The Denver Broncos stepped on their home turf on Thursday night with full control of the top seed and playoff spot in the AFC.

By the end of the night's surprising loss to the San Diego Chargers -- a 27-20 outcome -- Denver still had a half game lead in the race for the top playoff spot but realized it no longer controlled its own playoff destiny. The Patriots, who own the head to head advantage over the Broncos, just have to win this weekend to take over that top spot thanks to the tiebreaker. The Broncos would need the Patriots to lose in order to maintain its position.

The Chargers roughed up the league's top-rated offense that only scored 20 points in the game, a season low. Manning had two touchdown passes but also threw an interception. Philip Rivers only completed 12 passes but was efficient enough to score two touchdowns without throwing any interceptions.

San Diego dove back into the playoff picture with the victory to improve to 7-7 on the year. They would need to win out and then get some help as well.

NFC Playoff Picture

Seattle and New Orleans hold the top two seeds in the NFC, respectively. Philadelphia and Detroit are leading their divisions as well and are in line for a home playoff game on wild card weekend. Carolina and San Francisco hold the final playoff spots in the NFC to make up the two wild card slots.

After last week's snow games put a dent in the NFC Playoff picture -- especially in Philadelphia with the Eagles and Lions -- it appears that Reggie Bush could possibly be back in action. Bush missed last week's game after slipping in Philadelphia during warm-ups on the snowy field. His return would be just in time for the Lions as the team looks to clinch the division title.

AFC Playoff Picture

As mentioned before, the top two seeds in the AFC seem quite clear in that they will most likely be the Broncos and Patriots. The Bengals are the third seed at 9-4 while the Colts hold the fourth and final division-leading seed in the AFC. The Kansas City Chiefs hold the fifth seed with plenty of breathing room while the sixth seed is up for grabs.