There has been, to quote a certain celluloid dark side of the Force user, an awakening. Have you felt it?
The rest of the AFC West certainly has.
The NFL’s long-slumbering Dark Lords of the Sith -- hey, Lyle Alzado was called Darth Raider -- have come to life after an unlucky 13 years of irrelevancy, perhaps a season sooner than observers thought. Or did you miss the Oakland Raiders’ 30-20 thumping of the defending Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos in prime time Sunday night in the Black Hole?
An awakening? There has been a cultural shift in the AFC West through nine weeks, as Oakland sits atop the division at 7-2 after physically beating up on Denver.