The Lockout will result in better preseason games

NFL teams are forced to squeeze months of preparation into just a few weeks. How will this effect the quality of the preseason games? Will teams be more careful with their quality players or will they need the opportunity of the preseason to cover what was missed from a regular off-season?

Expect the 2011 preseason to be more exciting than normal. Of course teams will want to be careful with their quality players but that's not much different than the perception of any other preseason. Teams are always concerned with injuries. The difference, this year, is that teams have not had the chance to work everything out in the off-season. This leaves the preseason as the main opportunity for teams to build chemistry among their players and gel for the regular season. Also, factor-in that we are heading for one of the most interesting weeks in football in regards to free agent signings and trades. Teams will want to use the preseason games to test out their new investments. Fans will also respond with more enthusiasm. The lockout caused us to be more anxious than normal and now it's, "game time!" Everyone is amped up to see some football. Preseason games usually just give us a taste but this year there will be a lot more to sample.

There's plenty of games to get excited about in the first week of the preseason, one in particular being the Ravens versus the Eagles. Could this be a Superbowl 46 preview?


There's some history here with the Ravens playing against Michael Vick in the preseason. Back in 2003 when Vick was with the Falcons (and on the cover of Madden), he was tackled by Adalius Thomas, which resulted in a broken leg. That kept Vick out for the entire season. You can call that a big impact game. How will this year's match-up play out? We'll have to see.