KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- On the brink of extinction three weeks ago, the Kansas City Chiefs find themselves right back in the playoff chase, just one game behind Seattle in the AFC West with four weeks remaining.

	Tamarick Vanover's punt return provided the decisive touchdown in the Chiefs' win at Denver on Sunday.

And three of their final four games are in Arrowhead Stadium, where the Chiefs are 4-1 and have been virtually unbeatable for most of this decade.

The Chiefs (7-5) won their second tough road game in a row Sunday, scoring the only points of the second half to defeat Denver 16-10. A week ago, Kansas City rallied from a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to win 37-34 at Oakland.

On Nov. 21, after losing at home to Seattle 31-19, the Chiefs trailed the Seahawks in the AFC West by three games. But Seattle has lost two straight while the Chiefs have won two in a row.

They are only one game behind Buffalo and Miami for the fifth and sixth AFC playoff spots. In just two weeks, the Chiefs have gone from near-despair to anticipation.

Now, they have a favorable schedule.

Kansas City's only road game the rest of the way is at Seattle on Dec. 26. At home, the Chiefs have Minnesota, Pittsburgh and Oakland.

"When I took over the program I knew there were things wrong," said Gunther Cunningham, elevated from defensive coordinator after last year's 7-9 season to replace 10-year head coach Marty Schottenheimer. "We really tried to exorcise all the problems out. But the character issues and discipline issues came up.

"I think we've done a good job of directing the team. I think it lost its direction. We lost our way in the forest. But we've got good structure, good direction and the players are really into it."

The victories at Oakland and Denver also have put a positive spin on what everyone agreed would be a crucial five-game stretch leading up to the final month of the season. In the past five weeks, the Chiefs have sandwiched four road games around one home game with the Seahawks. They were 0-3 in that stretch before winning the last two.

Now, if they can just go 2-2 these next four, they'll finish 9-7 and possibly be in the postseason picture. A 3-1 spurt would almost certainly put them there.

"The biggest disappointment I have is the Seattle game," said Cunningham, who gave his players Monday off. "I figured in the five-game stretch, if we could split the away games and win the home game, we'd be in real good shape."

It didn't work out that way.

"Now we had to scramble and play two of our top rivals and beat them at their place with tremendous crowds behind them," Cunningham said. "I came out of it feeling even more positive about our team than if we'd split and took the Seattle game."

Cunningham said center Tim Grunhard, a mainstay on the offensive line who left the game Sunday with a hip injury, would be ready this week against Minnesota.

"Tim is like an old school player for us. He's a real warrior," Cunningham said. "I think he'll be OK. If there's any way Tim can play, he will."