It’s that time of year again, when San Diego Charger fans try to figure out the crazy scenarios of how their team can make the playoffs. Despite having lost six straight this season, San Diego’s playoff hopes are still alive to win either the AFC West (fourth seed) or the second and final wild-card spot (sixth seed). Six games on Saturday have playoff implications for the Chargers and that should make Saturday one of the most exciting days of the regular season.

Don’t feel bad if you are a veteran NFL fan and you don’t already know all of the scenarios for the Chargers to make the playoffs. Following the Bolts 34-14 blowout win over the Ravens on Sunday night and a weekend where everything else went San Diego’s way, many of the Chargers beat writers puzzled over the various playoff scenarios and together there were more questions than answers.

Even those in charge are confused. The NFL playoff tiebreakers are so convoluted, the league no longer tells the teams what their playoff scenarios are out of fear of getting them wrong. The league punts that responsibility to the Elias Sports Bureau and teams’ media departments do not publish press releases with this information.

In my quest to solve the puzzle, I turned to ESPN’s Playoff Machine, an automated system that allows users to input different outcomes for games to determine who the playoff teams will be based on those outcomes.

There is a scenario for the Chargers to win the AFC West at 9-7, several scenarios for them to win the wild-card at 9-7, and even a scenario for them back into the wild-card at 8-8.

How the Chargers can win the AFC West: In order for the Chargers to win the AFC West, they must have a better overall record than the Broncos. This is because the Broncos have already clinched the tiebreaker of a better win-loss record among common opponents. Therefore, to win the division the Chargers (7-7) must win their final two games (at Lions and at Raiders) and the Broncos (8-6) must lose their last two games (at Bills and vs. the Chiefs in Denver).

Scenarios to win wild-card at 9-7: The Chargers need to win their last two games and both the Jets (8-6) and the Bengals (8-6) need to lose at least one game. The Chargers would win a tiebreaker with either the Bengals or the Titans (7-7), but would lose a tiebreaker to the Jets because they lost to the Jets earlier in the season. The Chargers would win all wild-card tiebreakers involving three or more teams with a 9-7 record.

Note that the head-to-head tiebreaker loss against the Jets is discarded when figuring tiebreakers among three or more teams.

Scenarios to win wildcard at 8-8: All scenarios for the Chargers to make the postseason hinge on beating the Raiders in the final game of the season. If San Diego loses to Oakland next week, the Chargers are eliminated. In order to win the wild-card at 8-8, the Chargers would lose against the Lions this Saturday and then beat the Raiders. Additionally, both the Bengals and the Jets would have to lose their last two games and the Titans (7-7) and the Chiefs (6-8) would have to lose at least one game.

As long as the Chargers do not lose to the Raiders, they would win any 8-8 tiebreaker involving three or more teams that does not include the Chiefs.

The Chargers must first get through this weekend before they can worry about the Raiders. Prior to playing the Lions on Saturday, there are five early games that potentially impact the Chargers playoff chances. The best outcome for the Chargers in many of these games may be counterintuitive for even the most fanatical fan.

Who should Chargers fans cheer for on Saturday?

Broncos (8-6) at Bills (5-9): Cheer for the Bills - The Chargers can only win the AFC West if the Broncos lose their two remaining games.

Raiders (7-7) at Chiefs (6-8): Cheer for the Raiders - Cheering for the Raiders is never fun for Chargers fans, but the Raiders winning this game has no mathematical adverse effect for the Chargers chances of making the playoffs. Where as a Chiefs win lessens the Chargers chances to win a tiebreaker in the 8-8 wild-card scenario.

Giants (7-7) at Jets (8-6): Cheer for the Giants - Charger fans must put aside any hatred for Eli Manning and pull for the Giants because if San Diego does not win the AFC West they can only win a wildcard if the Jets lose at least one of their final two games. The Giants are an NFC team, so their record does not affect the Chargers. Also, if the Jets win this game and the Chargers lose against the Lions later in the day, then the Chargers will be eliminated from all possible playoff scenarios.

Jaguars (4-10) at Titans (7-7): Cheer for the Titans - Pulling for the Titans to win is counterintuitive because they have the same record as the Chargers. The Chargers, however, would win all tie-breakers involving three or more teams at 9-7. San Diego would also win a heads-up tiebreaker with the Titans for the wildcard at 9-7. Therefore, in almost all scenarios the Titans winning only helps the Chargers. Note that if the Titans are the only team to finish at 9-7 then they would win the wildcard outright.

Cardinals (7-7) at Bengals (8-6) - Cheer for the Cardinals Like the Jets, a Bengals win and a Chargers loss on Saturday would eliminate San Diego from playoff contention. The probability that all of these games end in San Diego’s favor is low. The best Chargers fans can hope for is that enough does go right that their playoffs hopes remain alive at least until New Year’s Day when they conclude the regular season against the Raiders in Oakland.