NFL Power Rankings: Chargers Defaulting Their Way Back to AFC West Crown

While Drew Brees is well on his way to building a Hall of Fame resume, the Chargers have done quite well in his absence.

Since Brees left for New Orleans after the 2005 season, the Chargers have won four of five division championships. Still, it's the one outstanding division championship that haunts Philip Rivers and the Chargers.

San Diego starts out slow every year. In most of those seasons, the Chargers looked cooked at about the halfway point. In every one of those seasons, the Chargers got hot and the team they were chasing choked.

That happened in every season except 2010. The Chargers started off slow and got hot, just not hot enough. The Chiefs put the division away and forced the Chargers to watch the playoffs from home.

The 2011 season is shaping up differently. The Chargers are a respectable 3-1. What's more, unlike other seasons, no other AFC West team is starting hot.

Kansas City Chiefs

The defending division champions are cooked. They are 1-3 and their only win came against the winless Minnesota Vikings.

With three of their best players out for the year, the Chiefs will be lucky to finish out of the division cellar this year.

Denver Broncos

The Broncos are just a mess. Kyle Orton is the quarterback, but he's far from the people's choice. Still, head coach John Fox hasn't seemed to budge. 

Denver doesn't seem to have much of a chance this year. Facing San Diego this week means a likely loss, with the team likely to fall to 1-4. At that point, the division is pretty much out of reach.

Oakland Raiders

Relax, Raiders fans. I saved you for last for a good reason. The Raiders are by far the team with the best chance against San Diego this year.

The Raiders won all six divisional games in 2010. While that's not likely to happen again, they do match up well with a lot of teams.

After beating the Broncos in Week 1, Oakland played a tough game against the Bills, beat the Jets and were a few terrible mistakes away from at least being competitive with the Patriots.

You can throw around all the "could haves" and "should haves" that you want, but the Raiders are still 2-2. They take way too many costly penalties and are going to have a hard time stopping anyone on defense.

I'm not saying that the Raiders need to beat the Texans in Week 5, but they do need to be competitive. A blowout loss in Houston will lead to another season that's not bad, but is disappointing.

Michael Dixon's Week 5 NFL Power Rankings

Team	Record
1. Green Bay Packers	4-0
2. Detroit Lions	4-0
3. New Orleans Saints	3-1
4. Baltimore Ravens	3-1
5. Houston Texans	3-1
6. Buffalo Bills	3-1
7. New England Patriots	3-1
8. San Diego Chargers	3-1
9. Washington Redskins	3-1
10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers	3-1
11. New York Giants	3-1
12. San Francisco 49ers	3-1
13. Tennessee Titans	3-1
14. Pittsburgh Steelers	2-2
15. Oakland Raiders	2-2
16. New York Jets	2-2
17. Chicago Bears	2-2
18. Atlanta Falcons	2-2
19. Dallas Cowboys	2-2
20. Philadelphia Eagles	1-3
21. Cincinnati Bengals	2-2
22. Carolina Panthers	1-3
23. Cleveland Browns	2-2
24. Arizona Cardinals	1-3
25. Seattle Seahawks	1-3
26. Jacksonville Jaguars	1-3
27. Denver Broncos	1-3
28. Kansas City Chiefs	1-3
29. Indianapolis Colts	0-4
30. St. Louis Rams	0-4
31. Minnesota Vikings	0-4
32. Miami Dolphins	0-4