SAN DIEGO — There's a Rocky Mountain Sigh and a Surf City Slump.

Welcome to the mild, mild AFC West, where at the season's midpoint, the late Pete Rozelle's vision of parity is being played out in the form of some really rotten football.

The San Diego Chargers' training staff should check to see if any of its players were hurt when they jumped off their couches or bar stools in celebration Sunday after the Denver Broncos, who sit atop the NFL's worst division, tanked at home against the Miami Dolphins. It was the first time in weeks the two-time defending division champion Chargers made up ground on the Broncos, and San Diego wasn't even playing.

With the bottom-feeding Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders out of contention since opening day, Denver and San Diego will fight it out in a stretch run that might more resemble sailors on shore leave. The winner could stagger home at 9-7 or even 8-8.

It might not be decided until Dec. 28, when the Broncos visit the Chargers in a regular-season finale. That'll be two days before Qualcomm Stadium hosts the Holiday Bowl, which is bound to be a much game better because it will feature a Big 12 team.

In a raging nod to futility, the division went winless on Sunday. The Chargers were safe from the carnage because of their bye.

Denver Broncos (4-4)

While every other division leader is at least two games above .500, the fast-fading Broncos are the best the AFC West has to offer.

After a 3-0 start, the bumbling Broncos have lost four of five. Not only would they have taken a two-game lead over the Stupor Chargers had they beaten Miami, but they could have extended it to 2 1/2 games with a win on Thursday night at Cleveland.

Maybe the Ed Hochuli effect has been reversed.

On Sunday against Miami, Brandon Marshall's career-best 77-yard touchdown grab was negated by a borderline push-off penalty.

Seven weeks earlier, the Chargers were left stunned and 0-2 when referee Ed Hochuli blew a call late in a game between the dynamic duo at Denver. Although they should have lost possession on Jay Cutler's fumble, the Broncos instead scored easily against the Chargers' porous defense and then got a 2-point conversion for a 39-38 win.

Really, that 4-4 is a lot worse than it looks. There are no style points for a team that not only was embarrassed at New England on national TV, but lost to — yikes! — the Chiefs.

Grade: D-plus.

San Diego Chargers (3-5)

The Bolts simply aren't as good as a lot of people figured they were at the start of the year, when they were a popular pick to make it to the Super Bowl. Losers of three of their last four, the team that reached last season's AFC championship game is either guilty of fawning over its preseason press clippings or looking past opponents.

They're one of the NFL's most disappointing teams. The Chargers have congratulated themselves profusely in recent years for building up depth — "Line 'em up three deep and let 'em compete" — is how dour GM A.J. Smith puts it.

But when Shawne "Lights Out" Merriman was lost to knee surgery after the opener, the defense lost its juice. Trying to avoid an utter collapse, Norv Turner, who is 72-92-1 overall as an NFL head coach, fired defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell, a personal favorite of Smith's, during the bye week. He was replaced with Ron Rivera, who won a Super Bowl ring as a player with Chicago and was the Bears' D-coordinator during their Super Bowl season of 2006.

There was a time when Smith couldn't miss with personnel moves. But two high draft picks over the last two years, wide receiver Craig Davis and running back Jacob Hester, aren't contributing. Forcing safety Eric Weddle into the starting lineup has been a reach and the Bolts clearly miss fullback Lorenzo Neal's blocking.

QB Philip Rivers is the only one who's played with any consistency, and he's been plagued by turnovers the last two games.

San Diego plays five of its last eight games at home, including visits from all three punching bags from the division. As a bonus, the Chargers play the Chiefs twice.

For perspective, only the Chiefs, Raiders and Bengals have fewer wins than the Chargers in the AFC.

Grade: D-minus.

Oakland Raiders (2-6)

The Black Hole doesn't scare anybody anymore, even though it's still Halloween there every Sunday.

Even owner Al Davis got into the act, pretending to be a lawyer when he fired coach Lane Kiffin on Sept. 30.

Davis, whose franchise desperately tries to hold onto the long-faded glory of decades past, said he fired Kiffin "for cause," meaning he doesn't intend to pay the ex-coach for the remainder of his contract.

He might want to do the same with his offense, which gained only 77 yards in a 24-0 loss to Atlanta, its lowest output in 47 years.

Grade: F.

Kansas City Chiefs (1-7)

It's been a nightmare in Kansas City. The Chiefs are in such a rebuilding mode that they really should strike a stadium naming rights deal with Home Depot.

The ugliness isn't limited to the field, where coach Herm Edwards has numerous rookies on the roster and lost his Nos. 1 and 2 quarterbacks in the same game.

Running back Larry Johnson was suspended for next Sunday's game at San Diego by commissioner Roger Goodell for violating the league's personal conduct policy. Johnson already was deactivated the last three weeks by the Chiefs. He was charged last week with simple assault for spitting his drink in a woman's face on Oct. 10, the fourth time in five years Johnson has been accused of assaulting a woman.

The Chiefs led Tampa Bay by three touchdowns late in the second quarter Sunday, but lost in overtime, missing a chance for their second victory in more than a calendar year.

Grade: F.