Jim Harbaugh doesn’t care for complicated playoff scenarios. With teams still vying for divisional titles and playoff seeding, the Chargers coach, whose team clinched its first postseason berth since 2022 on Saturday, maintains a simple goal for a Week 18 game against the Las Vegas Raiders.
“My plan is to win,” Harbaugh said Monday. “That’s been our mindset from the very beginning: win the next game.”
A road win in the Chargers’ regular-season finale against the Raiders (4-12) is necessary for the Chargers (10-6) to move up in the AFC playoff picture. They can claim the No. 5 seed — setting up a favorable matchup against the No. 4 Houston Texans in the wild-card round — with a win over the Raiders and a Pittsburgh Steelers loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Steelers (10-6) own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Chargers. Pittsburgh plays Cincinnati (8-8) at 5 p.m. PST on Saturday. The Chargers will know the stakes of their game before they go to sleep Saturday.
When asked of the possibility of resting starters if the Chargers’ playoff seeding already is determined before the team’s 1:25 p.m. kickoff in Las Vegas, Harbaugh declined to entertain hypotheticals.
“We’re going to take it one day at a time,” Harbaugh said. “We’ll do what’s best for the team.”
Read more: Division battles, a record chase and a grand finale: Inside the NFL’s Week 18 schedule tweaks
If the Chargers remain in the No. 6 spot, they will play their wild-card game at the AFC North champion. Baltimore (11-5) can clinch the division with a win over the Cleveland Browns at 1:30 p.m. PST on Saturday. The Steelers need a Baltimore loss and a win over the Bengals to claim the division and the coveted home playoff game.
The Chargers have a chance to reach 11 wins for the first time since their 12-4 season in 2018. But with hopes to earn their first playoff victory in six seasons, health is paramount entering the postseason. They already lost another starter on Saturday as safety Elijah Molden broke his left fibula during the playoff-clinching victory against the New England Patriots, Harbaugh confirmed Monday.
The versatile defensive back was in the midst of a breakout season, entrenching himself as a starter despite joining the Chargers 10 days before their season opener in a trade with Tennessee. The former third-round pick started a career-best 12 games with three interceptions, seven pass breakups and two fumble recoveries.
Molden initially thought he suffered a bruise when he stopped DeMario Davis for a tackle on third down. He told coaches and trainers he just needed to walk it off on the sideline, where he paced back and forth but never went into the injury tent before returning to the game. Once he started backpedaling as the next play began, however, Molden grabbed at his left leg. Trainers called for the injury cart, and Molden was wearing a walking boot in the locker room.
Read more: Jim Harbaugh’s playoff-bound Chargers continue evolution by routing nemesis Patriots
“Most fun I’ve had playing the game since I was a little kid,” Molden wrote on Instagram. “Lot more plays to be made in the future, best believe that!”
The loss of Molden hits an already injury-riddled safeties group that has two other players on injured reserve. Starter Alohi Gilman has missed five games with a hamstring injury while Marcus Maye — who was claimed off waivers on Nov. 27 and jumped immediately into the rotation — is out with an ankle injury.
Gilman might return to practice this week, Harbaugh said Monday.
The Chargers have relied on practice squad call-ups — including Tony Jefferson, Kendall Williamson and Eddie Jackson — to buoy the secondary. Jefferson, a 10-year pro, has claimed a starting role since Gilman’s Week 13 injury and has 24 tackles since being signed to the active roster.
Receiver Joshua Palmer left Saturday’s game with a heel injury and was seen in the locker room on crutches with a walking boot, but Harbaugh said he doesn’t anticipate the injury will put Palmer on injured reserve. No word yet on his availability for Week 18.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
