Welcome back to the Chargers Mailbag!

We'll be running one of these every week during the regular season, so send in submissions for the Mailbag here on Twitter or by sending me an email.

Off we go...

The Chargers Mailbag is back after a week hiatus.

Before we get into that, however, Happy Holidays to you and your family and friends this time of year.

In terms of New Year's resolutions, the Chargers top priority should be clinching a playoff spot, which they can do Saturday with a win at New England.

The Bolts obviously have deeper aspirations than just securing a spot in the dance, but punching their ticket is Step 1 for Jim Harbaugh's squad.

After that? It's a week-by-week season with the singular focus on finding a way to win any given playoff game.

As we look at the standings now, the Bolts are in the No. 6 seed in the AFC playoff field. And the Chargers can actually secure that spot if the Steelers, Ravens, Chargers and Bengals all win in Week 17.

With two weeks left, the Bolts could stay play anyone from Kansas City, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Houston or Baltimore in the Wild Card round. The only team that is currently in the playoff picture that the Bolts wouldn't potentially see is Denver.

Of course, there are pros and cons to potentially seeing any of those teams in the opening round of the playoffs.

The Chiefs are the gold standard of the NFL. The Bills have Josh Allen. The Ravens and Steelers have already beaten the Bolts this season. And the Texans feature one of the NFL's most exciting young quarterbacks in C.J. Stroud.

But on the flip side...

The Chargers were a play or two away from beating the Chiefs (twice), Ravens and Steelers this season. A game in Houston means no weather element against a young team. And you know Harbaugh's squad would revel the chance to try to pull off a road upset in Buffalo.

We could know by Sunday afternoon if all of the AFC playoff teams are set. The wait for finalized seeding might linger into Week 18.

But know that no matter who the Chargers potentially play — and they have to get into the dance first — that they won't be scared to go on the road and show what they're made of.

In case you missed it, Monday was Harbaugh's 61st birthday.

And he was asked about how he planned to celebrate it in his press conference.

His answer was classic Harbaugh.

"Fired up about it," Harbaugh said. "Just another chance to punch your ticket to get another trip around the sun."

He later added: "I like to do football. Have the opportunity to go to practice, make it a great practice. Onto the next challenge. Onward."

If there's one thing we've learned about Harbaugh since he arrived in Los Angeles, it's that the man loves football.

He lives football. Eats it. Breathes it.

So it shouldn't be s surprise that he wanted to spent his birthday at practice and in meetings getting ready for Saturday's game against New England.

A valid question, but one we won't know the answer to until this weekend's games play out.

If the Chargers have the No. 6 seed locked up going into Week 18, perhaps we get an idea of what Harbaugh wants to do.

But my hunch is that things will be up in the air going into the regular-season finale. If that's the case, it will be fascinating to see how Harbaugh — who has taken care of his players since Day 1 — handles a few options in front of him.

One thing I will note here is that the Chargers are coming off a mini bye after Thursday's win over Denver. So while their actual bye feels like ages ago, getting three recent days off hopefully helped both the physical and mental health of the team.

Dobbins is back at practice and he was limited on Wednesday. The Chargers opened his 21-day practice window so he could be back in the mix soon if he progresses well.

Will Dissly was also limited on Wednesday so perhaps a return is near for him, too.

As for the secondary, Cam Hart was also limited, as were safeties Elijah Molden and Tony Jefferson.

The hope, of course, is that all of these players will be ready to go in New England.

But if one or some are not, the Chargers have showed an ability to really buy into the "next man up" mentality, whether's it's been Jefferson or Kendall Williamson or Marcus Maye (who is currently on Injured Reserve).

There's been a rotating door of sorts on the backend with both cornerbacks and safeties, but Chargers Defensive Coordinator Jesse Minter and his staff have done a superb job of getting everyone in the locker room ready to play as needed.

Honestly, not much in terms of the scheme or game plan.

Instead, both Chargers players and coaches have said of late that the execution on the field was just better after Denver's first three drives all resulted in touchdowns. The Broncos next seven drives led to just six total points.

"To me, the biggest adjustment is that we won situational football in the second half," Minter said Tuesday. "When you stop the run on first down, now you create a second-and-9 or second-and-10. When you stop them there, now you create a third-and-seven plus."

The Bolts were close to making those plays on Denver's second and third drives but couldn't get off the field. They managed to do so after that, keeping the Broncos at bay long enough to give the Chargers offense a chance to get going and surge in the second half.

That complementary football is going to be needed if the Bolts can find their way into the postseason.