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Michael Lombardi

Bookmark and Share Print This Send This August 16, 2008, 12:45 PM EST
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TONIGHTS GAMES….

There are ten games on tap tonight and questions about each team.  As the regular season draws closer, the weekend is not break time for all of us at the Post.  Before every Sunday's games, you will get a comphrensive insider's analysis of each game for your reading pleasure.  So please check us out over the weekend. 

What I will be looking for….

WASHINGTON REDSKINS AT NEW YORK JETS.... The beginning of the Brett Favre era in New York. 

1.     How Favre handles changing the play at the line.  It will be interesting to note if the Jets have given him some latitude in the audible game.

2.     How Damien Woody handles the edge in pass protection

3.     How the Jets running backs will play.  Does Jesse Chatman have a role?  Remember, he played well for the Dolphins last year and when he was a restricted free agent the Chargers put a first-round tender on him.  While he may have some weight issues, the kid certainly does have talent. 

4.     How the Jets pass rush has improved.  They need to take a step forward in this game.

5.     How Redskin corner Carlos Rogers and linebacker Rocky McIntosh play coming off of their injuries. 

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS AT ATLANTA FALCONS

1.     How does Sam Baker, the left tackle of the Falcons, handle the speed and quickness of the Colts' defensive line? 

2.     How is Curtis Lofton, the middle linebacker of the Falcons, going to play?  He is a key part of the rebuilding of the Falcons' talent base. 

3.     Can the Falcon defensive corners hold up in the game?

4.     How does Marvin Harrison appear to be playing?

5.     The Colts need to have a big year from defensive tackle Raheem Brock.  They need his size and power inside. 

MIAMI DOLPHINS AT JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

1.     Ricky Williams playing and running the ball against a big front will be a key test for him.  So far, he has looked great in the pre season. 

2.     How Chad Henne has progressed from week one of the preseason.

3.     Ted Ginn needs to take a step forward and make a few plays in the game.

4.     Do the Jags have an outside rusher in Quinton Groves?  Last week he was trying to do too much and needs to get off the ball and up the field. 

5.     How former Jacksonville corner Brian Williams looks playing safety.  If he can handle the switch, this gives the Jags more speed and athletic ability inside. 

MINNESOTA VIKINGS AT BALTIMORE RAVENS

1.     This will be a good game for Tarvaris Jackson to prove he can throw the ball with accuracy and can make good decisions.  The Ravens on defense will run new schemes and will force Jackson to think and react quickly.  This is a good test. 

2.     How does Troy Smith play in the game?  The Ravens will struggle to run the ball and the burden to function on offense will fall onto Smith.  This is a good test for him. 

3.     The Ravens offensive line appears on paper to be outmatched in the game.  How it plays out on tape will be interesting. 

4.     The Vikings' receivers will face man-to-man in the game. How well they perform against it will be worth noting. 

5.     With Madieu Williams out and Tyrell Johnson injured, who will assume the strong safety role?

ARIZONA CARDINALS AT KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

1.     It will be interesting to determine the development of KC quarterback Brodie Croyle. The scheme of the Cards will cause some confusion and place some pressure on Croyle. 

2.     How the Chiefs offensive line plays in week two of the preseason.

3.     How the Chiefs corners match up early in the game to the very good wide outs of the Cardinals. 

4.     How Matt Leinart handles the pressure from the Chiefs defense and how accurate he is in the game.  Leinart tends to throw high when he gets wild. 

5.     Does Tim Hightower play as well in week two as he did in week one?

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS AT ST LOUIS RAMS

1.     Chargers will play many of their backups in the game and it will be a good evaluation for their second-line players. The Chargers will be cutting several NFL-caliber players at the final cut.  They have talent and depth. 

2.     If they don’t have Steven Jackson, who will be the running back for the Rams?

3.     Can the Rams handle the power of the Chargers defensive line? 

4.     How does Charger back-up quarterback Charlie Whitehurst look in the game?  Does he have a chance to be a legitimate second?

5.     Can the Rams defense play the Chargers running game well early?  This game might be a game of the Rams first team against the Chargers second team.  The Rams need to really scout this tape for their waiver wire claims. 

DALLAS COWBOYS AT DENVER BRONCOS

1.     Can the Denver offense handle the power of the Dallas defense?  Who will run the ball into the end zone when the Broncos are in goal-line offense?  The Broncos don’t have a power back. 

2.     Can the Broncos get any pass rush at all against the bigger and stronger Cowboy offensive line?

3.     How is the overall conditioning of the Cowboys and how will they handle the altitude in Denver?

4.     Cowboys special teams, have they improved this week?

5.     How does defensive tackle, Dwayne Robertson of the Broncos play? 

HOUSTON TEXANS AT NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

1.     Running back situation for the Saints.  Who is going to be the big back?

2.     Who will be the runner for the Texans?  Will it be Steve Slaton who looked so good in week one?

3.     Defensive tackles for the Saints.  Who will step in and take over for Hollis Thomas?

4.     Great match up for the Saints offensive line tonight.  How they handle the front line of the Texans. 

5.     Robert Meachem development.  Week one was great, what happens in week two?

GREEN BAY PACKERS AT SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

1.     49ers JT O’Sullivan needs to play well.  It will be a huge game for his career in SF.

2.     Week two of Aaron Rodger's development.  He should play well, as the 49ers are not a strong pass rush team.

3.     Justin Smith, DE of the 49ers.  Does he appear to be able to help their pass rush and how does his quickness look on the slow heavy grass of the 49ers home field. 

4.     How the 49ers wide outs run against the man-to-man coverage of the Packers corners?  

5.     How the Packers left guards play in the game.  49ers will be a 3-4 team and both guards will have to play in space well. 

CHICAGO BEARS AT SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

1.     How does the Bears defensive line play?  The key to the Bears defense will be the line. 

2.     Who manages the game the best for the Bears at quarterback?  Not plays the best, but manages it the best.

3.     Seattle running backs?  Mike Holmgren says he is going to use both all season, so who looks the best? 

4.     Seattle’s young wide outs.  How will they play in the game?

5.     The Devin Hester factor.  Has he become a part of the Bears offense or is he still just running an individual play? 

Comments

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Mr.Murder
Aug 16, 2008
01:52 PM

What about the Titans late win last night? It's fun to watch coaches give a d#mn about preseason.

Jeff Fisher always plays to win. Rob Ryan looked quite intense as well.

The Raiders left 14 points on the field with fumbles at their and the opponent's goal lines in each half. You have got to make those items matter.

A special teams turnover for a TD, and a fumble by a player who got no carries last year(I'm a huge Oren O'Neal fan).

The fumble looked like it wasn't placed high on his gut, Tuis had a reverse pivot to fake the halfback and Oneal didn't press the hole on his handoff. Since he has to usually track a bit wide of the guard, and starts from more shallow a position, that's on the QB in my book, he has to get it to the breadbasket.

Tuias is our 3rd stringer but you gotta love his enthusiasm. You could say he got the handoff close enough, but it isn't about being close in an attempt, it's about execution.

Walter looked well, even ran for a gain on one play. Much different player this year.

Russel looked good the few higlights I got to see, I didn't get to view until the 2nd half. Zach Miller on the TE choice will be money this season. He is a throwback at TE, not a stopwatch man, but a warrior in how he blocks and uses his size. Amazing catch for a TD, there was only one place it could be and Jamarcus put it there.

Again the Raiders broke a run late. The run game is going to be there, Kiffin has Knapp placing emphasis on the run game. They even did runs from the shotgun to get those worked in full speed. Special teams players were getting long carries. A rookie ran out of bounds with a late lead, hoping to save time for a teammate to get a goalline score. The Titans used that time on the clock to kick the winner late. Master the details, win the game.

The Raiders seventh round WR looked nice. He was overlooked for a variety of reasons in the draft but he was making the most of his play.

Problems, the third and fourth guys on depth charts were taking it to the Raiders DB. Most good defenses will force you to look for number three almost every play, and stop it. We have it to where they have to look for number three, teams should not be able to move the ball without going to the spread. That means the pass rush should get better chances and the defense should find itself in favorable situations.


The good news is that they might have found a speed wr from their draft, the running mentality is assertive, and the starting D is really tight.

Oh, the backup kicker made what would have been a franchise record. The Saints might want to try the guy out, he'd be an ultimate weapon indoors.

Mr.Murder
Aug 16, 2008
02:34 PM

For today's items that you higlight:
1) Let Favre be Favre and the run game will find plenty of chances from that.
2)Reggie Wayne's super important, he got dinged really hard on the Colts final possession of the season, extending to try and catch a pass that was in desperation time. If he's at 100% and the Reggie we all know, Marvin can fill in around that. They might have concern for both from a health aspect, and Gonzales vanished late in the year for the most part(much like did at Ohio's Bowl Game when Ginn was hurt).
3)Dolphins and the Parcells 3-4 vs. a line with a new starter?

The game's key item is the Dolphins new O line. Tuna drafted some great young hoss linemen. If the O line gets asserted, those skill questions(Ricky, Ginn, etc.) will take care of selves. Tuna brought a TE from Dallas who is a great blocker to help. You may be surprised how well they track down with the support players Parcells brought in.

4)Ravens and Vikes. The over under is at zero. Take the under. Just kidding, those defenses will probably put their teams in scoring position. If you can't be a great offense, you can limit mistakes. In preseason you might take a few more chances as well, if you can do that without forcing turnovers it is a positive.

5)Croyle has a pretty good young WR to hook up with. Tony G rebounding appears to be their most important item, and he's probably slated to help their OL issues more.

Question markes at line and QB, and their star player reducing his impact. One gets the feeling Herm will always make some great copy at postgames, win or lose.

6) San Diego's stocked. The Rams rebuilding era remains competitive if they protect their QB, Jackson will come back fresh and get his. They're the Rams mike, the Cards are in AZ, bro, unless we can expect a great comeback of the year effort by Otis Anderson...

7)Dallas and Denver scripted this game all week. Should be a shootout.

8)Hope to see Strief do well for the Saints on their OL, he should move up to starter IMO.

The Texans front line is armed. Every South team has great defensive lines. The Texans made this their focus through the draft and have built a great front seven. You have to match what a Freeney can bring(Williams), what a Haynesworth has(Okoye), what the Jags had when Stroud and Henderson were there and what they hope to reload with at line in their defensive end picks.

The Texans have that. Kubiak will fill in the blanks with his system on their offense.

Several years down the road, Reggie or Mario? Both if you could, for what each team plans to feature both players will be team MVP. Different paths to the same prize.

9) Woodson and co. are quite formidable. The Niners have their hands full. They have to even it out and get to Aaron.

10)For Holmgren it's a matter protecting Matt against their pass rush. They are a better east-west running team with their no.2 man from last year, but their back likes to cut inside and run between the tackles also. He should thrive if they can pace his output.

Item no.2 on your list is a vote of confidence vs. Grossman. Let's see the Bears QB bear down and show us something. This might be the best their OL can look at this time outside of the Lions in terms of how they matchup, injuries included.

Great weekend for the Post.

Don
Aug 16, 2008
05:14 PM

Thank you for this, Mr. Lombardi. Watching preseason football is an underrated pleasure when used as a learning experience and this post will be a great resource for that.

Mr.Murder
Aug 16, 2008
10:10 PM

It's J-u-s-t Just, Just, Just, preaseason!

Favre was 5/6 48 yds 1 td. Me likey.

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