Sunday Night Football: San Diego Chargers-Indianapolis Colts Fight To Stay Alive

Sunday Night's battle between the San Diego Chargers and the Indianapolis Colts will feature two teams fighting to keep their playoff hopes alive.

The Chargers are 5-5 and two games behind the 7-3 Pittsburgh Steelers for the last wild card spot.  The Colts are 6-4 and one game behind the Steelers.

With the tight battles on top of the AFC East and AFC North divisions, a division title may be the only route the Colts and Chargers can take on their road to the playoffs.

In the East, the New England Patriots and the New York Jets are each 9-2.  The loser of those two teams will command that first wild-card spot.

In the North, the Baltimore Ravens and Steelers are both 7-3 and if they both keep up their stellar play, the loser of the two will take the final wild-card spot.

For the Colts, their ticket into the postseason is to get revenge against a hot Jacksonville Jaguars team that beat them earlier in the year by a field goal as time expired.

The Chargers must take out the Kansas City Chiefs, who also upset the heavily favored Chargers early in the season.

These two annual powerhouses face off in what could turn out to be a must-win game.

The regular season is coming to a close; the fourth quarter of the schedule is just around the corner.

A loss would be devastating to each squad.

A Chargers loss would end a three-game winning streak and send them back down to earth.  A loss for the Colts would make it two in row and put them in a major hole.

If the two quarterbacks in this match-up have anything to say about the outcome, this battle will turn into a memorable shootout.

Philip Rivers and Peyton Manning lead the two most prolific passing offenses in the league this season.

Each quarterback, though facing a solid secondary, will determinedly march his unit down the field aiming for nothing less than flawless execution.

Two or three defensive stops may be all it takes to win this prime-time showdown. 

It may be hard not to put money on Manning in this battle.

Sure, the Chargers have had success against the Colts in recent years, but here's the thing:

No player in the league prepares like Peyton Manning.  After throwing five interceptions in the Colts' last two losses, he's going to be more focused than ever.

David Daniels is an NFL Featured Columnist and Writing Intern at Bleacher Report and a Syndicated Writer.  Follow him at One Yard Short.com or on Twitter