The Chargers went 11-6 this season and swept the Raiders in Week 18 with a convincing 34-20 win.

Here are five takeaways from Week 18.

1. Bolts get the No. 5 seed

Hello, Houston.

The Chargers are the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoffs and will face the Texans in the Wild Card Round.

The teams will meet Saturday at 1:30 p.m. (PT).

The Bolts took care of business in Las Vegas and will now turn their attention to Houston, which won the AFC South with a 10-7 record.

"Now the real football begins," Khalil Mack said. "This what we're looking forward to."

Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh said: "Start of the new season ... it's going to take our 'A game.'"

Herbert said: "It's always an exciting opportunity to play in the playoffs. That's all you want, you want a ticket to the dance ... we're now in this position, so we have to make the most of it and take advantage of it."

The Chargers were in position to get the No. 5 seed after Pittsburgh lost Saturday night.

The Bolts got off to a slow start but then roared to life as all three phases stepped up.

The Chargers finished with a season-high 473 yards of offense as Herbert dazzled once again, throwing for 346 yards with two scores and no interceptions with a passer rating of 125.2.

"I'm not going to say 'unbelievable', because I believe it and because I see it every day," Harbaugh said. "But there were throws that he was making that were 15-yard throws, 30-yard throws, 45-yard throws, that were handoffs.

"They were right where you would put it if you were handing the ball off on a running play," Harbaugh said. "Just an incredible game by him."

Defensively, the Bolts held the Raiders to just a pair of third-down conversions on nine tries as Las Vegas ran for just 39 total yards.

It all added up to a Chargers season sweep of the Raiders for the first time since 2018.

Next up?

Playoff football.

"I would say that for our team, the team is in a great place right now," Harbaugh said. "Feel like we're in a great place starting this playoff season and we'll turn our attention right to that."

James added: "I can't wait."

2. Henley's INT turns the tide

Henley had been waiting on this one.

The Chargers second-year linebacker had been so close to the first interception of his career numerous times this season.

When he finally got it, the takeaway turned into a game-changing play for the Bolts.

"Just the surge, the rush, the feeling I haven't felt in quite some time," Henley said. "I'm used to getting picks, but man, it's been a long season without one. That feeling was exhilarating.

"And I get to hear it a lot about being a coverage linebacker in this league because of how I play, me in the pass game, but I didn't have no ball production to show for it," Henley added. "To end the season at the right time with one, they say you get one more on the way."

The Chargers had just kicked a field goal to go down 10-9 with 65 seconds left before Henley got his hands on the pass from Aidan O'Connell.

The Bolts took advantage of the turnover as Herbert found DJ Chark for a 6-yard touchdown pass for the lead. Ladd McConkey then hauled in the 2-point conversion.

All of the sudden, the Chargers led 17-10 and never looked back from there.

"It won us the game. It changed the game," James said. "We were down before he made that pick, and you intercept it under a minute and we're already in touchdown range, that changed the game. I feel like that really won us the game, when Daiyan got that pick."

Harbaugh raved about Henley's overall season after the game.

"That was a huge momentum play. Just a great play," Harbaugh said. "There's a lot of pass catchers playing on the professional level that may not have made that play, but he did.

"He's had an All-Star season, he's had a Pro-Bowl season," Harbaugh added. "He's going from shining star to superstar, I think he's reached it and playing his best football."

3. Johnston has career day in finale

Perhaps nobody ended the regular season on a higher note than Quentin Johnston.

The Chargers second-year wide receiver had a career day in the Bolts Week 18 finale by catching 13 passes for 186 yards.

Johnston set single-game bests in both categories with his big-time showing against the Raiders.

"I felt good, but just starting at practice, coming in day-in and day-out," Johnston said. "Practicing as hard as I can and then on top of that, just having the full team behind me.

"Having my teammates behind me, my coaches behind me, just to give me confidence day-in and day-out so I could come out and perform like this," Johnston added. "I'm very happy with my performance."

Johnston made one spectacular catch after another Sunday, with a 39-yarder early in the fourth quarter setting off a frenzied reaction by both Johnston and the Chargers sideline.

"Just felt like yelling and screaming, that type of crazy stuff," Johnston said. "But I did my first-down thing and had to refresh and get back to the next play because we didn't score. The focus was just getting in the end zone after that."

Johnston endured a bumpy rookie season but has grown by leaps and bounds in his second year.

He finished the season with 55 catches for 711 yards and eight receiving touchdowns, a tally that led the Chargers in 2024.

Harbaugh and Herbert both commented about Johnston's growth after Week 18.

"You got to feed the hot hand. He's a guy that went out and made a bunch of plays," Herbert said. "We've seen it all year, he's playing the right football at the right time.

"He's confident, he's going out there and having fun," Herbert added. "You can tell he's feeling it, and whenever he's doing that, you got to get him the ball no matter how it is. He did a great job of that today."

Harbaugh added: "He's been doing it, playing at a high level all season. He's an incredible competitor, that's what it says about him. The talent, the effort, his toughness, he brings a level of toughness to our team that is at a very high level. Great performance."

4. The NFL's No. 1 scoring defense

The Chargers finished with the No. 1's scoring defense for the first time in franchise history.

The Bolts allowed just 20 points to the Raiders, bringing their season total to 301 points allowed, good for 17.7 points per game. The Eagles finished second with 303 points allowed (17.8).

James let out an excited yell when informed postgame that the Bolts finished in the top spot.

"It means something. You want to be the best," James said. "All year long we said we wanted to be the best and just let the numbers speak for themselves. We don't have to do too much talking, No. 1 scoring defense reflects wins and losses. We got it done."

Mack added: "That's dope. But you do all of that to get to this point. This is what we want to do, playing meaningful football. Just get ready for this opportunity we got coming up this week."

After the game, Harbaugh and Henley dished some credit in the direction of Chargers Defensive Coordinator Jesse Minter.

"I would say the same about Jesse what I said about Justin. It would be unbelievable to many, but I believe it because I know it, been around him," Harbaugh said. "Seen what a tremendous coach he is and what a great job he's done. He's a superstar. Not a surprise, but it is unbelievable what he's been able to do."

Henley added: "He's a hell of a coach and the way he schemes things up is impressive. If you love football, then you love a guy like him."

5. OL shuffles with Slater out

The Bolts played without Pro Bowl left tackle Rashawn Slater in Week 18.

The Chargers said pregame that Slater felt discomfort (knee) in pregame stretch, so the team made him inactive for Sunday's game.

"Just that he during the stretch, he felt something and wasn't going to play," Harbaugh said. "Trainers, doctors said he wasn't going to play, so that's all I know."

As a result, Joe Alt moved from right tackle to left tackle. The interior of the offensive line was left guard Zion Johnson, center Bradley Bozeman and right guard Jamaree Salyer while Trey Pipkins III kicked outside to right tackle.

Pipkins left with an oblique injury in the third quarter as Foster Sarell took his spot in the trenches.

"At the end of the day, we have a standard that we try to uphold in our room and no matter who goes where, we try to make sure that, No. 1 we protect 10, and two when the time comes to put the team on our back and run the ball," Salyer said. "I think everybody did a great job. Foster did a great job, Joe shifting over, Pip stepping up did an excellent job, even me stepping up in my role stepping up.

"We just wanted to make the team proud, that's all we ever want to do," Salyer added.