The Chargers faced do-or-die situations the final three weeks of the season while trying to erase a three-game deficit in the AFC West.

They completed the task Sunday with a win over the Broncos, and they move on as the division champ and play host to the Colts on Saturday in the playoff opener.

That the Chargers have a .500 record and that none of their eight wins came over a 2008 playoff team doesn't dampen their enthusiasm, although they recognize the difficulty of the task at hand, trying to stop MVP candidate Peyton Manning.

"If we let Peyton sit back there and set his feet, he is going to kill you," Chargers linebacker Stephen Cooper said.

But the Chargers were left for road kill long ago, when they fell to 4-8 back on Nov. 30. It marked the team's fifth loss in six games and all but torpedoed their hopes of another AFC West title.

Then came the four-game winning streak and total collapse by the Broncos. That allowed the Chargers to win their third consecutive division title and entertain the Colts -- despite their shoddy record.

"We took a different route than we thought we would, but we're here," quarterback Philip Rivers said. "We're all 0-0 now. We know the Colts are going to be tough, but we're excited and we'll be ready."

What looked to be a quiet January now has a buzz. And the team that fell four quarters shy of its second Super Bowl in team history last season suddenly has a fresh pulse.

"We know the expectations we set out and how high they were at the start of the year," Rivers said. "All we've done is re-open some of those goals now that we've gotten ourselves into January."

How far they go remains to be seen. But to even reaching the playoffs after being 4-8 is something to build on as they try to knock off the Colts.