They have a chance.

They might not know how to finish a game, or how to begin one. They might not deserve it. They might not be all that good.

But the Chargers are still alive for a playoff berth because they're in the AFC West.

"It's for sure (we're) the only 4-7 (team) this year that's still got a chance," quarterback Philip Rivers said. "That's the only positive spin you can put on this whole deal. We're still two games back with five to go. ... As bad as it's been -- and I don't know how much longer we can say it, but at least this week we're still in the hunt for everything we set out to accomplish."

Since the NFL expanded the playoffs to 12 teams in 1990, just two teams have made it to the playoffs after beginning the season 4-7. One of those was the 1995 Chargers, the other the 1996 Jacksonville Jaguars .

Both of those teams won their final five games. The Chargers might not have to do that.

The West could be won at 8-8, 7-9 or even 6-10.

As long as the division-leading Denver Broncos (6-5) keep cooperating as they have been, there is a scenario in which the Chargers win just two more games -- as long as one of them is against visiting Denver on Dec. 28 -- and still claim their third straight AFC West championship.

Forget how pathetic this would be. (No team has made the playoffs at 7-9, and only eight have ever qualified at 8-8.)

The fact is, the season is far from over.

"We have games left," safety Clinton Hart said.

Not that the current situation makes the Chargers happy. Hart said the above sentence many times yesterday, each time in a sort of incredulous mutter.

The Chargers acknowledge, in fact, that protecting their psyche, remaining positive, is among their biggest challenges in the remaining five weeks.

"This is where we're at," Hart said yesterday. "We need to accept and understand why we're here and get out of this slump."

Red-eyed and almost distraught late Sunday night, safety Eric Weddle eventually gathered his thoughts and said the same thing.

"We just can't forget who we are and how we got where we are," Weddle said, suddenly resolute. "We can't let the season fall apart. We're only two games out. It's there for us. We've just got to go get it."

Players were off yesterday but came to Chargers Park to work out and receive treatment. Many picked up film of Atlanta, their middle opponent in a three-game home stretch. It was not a fun day.

"It's tough," Rivers said. "Losing is no fun. You've got to allow it to make you a better player and better person and go. It can beat you down and destroy you if you let it, or you can battle through it and come out and be better for it."

Ridiculous as it might sound -- but, really, what's ridiculous at this point in the AFC West? -- the Chargers might actually be buoyed by their travails in the event they make it through to the postseason.

In that case, they will have survived Ed Hochuli and what they see as a season full of bogus officiating, at least four losses in the closing half-minute, an 11-day, 11,000-mile road trip, injuries to a half-dozen Pro Bowlers, etc.

"It's a setup for a great run in the postseason," Hart said. "We've been through every situation that you can go through."

They continue to hold out hope that the close losses will turn their way and they can be playing their best Football as December turns into January.

"We're fighting and fighting," linebacker Shaun Phillips said. "If we get an opportunity to play in January, it might be scary because of all the adversity we would have fought through."

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BATTLING HISTORY

Since the 12-team playoff format began in 1990, just two teams reached the playoffs after starting 4-7. No team has done it under the current eight-division format:

In 1995, the Chargers were coming off their first (and still only) Super Bowl appearance. They started 3-1 but lost six of their next seven to fall to 4-7 and last place in the AFC West. Even coach Bobby Ross called their playoff chances "minimal." But the Chargers won their last five games -- the first three at home -- to qualify as the No. 1 wild-card team. They lost their playoff opener to the visiting Colts, however.

The next year, the Jacksonville Jaguars , in just their second year of existence, were 3-6 and 4-7 but rallied to win their final five games and qualify as the AFC's second wild-card team. The Jaguars won two road playoff games to reach the AFC Championship Game before falling to New England.