It’s been a crazy half season in AFC West, with “turnovers” in who is leading the division. After a not so good start, the Chargers came back with a vengeance, and they’re now at a 3 wins streak, that puts them just behind division leaders Kansas City Chiefs.

The 2006 AFC West champions (4-3) prepare for a visit to Minnesota, where they will play the Vikings, a team that desperately needs to win to keep up with their division rivals. The Chargers defense has to rally against one of the best running backs in the league, rookie Adrian Peterson, who’s currently the leading NFL rusher, with 740 yards and 5 touchdowns. Shawn Merriman, the Chargers linebacker has said in an interview for the Chargers.com that: “I’m going to enjoy playing against him, I watched him since he was in college and now to watch him do the same things in the National Football League shows you that he’s already adjusted to the game. He’s already kind of the player everyone expects him to be.” The Chargers lead the series with the Vikings 5-4. It will be a duel of the running backs, LaDainian Tomlinson ( so far he has 617 yards and 6 touchdowns) against Peterson, who can win the title of the rookie of the year.

Kansas City Chiefs (4-3), the division rivals, comes back in the game after the bye week and they will host NFC North leaders Green Bay Packers at Arrow Stadium. The Packers quarterback Brett Favre, who comes after a fabulous over-time win over the Broncos, says that he wants his first win against the Chiefs. Last time the two teams met, was back in 1996, when the Chiefs won, 27-20. It will be the first game home for the already legendary running back Priest Holmes, who came back after a long absence due to an injury that sidelined him for almost two years. The Chiefs are hopeful in a victory, the tradition is in their favor, they won the latest games played after the bye week. Yet, they still cannot count on wide receiver Eddie Kennison,out with an injury, but the Chiefs quarterback Damon Huard will still have a choice for his passing game in rookie Dwayne Bowe, tight end Tony Gonzalez ( who recently broke the NFL record for most touchdowns by a Thight End ), and even running back Larry Johnson can be a target for a pass. Coach Herm Edwards is confident in his team for the Sunday game, saying that the Chiefs has enough weapons on offense, and that the team needs to be more productive, “If we score 24 points or more we’ve got a great chance of winning”.

Denver Broncos (3-4), had struggled so far in the league, especially on offense. Last week, on Monday night football, they lost in over time, after tied the game to 13, just seconds before the end, with a field goal by kicker Jason Elam. It has become a custom for the Broncos offense to win games with last seconds field goal, and head coach Mike Shanahan is aware that his team has a problem in scoring touchdowns.”We (haven’t) put up no points, man. We’ve got to put up points,” wide receiver Brandon Marshall said. “I don’t know what it is. Hopefully we get it corrected by next week.” “If you want to be a good offensive football team, you’ve got to score in the red zone. Any time you’re 25 percent, that’s not good enough,” Head Coach Mike Shanahan said Monday night after a 19-13 overtime loss to Green Bay. Denver ranks 17th in red-zone offense, scoring touchdowns nearly half the time. In week 9 Broncos travel to Detroit, who’s Lions sit comfortably 2nd in their division, and became one of the surprising teams this season. It will also be a comeback for Broncos corner back Dre’ Bly, who will play against his former team, where he was a captain. By the hour of the game, Broncos has to worry for safety John Lynch, who’s injury during the game with Packers have taken him out on the sideline. Also they hope for the return of leading rusher Travis Henry, who missed last game due to a rib injury, and now he is returned to practice, and for corner back Champ Bailey, who played in last week game, but still recover over an older injury.

Oakland Raiders (2-5), will host the Houston Texans in week 9, at McAfee Stadium. The Raiders, has recently signed veteran wide receiver Tim Dwight, to add to their roster, but everyone still awaits for the no.1 pick overall in the draft, quarterback JaMarcus Russell to come on the field and show what he can do, and why he was the first choice overall. And by the way it looks, we may have Russell playing sooner than expected. In the meanwhile, Raiders has suffered another loss in week 7, against Titans, and although they kept the Titans quarterback to a low 42 passing yards, they were no match for the running game of their opponents, allowing 192 rushing yards and a touchdown. One of the problems at Raiders remain the offensive line, that cannot protect their quarterback, in the last game allowing Daunte Cullpepper to be sacked five times. And for the Raiders bad news continues as they have lost for the season, defensive lineman Tommy Kelly, with a torn ligament.

In conclusion, AFC West continues to look interesting. All teams have a chance to the playoffs, while the battle for who will win the division will intensify as the end of the season approaches and teams have to fight hard to win games that could take them to the playoffs. Also, the succession for the lead is not established as it happens for other divisions, and that is the most attractive thing about AFC West: you’ll have to wait for the end of the season to see who is who.