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The Los Angeles Chargers are headed back to the playoffs.

The Chargers clinched their first postseason berth since 2018 with a 20-3 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night Football.

With the Bolts punching their ticket, there are just two remaining playoff spots up for grabs in the AFC.

One of those postseason spots will go to the AFC South winner, with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans tied for the best record at 7-8, with one final head-to-head meeting between them set for Week 18.

There’s also the final AFC Wild Card spot still up for grabs, with the Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Jets and the Pittsburgh Steelers all sitting at 8-7 or 7-8 heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.

Meanwhile, it’s championship week in fantasy football leagues.

There were plenty of star players that disappointed this past week.

For those competing for a trophy this week, we can only hope that your team isn’t hit by the type of no-shows that we saw in Week 16.

For some of us, it was absolutely brutal.

Here’s the Morning Coffee for Tuesday December 27th, 2022.

Ekeler Delivers As Chargers Punch Playoff Ticket

Austin Ekeler led the way for the Chargers in Monday night’s win with 79 scrimmage yards and two touchdowns.

Ekeler now leads the NFL with 16 touchdowns this season.

Ekeler to score a touchdown received five times more money than any other anytime touchdown prop at FanDuel on Monday.

Meanwhile, it was a rough night for yours truly as for the first time this season Gerald Everett was a complete no-show. 

He wasn’t the only player that bettors and fantasy managers were relying on this week that just didn’t even show up.

Justin Herbert, Davante Adams, Stefon Diggs, Mike Evans, DeAndre Hopkins, Josh Jacobs, Rhamondre Stevenson, Miles Sanders or Aaron Jones headlined the list of fantasy stars that didn’t show up in Week 16.

How many fantasy football league semi-finals were decided by those players failing to deliver when it counts the most?

While there’s nothing that fantasy managers can do when their best players don’t show up in the playoffs, those of us that bet on these games can keep what we saw this past weekend in mind when betting on games during the final two weeks of the regular season.

I wouldn’t be surprised at all if we saw some dud performances from star players in Weeks 17 and 18.

I’ll be adjusting my handicapping decisions accordingly.

Nets Cruise To Ninth Straight Win

Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving each scored 32 points to propel the Brooklyn Nets to a 125-117 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night.

The Nets have now won nine straight games to improve to 22-12 this season – two games back of the Boston Celtics for the best record in the Eastern Conference.

The Nets are shooting 55.2 per cent from the field during their epic win streak.

Per ESPN Stats & Info, that’s their highest mark ever in any nine-game span. 

Meanwhile, it was a terrible beat for anybody who bet on the Detroit Pistons to cover as a six-point underdog.

The Pistons led the Los Angeles Clippers by 14 points with three minutes left in regulation.

The Clippers rallied to tie it and force overtime.

LA dominated the extra frame, outscoring the Pistons 14-3 to complete the comeback and win by 11 points.

Underdogs Bark In World Junior Championship Openers

It was a disappointing start to the World Junior Championships for anybody who bet chalk.

Canada was a -3500 favourite against Czechia.

They lost their opener 5-2.

Meanwhile, Switzerland upset Finland with a 3-2 overtime win in the other upset.

Underdogs went 2-2 in Monday’s opener, with Sweden beating Austria 11-0 and the USA beating Latvia 5-2 in the other two openers.