Chargers in limbo in AFC West

As the Broncos and Chiefs surge, injuries and poor play have muted 3-0 start.

- BY SAM FARMER

QUARTERBACK Justin Herbert will look to unravel the Vikings' defense.

(ERIC THAYER Los Angeles Times)

There’s a chasm forming in the AFC West between the good teams and bad.

On one side are the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos, who for different reasons are climbing the charts. On the other are the Las Vegas Raiders, who are lousy.

The Chargers, who have lost three of four, are hovering over the divide, hoping to get some key players back from injuries quickly and return to their form of earlier this season. They're like a sports car that’s really difficult to beat when finely tuned, but more often in the shop.

The Chargers play host to Minnesota on Thursday night, and despite their various injuries on the offensive line and recent inability to adequately protect Justin Herbert, should be able to take advantage of the Vikings’ issues at quarterback. Carson Wentz will follow a couple of good throws with something wildly off-target.

This is a much different division than in the first month of the season, when the Chargers opened with victories over the Chiefs, Raiders and Broncos weeks in consecutive Kansas City's offense and Denver's defense are two of the best units in the NFL, and each is on a record-setting pace.