Well, whatever wasn't added to the KC Defense, it was worth 4 punts, a fake punt attempt, and an interception. That's 6 more stops than last year, right?

There are some troublesome aspects to the performance, however. Obviously, giving up 5 TDs and 470 yards of passing is never a good thing. If the Chiefs offense hadn't been clicking on all cylinders, this would have been a loss.

On the other hand, there is a great deal of reason for optimism.

First, KC was missing three significant defenders. Monty Biesel (who has been a solid starter, playing at near-pro-bowl level at times), Dexter McLeon (a former starter who is a clear upgrade over Battle or Sapp as the 3rd corner), and Junior Siavii (a disruptive force on a handful of plays every single game) were all out, and all should be back next week.

Second, we held the Colts to 10 rushes for 34 yards in the first half, quite an improvement over last year's porous run defense. With our lead, the Colts were forced to abandon the run, never attempting one in the second half. Sure, Manning sliced and diced our defense even without the run as a change of pace, but that's what Manning does, and does perhaps better than anyone else. Perhaps this would have been a good week to pull a time-of-possession dominance offense like we did against the Ravens, but it still worked out to a "W".

Third, Manning has been sacked only 4 times all year. We didn't add to that total...but we got pressure. He missed wide-open receivers on at least 3 occasions that I saw due solely to the pressure brought by 4th-round-pick Jared "No Significant Addition" Allen or Eric Hicks.

Fourth, the defense did what it needed to. It wasn't dominant, but it defused the Colt's offense in the end. No one can really stop Manning and the Colts, especially with the emergence of a plethora of receiving threats in Pollard, Wayne, Stokely, Clark, James, and, of course, Harrison. But we did largely contain them. As such, this was another step in the improvement of the defense. We are already in the top 10 overall (Wonder of Wonders!), unless the passing yards we allowed drop us out this week, but we should continue to improve by a noticeable amount through the rest of the season.

It could have been an easier win: the interference call on Eric Warfield on 3rd down was absolutley bogus: it was a perfect defensive play. Naturally, the very next play was a 50-yard TD pass to Harrison.

Around the AFC:
What's up with the Denver Broncos? I originally said that I thought that because of the pre-season success that KC was the more polished defense and team overall, apparently I had it exactly backward. They started strong, but have had more and more embarassing lapses as the season has gone on. They may be able to right themselves and maintain their lead for the Division crown...or they may collapse. Obviously, you know which one I want.

What's up with San Diego? Can you imagine how good they would have been if they had traded down for some extra talent and let someone else have Rivers? Shoot, they don't need him anymore. He's got too much talent to ride the pine, but Drew Brees is looking too good to let go. If Kansas City can't maintain their progress on defense and offense, I think San Diego actually has the best chance to win the AFC West. I can't tell you how much it pains me to admit that.

What's up with the Raiders? Well, it looks like another bad year for them. I guess Norv Turner wasn't the answer...

In any case, I think the key for Kansas City's resurrection from the dead is the remaining AFC West games. The scheduler was kind enough to let KC play most of the dates in the 2nd half of the season, after the offense had time to find its pace and after the defense had time to gel (if, in fact, it turns out that way). I think if KC wins the rest of the AFC West games, they'll win the division. The non-division opponents include Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Tennessee, and New England. With KC's performances the last two weeks, combined with the dominance over the Ravens, even a win against the Patriots doesn't seem unlikely. The thing is, with San Diego twice, Denver, and the non-division opponents, there are no certain wins. On the other hand, there are no certain losses. The scariest games, in my opinion, are vs San Diego in San Diego (because they are a good team and we lose the Arrowhead advantage) and the Patriots (because they are a good enough team to negate the Arrowhead advantage).
In any case, before I get too busy chasing my own tail, if KC manages to beat San Diego twice, and beats Oakland twice and Denver at home (as I fully expect), then that puts them at 8-4, and allows them one loss to one of the other teams (probably Tennessee) but still end up 11-5, which would probably be enough to win the division. Losing any of the AFC West games would require defeating all non-division opponents to reach 11 wins, which might be impossible. 10-6 will probably not be enough to get more than a wild-card spot. Luckily, we have the tie-breaker for a wild-card slot against the Ravens and the Colts.

It's going to get interesting. I honestly didn't think KC had it in them to improve this much after the heart-breaking loss to the Jaguars. I hope we don't end up getting burned by that last-second lapse.