While elevating the Chiefs into the playoff race, Damon Huard also has opened the door to a potential QB controversy in K.C. Al Tielemans/SI

3. The AFC West will become the most compelling division in football: I figured the NFC East or the NFC South would hold this distinction when this season began. Now I can't help noticing how competitive the AFC West has become with the Chiefs riding a three-game winning streak and the inspirational performances of quarterback Damon Huard, who's been filling in since Green sustained a severe concussion in a season-opening loss to Cincinnati.

Denver and San Diego still share first with 6-2 records, but each is vulnerable. The Broncos have struggled on offense all season while the Chargers are now playing without their top three outside linebackers when the season started (Steve Foley is out for the season after being shot in September, Pro Bowler Shawne Merriman is serving a four-game suspension for violating the league's policy on banned substances and Shaun Phillips is nursing a calf injury). Meanwhile, the Chiefs are 5-3 and looking at four divisional games in the second half of the season. While no other division can claim more than one team playing consistently good football, the AFC West has a clear-cut trio doing just that.

4. Bill Cowher's future in Pittsburgh is going to become a bigger issue: The Steelers coach has to know this is coming. If his team had been winning games, there wouldn't be any reason to dive back into the media firestorm that former Steelers running back Jerome Bettis created this offseason when he said Cowher might retire after this year. Now that Pittsburgh is 2-6 and headed nowhere, what else will Steelers fans have to discuss in the coming weeks? The fact is that Cowher and the Steelers haven't come to an agreement on a new deal -- the team doesn't negotiate contracts during the season and Cowher still has one year remaining on his current package -- and at some point we have to wonder if any of that uncertainty factored into Pittsburgh's struggles.

5. The Chicago Bears will be as dominant in the second half of the season as they were in the first eight weeks: For all those people who think Miami exposed the Bears in last Sunday's 31-13 win, please take a couple deep breaths and sit down. As this season has proven, any team can get thumped if it isn't on its game. The Bears had their second bad weekend of the year and they couldn't escape this time in the same way they slipped past Arizona a few weeks back. It happens. I'll say this as well: All the skeptics who claim Chicago hasn't played anybody yet need to check the standings. There are a handful of teams that are worthy challengers for any playoff hopeful. After that, there's an awful lot of mediocrity passing itself off as parity.