Ahh.... The Preseason

First off, boo on the NFL for keeping two of the first three pre-season games on the NFL N. I refuse to pay for news on the internet. I refuse to pay for sports content on ESPN.com and though I really want the NFL N, I'm not willing to pay what my cable company wants me to pay for it and the 837 other channels I need to buy to get it. So I'm a little annoyed with the NFL for holding back on me.

That said, the Bills look just awful and the Saints, playing against the awful looking Bills, looked fabulous. The first team did anyway, whatever the final score was. Brees was 12 for 14 or something like that. His backup was almost as good. Devery Henderson got three receptions for 52 yards. Reggie Bush had 41 yards on 5 touches (three receptions, two rushes).

The Bills started out fine, stuffing Deuce on a couple run plays, but the Saints opened up the offense and moved the chains seemingly at will. On offense, the Bills' first team appeared a long way off from being competitive. The OL couldn't spring Anthony Thomas and if Marshawn Lynch did anything, I missed it while flipping back and forth to the Atlanta/Jets game. I did learn that Losman can scramble pretty good for a white guy. No one was open, but hey, you take what you can get.

What I learned from the Jets game is that Thomas Jones is going to be a stud and the Jets wanted to see him prove it. His stats weren't awesome, at 8 for 27 and a TD, but the TD was a 1 yard plunge and he ran for the first 8 Jets plays. So he averaged almost four yards a down on the 7 other plays while the offense did nothing but pound the rock.

More importantly, as an Atlanta resident and someone with at least a little love for the local team, Harrington gave me reason to think the offense will be fine. The defense and special teams I'm not going to talk about. Just awful. But Harrington was calm and poised, going 6 for 9 and 88 yards (almost 10 YPA!). More importantly as a fan, the play calling was innovative, a mix of short quick passes, hits up the field and a good mix of runs, too, including a - shock! - run up the middle by Jerious Norwood for a 10 yard TD! The 7th round RB Jason Snelling looked almost as good as I hoped. No offense to Dunn - he's a wonderful guy and local hero - but he's just insurance. Norwood is the future and I think Snelling is good enough to spell him when needed. And Atlanta rookie WR Laurent Robinson looked pretty good. If someone says the Falcons are only going to win 5 games this year - take the over and bet him a Coca-Cola.

Did I mention the Bills looked awful?