The 4-7 Chargers enter Sunday's game against the visiting Atlanta Falcons in deep trouble.

Or not.

If not having the good luck of playing the AFC West, the Chargers' season would be sunk.

While other 4-7 squads are deciding on vacation spots, the Chargers still eye a playoff spot.

Strange, but true when trailing the first-place Broncos with two games with five to play.

The Chargers still feel as if they have the weapons to make a run. They still feel like it's not too late to flip one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history. They remain confident all is not lost, despite losing four of their last five games.

"The mood of the team is to keep on fighting," linebacker Shaun Phillips said. "I think the leadership around here did a good job of getting a good nucleus of guys with high character."

Phillips said that translates into teammates not giving up when the losses pile up.

"When you get high-character guys, no matter what is going on, they are going to be out there crawling, scratching, fighting and that is what I expect out of these guys," Phillips said.

Trouble is other teams are doing the same thing. That includes the resurgent Falcons, whose season as also been a surprise -- in the right way.

When the Chargers' schedule came out, this was a game which had a "W" put aside it. The Falcons were without quarterback Michael Vick and replaced him with a rookie in Matt Ryan.

But instead of the Falcons falling flat, they sit at 7-4 and are coming off another impressive win in disposing of the Panthers last Sunday.

And the defense is playing well, too.

"They are a tough defense, a talented group and playing with confidence," quarterback Philip Rivers said.

The Chargers? While they say they are confident, human nature says something else.

"Teams that are winning, when you turn on the tape, you can see the confidence and how fast they play," Rivers said. "And it's evident when you watch these guys."

The Chargers confidence, Rivers said, is still there -- to a degree.

"You are not lacking it, but certainly when you are winning you continue to build on it," Rivers said. "I don't think our confidence is shaken or we have a lack of belief of what we can accomplish and what we can do and how we can finish games.

"But when you don't do it, if you keep getting beat the same way, it's deflating.

"But we all know we can do it, we have all done it. There is not an unknown there. Can we do it? Can we get on a hot streak? Can we win some games? We know we can it's just a matter of us putting it together and I think that is the reason for the optimism is the situation we are in."

Those rosy glasses the Chargers wear are directly related to where they hang their hat. Being 4-7 in the AFC West means never having to say you are sorry -- at least not yet.

"If we are 4-7 right now and down five with five to play, it's a little different picture," Rivers said. "We're right there in the thick of it. They don't really care what your record is once you get (in the playoffs). But we have to be one of those teams that gets there and it starts by beating Atlanta on Sunday."

If not, the Chargers' playoff boat will spring another leak.

SERIES HISTORY: 8th regular-season meeting. The Falcons lead the series 6-1. These teams' last matchup came in a highly anticipated game between Falcons QB Michael Vick and Chargers RB LaDainian Tomlinson -- the No. 1 and No. 5 picks of the 2001 drafts, respectively. The Falcons held on for a 21-20 win before more than 70,000 fans at the Georgia Dome. Atlanta hasn't played in San Diego since 1997, another Falcons win. The Chargers' lone victory came during the 1988 season; the Falcons have won the past four games. The teams have never played each other in the playoffs.