After Week 6 of this season the Kansas City Chiefs were a miserable 1-5 while the Denver Broncos were a perfect 6-0. The AFC West was all but over, right?

Wrong.

The Chiefs have now won their last eight consecutive games to pull just one game back of the Broncos in the division. How the tables have turned. At the moment the Chiefs are 9-5, which is good enough for the No. 5 seed in the AFC. The No. 6 seed Pittsburgh Steelers hold the second wild card spot, but the Chiefs hold the tiebreaker over Mike Tomlin's squad because they beat them in Week 7. If the season were to end today, the Chiefs would play the Houston Texans in the first round.

But if this trend continues, the Chiefs won't be a wild card team. They could actually win the division. The Chiefs would get the tiebreaker over the Broncos if the two teams had identical records at the end of the year because the Chiefs have a superior divisional record. The Chiefs are 4-1 against AFC West teams whereas the Broncos are just 3-2.

This is going to get really interesting down the stretch. The Broncos have won the AFC West the last four consecutive seasons.

Speaking of the Broncos, they are in the middle of a little slump. Brock Osweiler has done very good (for a backup quarterback) filling in for Peyton Manning, but back-to-back losses to the Oakland Raiders and Steelers certainly leaves some doubt on whether or not this team can hold onto the division lead. To makes things worse for the Broncos, they have a more difficult schedule in the final two games. The Chiefs no longer play any teams with a winning record. However, the Broncos still have to face the Cincinnati Bengals next week. In other words, if the Chiefs beat the Cleveland Browns next week and the Bengals beat the Broncos, that means the Chiefs will be in first place in the AFC West.

Alex Smith is playing like a former No. 1 overall draft pick, and the addition of Jeremy Maclin has proven to be one of the best. The Chiefs went through a huge drought of not being able to connect with a wide receiver in the end zone, but Maclin has six touchdowns this year. What's so impressive about the Chiefs winning streak is the fact that they are doing it without their star running back, Jamaal Charles.

The Broncos are in a little "funk" right now, but they still control their own destiny. As long as the Broncos win their final two games, they will automatically win the division. One can't fault the Broncos defense too much for allowing so many points against the high powered Steelers. Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders will be in for a big task against the Bengals defense next week. The Bengals won't have Andy Dalton starting for them, but then again, AJ McCarron has looked pretty good early on.

The final two weeks are going to determine the winner of the AFC West and landscape of the AFC playoff picture. The only question now is, which team will rise up?

Follow Damon Salvadore on Twitter @DamonSalvadore1