5 Final Thoughts Ahead of Chargers-Jaguars in Week 11

Nov 14, 2025 at 12:18 PM

Eric Smith

Editorial Director

The Chargers are on the road against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 11.

Kickoff is at 10 a.m. (PT) from EverBank Stadium.

The Chargers-Jaguars betting line shows the Bolts are slight favorites for Sunday.

Here are five final thoughts ahead of Week 11.

1. A playoff-type game

Everyone knows what is at stake Sunday in Jacksonville.

And Khalil Mack said it best.

"There's going to be playoff implications to it," Mack said. "You've got to treat it like a playoff game."

With the home stretch of the 2025 NFL season looming after the Chargers Week 12 bye, the Bolts know how crucial it would be to pick up a win Sunday against the Jaguars.

To start, both teams currently occupy Wild Card playoff spots in the AFC playoff picture as the Chargers at No. 5 and the Jaguars at No. 7.

And Sunday's winner would hold an important head-to-head tiebreaker over the other.

A quick glance at the data shows just how big of a game this one is.

According to The Athletic, the Bolts currently have an 82 percent chance to make the playoffs. A win boosts that up to 93 percent while a loss drops it to 69 percent.

Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh said this week that he wants his team to focus on itself in the playoff chase.

"The answer is always going to come out to be the same: you have to take care of your own business," Harbaugh said. "You can't rely on another team not playing well or losing, of the team you want to win, wins.

"It doesn't usually work out that way. It works out the way that, handle your own business," Harbaugh said. "The only game that matters the most, practically all that matters, is the one we're playing in."

On the flip side, The Athletic has Jacksonville's current playoff odds at 39 percent. But those number go to 57 percent with a win and 24 percent with a loss.

Of note: the Chargers are 6-1 in AFC games so far this season, which is tied for the best mark in the conference with the Colts.

That could also be a factor in tiebreaker and playoff seeding scenarios in January.

"You need a win like this [to go to the playoffs]," Derwin James, Jr. said. You want to win them all, but especially the AFC ones for sure."

2. Penning to start?

Trevor Penning didn't play Sunday night after being acquired in a trade deadline deal with the Saints.

But the newest Chargers offensive lineman certainly retained valuable intel by watching a Week 10 over Pittsburgh from the sidelines.

"It was good to go out there on the sideline, watching the game, listening to how everything just kind of being communicated," Penning said. "Just kind of get in that rhythm, just getting that feeling and that exposure to everything was very valuable."

He later added: "Definitely been more settled in. It's been a lot but I've settled in getting used to the playbook, getting used to the guys, getting used to all the different stuff around here. I'm really liking it so far."

Does that mean Penning could see the field, or even start, Sunday in Jacksonville?

"The best five are going to play and we'll see how it goes," said Chargers Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman.

Roman did say this week that he's been impressed of late by both Penning, who has worked at left tackle this week in practice, and Austin Deculus, who was solid against a stout Steelers front.

"It's good to see [Deculus] improving here. Then a new guy [Penning}, I like what I'm seeing from him in practice. We're trying to keep raising that bar," Roman said.

He later added about Penning: "We've thrown a lot of information at him. People would be amazed at the amount of information our players have to digest and understand fully. He's been really diligent to learn a new language, essentially, and then play with new guys next to him. Really impressed so far with what we've seen from him."