Five straight wins has earned the San Diego Chargers first place in the AFC West standings, and they appear perched for a sixth straight win over a Kansas City Chiefs team they have already beaten once this season, 37-7, at Arrowhead Stadium last month.

That Chargers victory followed a Monday Night Football home loss to the Denver Broncos, which moved the Mile High City’s team record to 6-0 and provided Denver a three game division lead. While San Diego had recovered from a poor start in 2008, winning the division on the final day of the regular season in a race made more difficult by a referee call that cost them a win against the Broncos at INVESCO Field in September, the prospect of having to overcome another big division deficit this year appeared a long-shot just one month ago.

But, today, San Diego sits atop the their division standings based on a winning streak that started five weeks ago in Kansas City, coupled with the Broncos losing four consecutive games before their Thanksgiving night win over the New York Giants. While some considered the Chargers running down the Broncos for a second consecutive season in their division race unlikely based on early season performances, San Diego has overcome all their September problems and reached their first place destination before Thanksgiving.

Wow, things must be really good in San Diego.

Do you think they enjoyed a great Thanksgiving Day off with their families and even the Broncos snapping their four game losing streak on Thursday night did little to dampen the Chargers confidence and bravado. Hell, they know they are going to win this division … just look at how well they’ve played since they dropped that Week Six Monday night decision to Denver.

What could go wrong now?

Alone in first place, no real threat posed by the teams chasing them in the AFC West, and a suddenly invigorated offense that is sparked not only by reliable quarterback Philip Rivers, but runningback LaDainian Tomlinson who appears to have located the fountain of youth to supercharge his recent play.

Man, this is good times in the Southland.

San Diego Head Coach Norv Turner may have to remind his players to save some of that champagne for after the game during this week’s halftime break that the Chargers anticipate will find them holding a commanding double-digit lead.

And why not? After all, they are playing a Chiefs team that they hammered 37-7 last month when they were concerned about the prospects of catching the Broncos and had more leaks on defense and misfiring on offense that a '36 Chevy with a bum engine and broken water hose on a cold morning. But, this San Diego team regrouped from that dismal state and visit to the edge of their abyss, to find the character to rise back to the top both in their division race and in the eyes of the football world.

“It is a lot more difficult to maintain excellence than it is to first achieve it,” Al Davis often said while he was maintaining excellence with the Raiders in Oakland during glory years in the mid 1970’s.

That statement is true today … true from a season-to-season perspective, and true week-to-week within a season.

San Diego flourished in recent games because they were challenged to do so … not sure they could catch the Broncos again, and wondering if the window on a Super Bowl run with Tomlinson in their backfield was closing without ever actualizing.

A lot of factors piled up on the motivational side that served to spike the Chargers performances in recent weeks; a spike missing this weekend.

Now, they have answered all questions. They can and did catch and pass the Broncos, Tomlinson is running with a youthful edge in recent games, and the defense has reasserted itself as formidable.

Problem is, with everything answered, the Chargers have no sprocket to catch in order to generate the motivation necessary to run away from the Chiefs when they meet this Sunday in San Diego. Whether the home team can win this game with the cloud of overconfidence in their forecast is debatable, while the question of whether they can win by double-digits out of this motivational makeup is not.

They can’t.

Qoxhi Picks: Kansas City Chiefs (+13½) over San Diego Chargers