Updated

The AFC West is proving harder for the San Diego Chargers than most people thought it would be.

A week after having to rally to win at lowly Oakland, the Chargers were exposed in a home loss to Kansas City.

Now they've got a short week to prepare to face Peyton Manning and the Broncos in Denver on Thursday night.

A week ago, the Chargers were tied with Dallas and Philadelphia for the NFL's best record. Now the Chargers (5-2) don't even have the best record in the division.

Alex Smith was on the field far more than Philip Rivers was on Sunday, the Chargers were brutal on third down on both sides of the ball and there were too many missed tackles.

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