One team is a game above .500. The other is three games below. And both are very much alive in their respective division races.
The San Diego Chargers, still clinging to hopes of winning a fifth consecutive AFC West title, will host the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night.
Both teams are coming off season-saving victories, with the Chargers (7-6) pounding division-leading Kansas City 31-0 and the 49ers (5-8) rolling to a 40-21 rout of NFC West co-leader Seattle.
San Diego, which crept within a game of Kansas City with the win, cannot afford a slip-up because the Chiefs end their season with two games at home, where they are 6-0 this season.
San Francisco also needs some help. The 49ers trail both Seattle and St. Louis in their division and pay a visit to the Rams next week, so they too are in must-win territory.
Philip Rivers continued his superb season, throwing a pair of touchdown passes to Malcom Floyd as the Chargers rebounded from a 28-13 loss to Oakland that snapped a four-game winning streak.
Rivers needs 132 yards passing to join Dan Fouts as the only San Diego quarterbacks to pass for 4,000 yards in three consecutive seasons. He comes into the game with a 19-1 record as a starter in December.
The running game provided balance to Rivers’ aerial attack with a season-high 207 yards rushing. Mike Tolbert and rookie Ryan Mathews each scored a touchdown and ran for 66 and 65 yards, respectively.
The Chargers also turned in a suffocating defensive effort against the Chiefs, who were missing starting quarterback Matt Cassel following an appendectomy. San Diego limited Kansas City to just 67 total yards and five first downs in posting its first shutout since September 2006.
San Francisco, bolstered by the return of Alex Smith at quarterback following a five-game absence, rolled up a season-high point total in dismantling the Seahawks.
Smith tied a career high with three touchdown passes – all in the first half – as the 49ers breezed to a 30-7 halftime lead. He was playing for the first time since suffering a separated non-throwing shoulder against Carolina on Oct. 24.
Running back Brian Westbrook, part of a committee that is replacing the injured Frank Gore, had six catches for 87 yards, including a 62-yard touchdown reception. Tight end Vernon Davis had five catches for 70 yards and a score.
San Francisco limited the Seahawks to 84 yards on the ground. The 49ers have not allowed a 100-yard rusher to 19 games – the second-longest active streak in the NFL behind the New York Jets.