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Thanks in part to one of the best defenses in football and their Peyton Manning-led attack -- and of course, also thanks in part to everyone else in the division having a downer of a season -- the Denver Broncos have clinched the AFC West with four weeks to go in the NFL regular season.
All of the other teams in the division seem to be out of even the wild card race, with the San Diego Chargers losing their fourth game in a row on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. Their 4-8 record means that they would have to hope for several collapses all around them in the AFC to even have a hope at the wild card. With 3-8 and 2-10 records, the Raiders and Chiefs are essentially already out.
2012 will be the second year in a row that the Broncos will own the AFC West, backing into the division win in the final week of the season last year.
Here are the full standings for the AFC West:
Denver Broncos | 9-3 |
San Diego Chargers | 4-8 |
Oakland Raiders | 3-9 |
Kansas City Chiefs | 2-10 |