2012 Season

Tonight is really the start of the 2012 drive to the Super Bowl with the pre-season game against the New Orleans Saints. Nobody expects Tom Brady to play more than one or two series. Ryan Mallett and Brian Hoyer need to get some game action.

Many issues will be addressed tonight. Will there be a primary running back? Who will be on the "bubble" when it comes to receivers? Will Gronk be back to his level of last year? What about Jermaine Cunningham, Donta Hightower and Chandler Jones?

There are so many players that need to get into the game to see if they should survive the first roster cut in two weeks.

The key for both teams is to ensure that nobody gets hurt. It's almost a guarantee that someone will get placed on IR as a result of the pre-season schedule. It happens every year throughout the league.