NFL Preseason Week 3
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Here are a few things to look for if you (or the people you watch tv with) plan to watch the nationally televised preseason games this weekend. Knowing a bit about the teams always makes watching games more interesting.
Friday (8/24/07) New England Patriots at Carolina Panthers CBS 8:00 (ET)
A winning preseason tends to mean a winning season for the Patriots. The Patriots have qualified for the playoffs 8 of the last 10 times in seasons following preseasons in which they won at least half of their preseason games. They’ve lost their last 2 preseason games by 3 points, which means they’d probably like to win their next 2 games. Last week, Tom Brady finished with respectable numbers even though he threw 2 interceptions after being attacked by the Titans defensive line. Patriots fans stomachs dropped as Brady got up slowly after both hits, leaving us wondering how long they will leave Brady in this week. As far as the Carolina Panthers go, they are really looking hard to see some improvements this week in their offense. Quarterback Jake Delhomme will be trying to rebound after a shaky performance last week against Philadelphia. The Patriots will be testing him early with a variety of defensive schemes including plenty of blitzing. After a disappointing season last year, the Panthers are showing up this year with a new offensive strategy under new Offensive Coordinator Dan Henning. Good luck getting this new offense to click under the attack of the established Patriots defense.
Sunday (8/26/07) Philadelphia Eagles at Pittsburgh Steelers NBC 8:00 (ET)
The big news for the Eagles is that they have just surprisingly released 4 time probowler Jeremiah Trotter (middle linebacker) whose nickname was Axeman. The Eagles have had a weak run defense in the last couple of seasons and seem to be getting rid of some of the veterans in hopes of help from younger players. Omar Gaither (5th round pick in 2006) is the guy to watch try to fill in the middle gap. McNabb was impressive last week against the Panthers. After coming off his injury that ended his season last year, no one was surprised with the fact that he didn’t do any scrambling, and we do not expect to see any this week either against the Steelers defense. The Steelers are coming off a win against the Carolina Panthers last week. But Coach Tomlin says that he would like to see the offense look better. The offensive line did not seem to be quite ready, allowing a sack on QB Ben Roethlisberger and forcing Ben to scramble 4 times due to defensive pressure. The run game also struggled as Willie Parker only accumulated 4 yards in his first preseason game of the year. Coach Mike Tomlin seems to work the Steelers pretty hard, and we’ll see what changes have been made over the week.
Monday (8/27/07) Cincinnati Bengals at Atlanta Falcons ESPN 8:00 (ET)
Counting preseason and regular season games, the Atlanta Falcons have won the last 7 times that these 2 teams have met. The Bengals are coming off a loss to the New Orleans Saints last week, and their first string offense has yet to score a touch down. The question arises - how much longer can Coach Lewis take the preseason as a lab-experiment? He wants to see their first string produce and so do the fans, but will he keep them in the game long enough for them to prove themselves? At this point he seems to be more worried about their season opener against Baltimore, willing to lose preseason games just as last year (they lost all 4 preseason games last year). Monday night is the first home preseason game for the Falcons, and I bet they sure would like to give their fans something to cheer about after the scandalous week revolving Michael Vick. The running back situation in Atlanta is a bit questionable. As of right now, Coach Petrino says Warrick Dunn has an edge over Jerious Norwood to be the starting RB in Week 1. Some find this surprising since Dunn has been out of the majority of training camp with a back injury. Of course Dunn has more experience than Norwood, but it is a long shot to think that Dunn will stay healthy or close to 100% past mid-season. Norwood could still have a chance at the starting position depending on his performance Monday night.
by LadyD from www.ladydsports.com (the sports site for women)
