Denver ? The Denver Broncos returned from their bye week determined to find a ground game so they could keep their quarterback clean and their defense fresh.

In short, they want to be just like the Kansas City Chiefs.

The Broncos (2-6) stumbled through the season’s first half with a turnstile offensive line that couldn’t bore holes for a banged up backfield or plug the pass rush that turned Kyle Orton into a punching bag.

Unable to control the clock or correct their offensive imbalance and penchant for penalties, they were overexposed on defense, wearing down by the fourth quarter and losing three close games.

The Chiefs (5-3), who visit Invesco Field today, are atop the AFC West precisely because they’re doing everything the Broncos aren’t.

They’re the epitome of offensive balance: Matt Cassel has thrown for 1,412 yards while a bruising backfield led by Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones has rushed for 1,437 yards.

Cassel has been sacked 11 times, half as much as Orton.

“It’s important to have a balanced attack, and we’ve been doing a pretty good job all year keeping it balanced and mixing and matching both pass and run but also getting us in manageable third-down situations,” Cassel said. “And we’ve got two great halfbacks right now that have been doing a great job for us all year.

“And that definitely helps me because it takes some of that pass rush off, and you don’t become one-dimensional.”

Orton is envious.

“We’ve hurt ourselves so much that half the time we’re in second-and-15, third-and-12. I mean, all you’re going to get is pass rush in those situations, and you’re going to get their best pass rush,” Orton said.

With a keep-em-guessing offense, the Chiefs have eaten up yards and clock, keeping their defenders fresh, and the result is a plus-6 turnover differential and a turnaround from last year’s 4-12 campaign.

The Chiefs boast the league’s best rushing attack, anchored by Broncos castoff Casey Wiegmann, a veteran center who Denver coach Josh McDaniels criticized last summer as too old, too weak and too slow.

Too bad.

The 37-year-old Wiegmann is doing just fine in Kansas City, where he returned this season after a two-year stint in Denver that included a Pro Bowl berth in 2008.

Wiegmann didn’t seem bitter or upset when told of McDaniels’ comments earlier this season.

“That’s what they told me when they called me and said they were going to release me, that they were going to go with a bigger offensive line, a more powerful running game,” he said.

The Broncos have certainly gotten younger, bigger, stronger and quicker — but not any better.

The Chiefs? They’re older, slower and smaller up front, but much improved.