52.0 percent).
Running back Jammer Gibbs has 13 rushing touchdowns and 16 scrimmage TDs.
Quarterback Jared Goff is tied for second in the NFL with 26 touchdown passes.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford leads the NFL in passing TDs with 35.
The Rams are averaging 29.2 points per game (fourth) and have allowed 17.5 points per game (third). They’re one of two teams this season to rank in the top five in each category (Seattle, second in scoring offense at 29.8 points per game and second in scoring defense at 17.4 points per game, is the other).
Los Ángeles has allowed an NFL-low four rushing touchdowns.
Rams wide receiver Davante Adams leads the NFL with 14 receiving touchdowns.
Los Ángeles will clinch a spot in the playoffs with a win over Detroit.
The Steelers visit the Lions on Dec. 21.
Browns (3-10) at Bears (9-4), 1 p.m.
The Bears’ 28-21 loss to the Packers on Dec. 7 dropped them from the No. 1 seed to the No. 7 seed in the NFC playoff race.
Chicago leads the NFL with a plus-17 turnover differential and is an NFL-best plus-52 in points off turnover margin.
The Bears are 1-3 in NFC North Division games and 8-1 in non-division games.
Chicago is 6-1 in games decided by five or fewer points.
Cleveland’s Myles Garrett leads the NFL with 20.0 sacks and needs three to break the NFL record for sacks in a single season (22.5, T.J Watt in 2021 and Michael Strahan in 2001).
Browns rookies have played an NFL-leading 2,225 offensive snaps this season. Cleveland is on pace to become the second team in the Super Bowl era to have rookies lead the team in pass attempts, carries and receptions (the Browns would join the 1968 Bills).
Quarterback Shedder Sanders became the second rookie in NFL history (joining Burrow) with 350-plus passing yards, three-plus passing touchdowns and one or more rushing touchdowns in the Browns’ 31-29 loss to the Titans on Dec. 7.
Running back Quinshon Judkins leads all NFL rookies with 930 scrimmage yards, 784 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns. Judkins has been hit behind the line of scrimmage on 53.3 percent of his carries (the highest rate in the NFL among backs with at least 125 rushing attempts).
The Steelers play at Cleveland on Dec. 28.
