1. Brady to Ochocinco: Obviously the Pats aren’t going to reveal too much on how they plan on using Chad, but it will be nice to see at least a little chemistry between the two. In reality I think it’s Welker who’s going to be the real explosive playmaker for this Patriots offense. Chad will get open and make plays, but it will be Welker, Gronk and Hernando that are the stars this year.
2. Safety Sitch: It will be interesting to see who’s playing next to Patrick Chung as the starter and how long they go for. The focal point will obviously be two time Pro Bowler Brandon Meriweather and how much he plays. If Sergio Brown is in there we’ll be keeping a close eye on him. How things go tonight could largely affect how hard the Patriots pursue a safety acquisition by Labor Day.
3. Bodden/McCourty on outside?: We start to get a better sense of how the cornerbacks will be used as well. We saw Bodden in the slot a good deal last week, where will he be this week? If he’s on the outside who’s the top slot man? I’d guess Wilhite. DBut also needs a big game. Seriously, two interceptions might be what it takes to get him our of the doghouse. And even then I’m not so sure, he’d probably need another two next week too.
4. Defensive Scheme: Is it a coincidence that two of the first three things I’m watching for are on the defensive side of the ball? Put it this way, I have full confidence the offense will be badass in 2011, but the great question mark will be the defense. I assume we’ll see more of the same defensive front we saw last week, but I’d love it if we saw something new (as would most of the NFL scouts that will be there tonight as well). With some injuries mounting and starters actually ready to get some live action we’ll get a little more of a clearer picture of where guys will be lining up. On interesting piece to me will be how Guyton-Fletcher-Mayo line up, who lines up a LDE in place of Cunningham, and whether Eric Moore is still starting at RDE. I think he might be a little bit more of a roster spot battle than we realize.
5. No Injuries: Maybe this is a stupid thing to watch for but just getting through preseason without injuries is so hugely important. In 2008 Brady didn’t play at all in the preseason and said he thought that contributed to his knee injury the first week of the season because he didn’t have his timing down. If you can bring yourself to re-watch that play he was hurt on it’s pretty clear that the ball should’ve been out of his hand sooner. He delayed, stepped up, stepped up and WHAM. Bernard Pollard meets knee. So getting your starters in there is important, you just pray that nothing horrible happens to anyone on any team. Yes, including the Jets.