Three weeks ago, the Kansas City Chiefs trailed the Seattle Seahawks by three games in the AFC West and seemed a long shot for a wild-card playoff berth in a conference in which nearly two-thirds of the teams had winning records.

	Jon Kitna and the Seahawks have watched their three-game lead disappear in the AFC West.

Three weeks later, Kansas City is tied for first in its division, courtesy of Seattle's three-game losing streak and its victory over Minnesota on Sunday night that typifies how hard it is this season for any team to win easily.

In this case, the Chiefs blew a 21-0 lead, gave up a 64-yard punt return by Randy Moss to tie the score with less than two minutes left, then won anyway on Pete Stoyanovich's 38-yard field goal with three seconds remaining.

But that's the way of the NFL this season -- everyone struggles.

Two of the three teams that have clinched playoff spots, Indianapolis and St. Louis (both 11-2), were a combined 7-25 last season. Those two and Jacksonville (11-1), the other team assured of a playoff spot, are about the only teams that haven't struggled, unless you put the Jaguars' 6-3 victory over Baltimore a month ago in that category.

But things have reached the point that Carolina, disregarded all season, suddenly has a legitimate shot at a playoff berth with a 6-7 record and the easiest schedule of any contender.

In any case, here's a capsule look:

Sizing up the AFC
The Colts need to win one more or have Buffalo lose one more and they wrap up the East. They won't lose three, so consider the East wrapped up. They also trail the Jaguars by a half-game pending tonight's visit by Denver to Jacksonville.

That accounts for the East and Central.

The West?

Seattle's "safe" lead is gone. Two of their remaining games are on the road against the Jets and Broncos, two losing teams who were winners last year and play most games hard. The other is at home against the Chiefs, the likely division-decider.

Kansas City's non-Seattle games should be easier -- although again, nothing's easy. The Chiefs are home against struggling Pittsburgh, a loser of five straight, next Saturday and finish against at home against Oakland, whom they've beaten in 18 of their last 20 meetings.

Wild cards?

Tennessee (10-3) will be one unless Jacksonville lets the Titans back in the Central race. Right now, the other spots would go to two teams among the sliding Dolphins, the Bills and the West loser (all 8-5).

New England (7-6) is in trouble -- Drew Bledsoe even apologized to owner Robert Kraft after the 20-15 loss in Indianapolis.

"He spent too much money to have us play like this," the Patriots quarterback said. "It's not his fault, it's ours."

Sizing up the NFC
The Rams have clinched the West, but everything else is up in the air.

Watch two sleepers: Dallas (7-6) and Carolina (6-7).

The Cowboys trail Washington by one game in the East but hold the tiebreaker because they beat the Redskins twice. They also have two games -- the Jets and Giants at home, where they're 6-0 and face New Orleans (2-11) in their only road game.

Washington, on the other hand, must play at Indianapolis next week. If the Redskins lose that and Dallas wins its last three, the Cowboys win the division. The Giants (7-6) are 9-0 in December in Jim Fassel's three seasons as coach, but though they managed to win in Buffalo on Sunday, they still have to play at St. Louis, at home to Minnesota and at Dallas.

Tampa Bay's win over Detroit gives the Bucs the upper hand in the Central, and while the Lions still control their fate in the wild-card race, they still have two road games.

The Packers and Vikings are in the 7-6 bunch with the Cowboys and Giants, but Carolina is lurking after its stunning 33-31 victory in Green Bay.

Why?

If there are any guaranteed wins this season, the Panthers have them -- they're home to San Francisco, at Pittsburgh and home to New Orleans, who have a combined record of 11-28. They hold the tiebreaker over the Packers, and the other wild-card contenders will be beating each other.

"That's about the most fun I've had winning a game," said coach George Seifert, who has won two Super Bowls, after Steve Beuerlein scored on a fourth-down quarterback draw on the game's final play.

More fun would be making the playoffs, a pretty decent possibility.