MARVEL; We need a big game and a big season out of him. With his contract up so does he. He will have his hands full with Mario. Hoping that he gets lots of help from Mewelde and others. If not, Ben could be in for a long afternoon on his keister.

IKE; We will find out a lot about Matt Schaub in this match up. Ike is a solid corner. Johnson is a dangerous receiver. Can Ike stay with him? Can Ike read Schaub and get an INT? This will be a tough defensive game so we can’t afford any big play mistakes in the secondary. Ike needs to play well.

ST; We will find out real quick if our ST has improved from last year. I have confidence in Reed and even the vet Berger, it’s the tackling that has me worried. As I stated above I believe this game will be a low scoring defensive slugfest. Staying away from ST errors will be crucial to getting the W.

This is where we see if Fox can be the STs ace we need to help our coverage units.

for my fantasy team. I’ve got Texans about.

I agree with you on all three.

I would add the following:
1. The O-Line’s ability to control the point of attack – call me a pessimist, I don’t think our line is going to be able to pass protect yet. I think it will be improved from last year, but mainly because Mahan is gone and the pocket will not collapse in the middle like a house of cards in a hurricane. I still think Big Ben is going to make his living on the run though. My question is, can our O-Line make its living on the run as well? If we have a big running game, everything else feel a whole lot simpler.

2. D-Line late in the game. This may be a moot point. We may not need these guys to stuff the run late in the game. But if we do, is Big Snack going going to be huffin air and reaching for his knees.

3. Safety play – In a word, Troy 2005 or Troy 2007? Also Ryan Clark the solid, smart safety valve in this defense or is he going to be playing it too safe after nearly losing his life last year.

Of course there are a million other things to watch for. Holmes streaking down the sidelines, Timmons and Woodley coming round the corner, Big Ben making smart plays, and knowing when to get rid of the ball – and big Delicious hanging on to the ball.

Is anybody else getting excited?

Good stuff there, but for me it’s the whole O-line that’s the question. I have hope for improvement, but there are those nagging feelings that we didn’t do enough. I hope Marvel plays like his old self and not the bad back version.

If the line keeps the pressure down (not totally absent I fear) and opens up some holes for FWP and Delicious we’ll be good. Just looking at preseason and from what I sw though there were a lot of runs outside the tackles.

Special teams has been the bugbear for us the last few years. The thing is, we really don’t need for ST to be dominant (I’m talking return coverage) we just need it not tokill us. Give the other units a chance and that will be ll the improvement we need. More will, of course, be appreciated.