SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The San Diego Chargers can control their path to the playoffs -- if they can start

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The San Diego Chargers can control their path to the playoffs -- if they can start winning more than once every four games.
Then again, the AFC West rival Denver Broncos control their destiny, too. So do the Oakland Raiders.
With five weeks left in the regular season, the Broncos, Chargers and Raiders are 7-4, making the AFC West the tightest division in a conference where almost everyone has a shot at the playoffs.
The Broncos, coming off another disappointing loss under the lights, and the Chargers, who've been pushed around a lot since starting 6-1, will take a small step toward sorting out the deadlock when they play Sunday.
"Teams are scrambling to try to do whatever they can to get in the playoffs," Denver receiver Rod Smith said.
Winning would sure help. The Broncos have dropped two of three, including last Sunday night's 23-20 home overtime loss to Indianapolis and a 34-10 home loss to Oakland on Nov. 11. All four of the Broncos' losses have been at night, three at Denver.
The Chargers are in a bigger funk, having dropped three of four. They were manhandled in losing 30-3 at Miami last weekend. If not for a missed field goal in overtime by the now-unemployed Jose Cortez two weeks ago against San Francisco, they'd be looking at a four-game losing streak.
Plus, the Broncos already clocked the Chargers once this season, winning 26-9 in Denver. The Broncos had lost at Baltimore the previous Monday night and took out their frustration on the Chargers.
The Broncos have won four of five in San Diego and nine of 11 overall in the series.
"If you want to get to the playoffs, you've got to win this game," said Smith, who gave his teammates a tongue-lashing after Sunday night's loss. "That's kind of what it boils down to for a lot of teams in the AFC. If you don't step up to the challenge, then when January comes, you'll be watching the playoffs."
The Chargers are used to being parked in front of their TVs after New Year's Day, having missed the playoffs the last six seasons, the NFL's second-longest active drought.
The Chargers better hope things really have turned around under coach Marty Schottenheimer. In the last six seasons, they're 10-39 in the last two months of the season. In the last six Decembers, they're just 4-20.
"This is a must-win, but it's not a must-must-win," Chargers safety Rodney Harrison said. "It's not like it's the end of the world for whichever team loses.
"But I think it really puts you in the driver's seat if you win. It gives you the ability to control your own destiny, because now you're 8-4, and now you have two games out of four that you have to win, instead of three out of four. It's a big difference. One game means a lot."
The division race likely will go down to the final weekend. The Chargers host the Raiders next Sunday, and the Broncos play at Oakland on Dec. 22.
Tight end Shannon Sharpe could be back for the Broncos, but coach Mike Shanahan said that decision might not be made until Sunday. Sharpe partially separated his right elbow against Oakland on Nov. 11. He was expected to miss up to a month, but returned to practice Wednesday.
Quarterback Brian Griese also returned to practice Wednesday for the first time since spraining his left knee against Seattle on Nov. 17. But Steve Beuerlein will make his second straight start.
"We believe we're as good as anybody in the league," Beuerlein said. "So do we feel we should be able to take our division? Sure we do. But we can't stumble like we've been stumbling. We've lost two or three games that we had no business losing."
The Chargers feel the same way, but their defense and offense are showing some pretty big cracks.
The Chargers allowed 222 yards rushing to the Dolphins, including 143 by Ricky Williams, and were outgained 413-144. San Diego's defense was ranked No. 1 in the league after loading up on patsies to open the season, but after playing tougher teams, it's tumbled to 27th.
Running back LaDainian Tomlinson was held to 45 yards on 14 carries, the third-lowest total of his two-year career. Tomlinson surrendered the NFL rushing lead to Kansas City's Priest Holmes, who gained 197 yards in a loss to Seattle. Holmes leads Tomlinson, 1,209 yards to 1,098.
Drew Brees threw another interception, giving him the same number of pickoffs as TD passes, 12.
And here come the Broncos, with the league's top-ranked run defense, as well as impressive rookie runner Clinton Portis (836 yards). In the Chargers' loss at Denver, Tomlinson was held to just 48 yards.
Harrison doesn't have an answer for the Chargers' struggles.
"But we're still in first. That must tell you something right there," he said. "Guys are playing hard, guys are working hard. Eventually it's going to have to come together if we want to get to where we want to be."