Fridays Pre Season Storylines

It was great to see live football again last night, after the doom and gloom of the lockout.  All matches from Thursday, Friday and Saturday, will be reviewed here on Sunday.  But for now, what games are happening tonight, and what should you be looking out for?

Dolphins @ Falcons

The visiting Dolphins have a lot of questions to answer on the offensive side of the ball.  Alot of the talk in the off season has been about QB Chad Henne.  Henne's performances last season were not great, and the fans wanted him replaced.  It will be a huge year for Henne this year.  Can he prove that the organisation were right to keep him??  Also keep an eye on the RB situation.  Newcomer Reggie Bush and rookie Daniel Thomas, are looking to replace veterans Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams.

All the talk in the off season in Atlanta has also been about the offence.  During the draft, the Falcons traded multiple draft picks, to trade up and take WR Julio Jones.  Jones is a very talented WR, and the Falcons clearly believe that he is the missing piece that they need to get them to the Superbowl.  Are they correct to think this way?

Bengals @ Lions

The Bengals are almost certain to be starting a rookie QB (Andy Dalton) come the opening day of the season.  To make things worse, their best WR for years (Chad Ochocinco) has left town, and is now catching passes from Tom Brady in New England.  They did take WR A.J Green in the first round of the draft, but with this broken off season, will he be anywhere near as effective as Ochocinco could have been?  It will be very interesting to see the Dalton - Green combination.

The Lions have a very young, exciting team, and were really looking forward to the new season.  Since training camp opened though, they have received injuries to 2 rookies, DT Nick Fairley and RB Mikel Leshore.  Leshore is actually out for the whole season, because of his torn achilles.  The Lions bought in veteran RB's Mike Bell and Jerome Harrison to help Javid Best run the ball.  Tonight it will be intersting to see who catches the eye.

Steelers @ Redskins

The Steelers starters almost pick themselves, and the main objective for them tonight, is to make sure none of the pick up an injury.  I expect that the Steelers starters will only play one series, then take the rest of the night off.  Will be interesting to see what they have lower down the depth chart, but not much to keep an eye on here.

If the Steelers are set up and ready to go, the Redskins could not be further behind.  With last years QB Donovan McNaab now in Minnesota, the Redskins are searching for this years starter.  Up step John Beck and Rex Grossman, o dear!  These 2 are the reason that the Redskins will finish bottom of the NFC East standings this year, no matter who starts.  I'm looking forward to seeing their defence though, I think that they could be very good - they are going to need to be.

Buccaneers @ Chiefs

The Wembley bound Buccaneers, start their 2011 campaign in Kansas City.  To be completely honest I'm struggling quite a lot to pick out an individual thing to look out for, for either team.  The Chiefs and Buccs rosters are loaded up with young players, so expect to see a lot of mistakes in this game.  This off season has been a nightmare for young teams, as they have been unable to practice together.  I expect to see some exciting plays, and some stupid mistakes in this very unpredictable matchup.  One player I am looking forward to seeing is Buccs QB Josh Freeman.  I want to see how he has developed as a leader over the off season.

49'ers @ Saints

The 49'ers decided to stick with what they know with QB Alex Smith, and bought in WR Braylon Edwards to give him a solid option in the pass game.  With Michael Crabtree looking likely to miss most of the preseason, the Smith - Edwards combo is likely to be developed by coaching staff intensely.  Another position to keep an eye on here is the secondary spots.  The 49'ers have bought in S's Dashon Goldston and Donte Whitner, as well as CB's Carlos Rodgers and Madieu Williams.  Improving the secondary was obviously a priority, so has it worked?

The Saints (like the Steelers) are pretty much set at all positions, and their primary goal will be to finish this game injury free.  A couple of new faces though that will be looking to make an impact were 1st round picks RB Mark Ingram, and DE Cam Jordan.  The Saints were praised by everyone following the addition of these 2 players in April.  Tonight is their first opportunity to prove the organisation made the right choices.

Check back here tomorrow for Saturdays story lines.