The Division

Sweet! The power just went out and I lost the start to this beautiful post, so here we go again on our tour of the AFC West.

Here's the short of it: Denver and San Diego will compete for the division title. Kansas City is in second but still has the same old defense, and Oakland still has the same old one-dimensional offense.

As for the long version, well...

Denver (5-1): The Broncos wisely heeded the advice of what is surely Coach Shanahan's favorite website and focused on their multifaceted rushing attack to return to prominence.

Led by the power of Mike Anderson and the elusive speed of Tatum Bell, the Broncos have propelled their way up the league rushing charts, currently standing in third place with 153 yards per game.

Unsurprisingly, this has led to a five-game winning streak (ignore that I wrote that column when the Broncs were already one game into the streak). Who is the man now?

The Broncos have played better than recent final scores would indicate, jumping out to big leads and then letting teams get back into the game. Hopefully that's an indication of the teams we've played (when Tom Brady makes things interesting, it doesn't necessarily mean everyone can) more than a season-long trend.

However, the defense remains a cause for minor concern. While the effort against the run has been steadfast (fifth in the league), the typically porous aerial defense is still Denver's Achilles heel. But you'd expect Denver to give up a lot of passing yards-no team has had more passes attempted against them.

Kansas City (3-2): The record looks pleasant enough, but Kansas City is even less dangerous than their reputation. The Chiefs have long been known for their explosive offense and Wal-Mart-quality defense.

Not so this season. Kansas City's offense ranks fifteenth in the league, the lowest in the AFC West. However, the gap between them and San Diego, the division's top offense, is less than ten yards a game, and Kansas City scores more per game than Denver and Oakland. The point being that while K.C.'s offense is solid, it's also not good enough to separate them from the pack...yet.

However, in a storyline familiar to the team's fans, the Chiefs' more pressing need is a defense-they're 30th overall in the league and giving up 278 yards per contest through the air.

As if they needed it, the Chiefs' schedule is about to get a little tougher, too. Don't expect Kansas City to remain in contention for much longer.

San Diego (3-3): San Diego has just a .500 record, but has played better than that typically indicates. The Chargers hammered the defending champion La-li-lu-le-lo and nearly beat Pittsburgh a week ago.

Statistically, the Chargers and Broncos are almost eerily similar. The Broncos and Chargers are right next to each other in the rankings for rushing offense (Denver 3rd and S.D. 4th), total defense (22nd and 21st), and pass defense (26th and 27th), and very close in almost every other offensive and defensive yardage total.

Also like the Broncos, the Chargers began the season not giving their rushing offense (led by the league's best back, LaDainian Tomlinson), the attention it deserved-but they've recovered and are now scoring more than 29 points per game.

The Chargers have been the division's most consistent squad, with a four-point loss to Dallas in the first week their worst defeat.

The Broncos' main edge in this race is their two-game lead in the division. But if the Chargers can keep up their heads up despite close losses (and sneak a win or two out against their toughest opponents), they'll gain enough ground to make this very interesting.

Oakland (1-4): Ah, the Raiders. They haven't been this fun to watch since that Super Bowl against Tampa Bay.

For once, an Oakland Raiders offseason pickup has paid off. Randy Moss has been straight cash, averaging 24.5 yards per catch. He's on pace for almost fifteen hundred receiving yards this year despite missing most of the end of last week's loss to the Chargers.

In addition, Kerry Collins has cut down on the mistakes. No, seriously, he has-with just one pick so far, Collins is on pace for well over four thousand yards passing.

So what's the problem?

Oakland's priorities this off-season were to shore up the defense and get some semblance of a run game. How'd that turn out? Well, Oakland's 28th overall in defense and LaMont Jordan has picked up only 3.6 yards per carry.

Typical Raiders. Just remember: November 13th in Oakland, Christmas Eve at Mile High.