Chiefs Playoff Hopes Thrive After Wins in Kansas City, San Diego

Christmas came a little early for Kansas City Chiefs fans this year.

Despite a division-leading 7-4 record, the Chiefs have been anything but favorites to make the playoffs.

Kansas City had lost two of their last three division games, most recently a 49-29 beatdown from the Denver Broncos three weeks ago.

The San Diego Chargers, meanwhile, have been unstoppable in December the last couple years, and were making another late season push for the playoffs. The Chargers have made an art of finishing strong to secure a playoff berth.

What's more, San Diego faced an Oakland team nursing a three-game losing streak, a hobbled star cornerback, a quarterback controversy and a bare-knuckle boxing defensive end. 

Once thought to be playoff-ready for the first time in nearly a decade, the Raiders have spent most of their season proving plenty of pundits' predictions wrong.

Say that five times fast.

With the recent history of ineptitude coming out of Arrowhead Stadium, it's been difficult for people to buy into the Chiefs' return to relevance. Despite holding the tiebreaker over the Chargers, the common thought was the Chiefs would lose big in San Diego next week and their first shot at the playoffs since 2006.

Now, that game might not even matter, as everything fell into place for a future with Kansas City on the field in mid-January.

Despite a porous run defense, offensive penalties and a complete shutdown of the Bowe Show, Kansas City capitalized on a stifling pass defense to hang on to win 10-6 over the Broncos.

With another solid performance by the NFL's best rushing tandem, the Chiefs dominated time of possession and overcame their eight penalty, two fumble ad two sacks allowed performance.

Defensively, the Chiefs received standout performances from Tamba Hali and Brandon Carr. Hali engulfed Kyle Orton on two blind side sacks, stripping and recovering the ball on the latter of the two.

Carr, considered the lesser of Kansas City's starting cornerbacks, harassed the NFL's leading receiver Brandon Lloyd all day, holding him to only two receptions for 31 yards.

With the win over Denver, Kansas City improves to 8-4. Make no mistake, though; the real victory came three hours later in San Diego.

Ranked No. 1 in both offense and defense, the Chargers played host to another Oakland team on the ropes. After two double-digit losses to Miami and Pittsburgh, many thought the Raiders would be looking for a win in San Diego like Oliver Twist coming for more gruel.

Instead of rolling over for the Chargers, Oakland shocked both San Diego's fans and players. Building a quick 14-0 lead in the first quarter off turnovers, the Raiders kept piling it on as they rushed for 250 yards and a 28-13 victory. 

San Diego, meanwhile, could only manage a feeble 21 yards on the ground and never came close to threatening Oakland's lead.

San Diego and Oakland find themselves in tight spots. Two games out of first place, both teams need to beat Kansas City in these final weeks, plus hope the Chiefs lose to another of their three remaining opponents.

Kansas City, meanwhile, is in full control of their future. With a two game lead in the division, the Chiefs are looking at their first division title since 2003.

Merry Christmas Kansas City.