FanHouse KawikaMitchell

It was a surprise when the Bills drafted Penn State defensive end Aaron Maybin 11th overall in the April draft (especially since Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters had been recently shipped to Philadelphia and there was a gaping hole along the offensive line). Less surprising, perhaps, is that, two weeks into training camp, Maybin still remains unsigned.

It happens every August: the draft's top 10-15 picks play hurry up and wait while their agents work through contract details, making sure that, say, the 11th selection doesn't get a bigger signing bonus than the player chosen just ahead of him. It becomes tedious and frustrating for fans and rookies, and it doesn't take long for the accusations to fly. Usually in the direction of a 20-something kid just out of college suddenly thrust into the spotlight.

It's funny how an NFL season can play out. When the Broncos and Chargers played in Week Two, the game was decided on one of the worst refereeing calls in NFL history. One of the many (printable) things that people said was how awful it would be if the Chargers wound up missing out on the playoffs because of that call. No Broncos were quoted as saying that, but, based on the way they've steadfastly refused to win the AFC West, some of them must feel that way.

Because they are so giving, the Broncos must now go to San Diego and play the Chargers for a spot in the playoffs. The division title and the Week Two debacle give plenty of heft to the game, not to mention the long-simmering feud between Philip Rivers and Jay Cutler, which makes it a lot easier to ignore the fact that neither team has proven themselves particularly worthy of a postseason slot this season.

The Broncos certainly didn't today. They couldn't beat a Bills team with nothing to play for today even though they racked up 532 total yards on offense, 260 more than they allowed the Bills. The Broncos, who led 13-0 at one point, made every mistake in the game, however. They missed a field goal, fumbled to set up a Buffalo score and, most damning, Cutler threw a pick to Kawika Mitchell on the Buffalo goal line to erase a chance at a game-tying score.

First of all: congrats to Tom Coughlin and the Giants for not laying down against the Patriots last night. They had absolutely no reason to play their starters, and could've used the extra week's rest to prepare for their wild-card matchup against the Buccaneers next week. Instead, New York almost upset the previously unbeaten Patriots.

But in the harsh light of day, these are some stark realities for the Giants: three starters were injured on Saturday night, and if you believe in such things, the team expended a lot of emotional energy in the loss. Center Shaun O'Hara and linebacker Kawika Mitchell left the game with knee injuries, and cornerback Sam Madison was sidelined with an abdominal strain.

Now the question becomes: how serious are the injuries? Followed closely by: when will the Giants play their first-round game? The New York Times' Fifth Down blog offers a hint:

The most frustrating part of being a Giants fan over the last three years has been the overwhelming amount of injuries. Not once in those three years have the Giants managed to play through a season without a significant injury. In fact, they'd consider it a good year if they only suffered a single significant injury.

Unfortunately, with a little over a week to go until the regular season begins, the Giants are once again facing those injury demons. It began early in the offseason when fullback Jim Finn was placed on injured reserve with a torn labrum and was promptly followed by cornerback Michael Stone going down with a hip injury.

Over the course of the next few weeks, the Giants lost tight end Darcy Johnson (knee), wide receiver Michael Jennings (Achilles), defensive tackle Marcus Bell (knee) and defensive end Dek Bake (back).

Things started fast and ended strong for the New York Jets tonight as they handed the Giants their second loss of the preseason. Although they hit a rough stretch after their first offensive series, back-up quarterback Kellen Clemens (6 of 8 for 122 yards and a rushing touchdown) was able to revive the team in the second half and eventually lead them to victory.

While Jets fans can be thankful for Clemens, they have to be questioning their faith in Chad Pennington after his second straight poor performance. Although he had one nice completion (79 yards) to Leon Washington on the first play of the game, it was all down hill from there. Over the next seven series, the Jets managed a total of zero yards. To Pennington's credit, the Giants first team defense was absolutely dominating the line of scrimmage and their blitzes were well disguised.

Another plus for the Jets would be the performance of undrafted rookie free agent Danny Ware, who managed 57 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Although he was playing against defensive substitutes, he showed great field awareness and some rather impressive and crisp cuts.

The next two issues I'll explore in the Chiefs' offseason gameplan is what they will do with their kicker and linebacker situation.

Kicker:
This time last year, I was excited about Lawrence Tynes returning to the Chiefs. He overcame major adversity in 2005 and finished with a very strong season. In 2006, he wasn't bad, but he was wildly inconsistent. Still, the Chiefs have to be absolutely fed up with this inconsistency. Arguably, his lax approach to kicking a chip shot field goal in the playoffs against Indianapolis is believed by many to have been the turning point of the game.

Quite simply, there is no excuse for missing a chip shot field goal in a dome, especially in the playoffs. Tynes is known to have constant lapses in concentration, which is why he has struggled very often at times at making extra points. It also doesn't help that Tynes has a weak leg for kicking off.

What will the Chiefs do?
Expect the Chiefs to bring in some competition this offseason. I think the Chiefs will have to find a huge steal for them to consider cutting Tynes, but don't think that Tynes' job is even remotely safe.

Linebacker:
Okay, so I have also heard from many that linebacker is a high priority position for the Chiefs. I don't buy it. The Chiefs are just fine at linebacker. Sure, Kendrell Bell is a little overpaid, but I also don't believe he's nearly as bad as people think he is.

I will have to disagree, and rather strongly, with an assessment Ryan made in the blog below. You see, the defense actually showed a lot, and the defense is the lone reason why I'm not down about the rest of the season.

The defense had their hiccups, and that's to be expected. They are once again learning a new system. But aside from the second quarter, the defense looked active, they put some pressure on Carson Palmer, they broke up important third down pass plays, and they actually made tackles.

Look, giving up 23 points to Cincinnati is nothing to be ashamed of, particularly given the number of bad turnovers made by the Chiefs and the terrific starting field position the Bengals often got. Perhaps the only bad thing I can say about the defense was that they were unprepared for the Bengals' no-huddle offense. But for the first game of the season, they seemed to grasp Herm Edwards' / Gunther Cunningham's new defensive gameplan quite nicely.

What was evident? Tamba Hali will have an impact this year. Ty Law is making a difference in the secondary. Derrick Johnson and Kawika Mitchell are going to be very active and will make for a heck of a linebacker duo.

What was not so obvious, but encouraging? I think most important is that the Ron Edwards-James Reed-Ryan Sims-Lional Dalton rotation just may work. Those big bodies did a good job containing Rudi Johnson except the second quarter, when they were a little unorganized. They also got more push and pressured the quarterback better than the Chiefs' defensive line has at any time in recent memory.

So yes, count me as saying that the defense showed plenty. And the most encouraging part off the day is that a lot of awfully good teams played poorly in their first game. That alone should give Chiefs' fans some hope.

P.S. If you want my take, I am not up in arms over the hit on Trent Green. I have long chided referees for flagging defenders who could not stop themselves before hitting a QB, and I believe that was the case here, too. Jon disagrees with me, which he will explain later.