(News4usonline) – The Los Angeles Chargers are in the playoffs. The team, with a date against the Los Angeles Rams, has a three-game winning streak. If they play well enough that streak can reach five by the time the end of the regular season reaches its conclusion on Jan. 8.
“The focus is the same as always,” Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert said prior to the team playing the Rams. “It is very important to attack this week like it is the most important game of the week — and it is.

“This is a really good Rams team that we are facing, and we have had to have a good week of practice for any chance on Sunday. They are playing pretty well offensively and defensively, so we have had to watch a lot of film, but we have a lot of respect for those guys,” Herbert added.
The Chargers finish their season on the road against the Denver Broncos, an old AFC West rival. The Chargers and their head coach Brandon Staley are in a tricky part of the season.
Now that they’ve secured the team’s first playoff spot since after the 2018 regular season (AFC wild-card win against the Baltimore Ravens; divisional playoff round defeat to the New England Patriots), the Chargers have to find balance in minimizing the playing time of starters and key reserves while also keeping an edge that got them into the postseason in the first place.
And they certainly have to keep winning. Lose either one or both games, and there is a chance that whatever momentum Los Angeles has built up over their three-game winning streak, just might disappear once the playoffs roll around.

Teams simply don’t turn momentum on or off like a water faucet. Lose a series, a quarter, or a half, and things can flip quickly, especially in the postseason. So, the tenacity the Chargers’ defense has played with and the offensive precision Los Angeles has managed to execute over their last couple of games can go awash with any misstep.
The Chargers are still weeks away from playing in their playoff game, but Staley recognizes what it takes for his team to make that transition from the regular season to the postseason.
“I think the playoff energy is just different because you know there are more eyes on the game and it’s the end,” Staley said. “It’s kind of do-or-die. I think for you guys, it is more palpable. I think our goal as a team is to treat every week like a playoff game, like the Super Bowl in terms of the approach. You treat it like it has a life of its own.
“The type of attention to detail, the type of energy, the level of stamina that the NFL requires, that’s what we’re hoping to build here and I think that we are continuing to do a better job of that. We’re definitely not there yet. I think your mindset has got to be engineered that way because that’s what the great, I think, teams do is they have that discipline in their approach, the consistency in their approach.”

Strikingly, through that three-game winning streak, the Chargers have given up no more than 17 points with two of those victories coming against the Miami Dolphins and the Tennessee Titans, ballclubs still clinging to fading postseason hopes.
The Dolphins started the season as hotshots, winning their first eight of 11 games. Miami, whom the Chargers beat 23-17 in Week 14, has dropped their last four games. The Titans, whom the Chargers squeaked by 17-14 in Week 15, are in an even greater tailspin, having lost five games in a row.
While these two teams are spiraling downward, the Chargers appear to be surging at the right time. Their 20-3 win against the Indianapolis Colts is the latest illustration of how the Chargers have been playing. On the road, the Chargers recorded seven sacks and three interceptions, a virtual lights out showing by the team’s defense.
Staley would like for the Chargers to keep that momentum going against the Rams and the Chargers’ final two opponents in the regular season.
“What you are trying to do is play your best at the end,” Staley said. “I think that is what in these last two games going into the playoffs is we want to create the type of confidence within our football team that we are playing our best or we feel like there is a vibe here where we can beat anybody because of how we are playing.
“I think that is something that is going to be a big mission for us over the next two weeks is to improve as a football team. This week, we’re going to have a great challenge because this team has lived it and it’s going to require our best and that’s where our focus is, on the Los Angeles Rams.”

Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, race, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University. Email Dennis at dfreeman@news4usonline.com
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