Preseason ends tonight… thank goodness

By: T. Love

In the final preseason game of the 2007-08 season, the Atlanta Falcons will welcome the Baltimore Ravens to the Georgia Dome as it team will get a final look at players on the bubble before the rosters need to be trimmed to the mandatory 53 players before 4 p.m. on Sept. 1.

Falcons head coach Bobby Petrino, who is probably kicking himself after watching Brian Brohm light up the scoreboard last night, has already indicated that the starters/veterans will sit tonight. None of the players on the Falcons roster are that good and they should all play some, but Petrino knows what is best. Besides, in 2003 when the Ravens came to town for a preseason contest, it was not pretty.

Free safety Jimmy Williams will probably play a majority of the game tonight since he still needs plenty of work at the position and Chris Crocker is out with a bone bruise. Williams looked a little better last week versus the Cincinnati Bengals, but he is still slow in diagnosing plays.

Rookie strong safety Daren Stone from Maine should get the start for Lawyer Milloy and this could be a preview of next season’s safety tandem since Milloy is coming to the end of his rope. Is it too early to speculate about next season?

Tonight’s game will be real vanilla and boring, but it is all about players getting better. I don’t know how much of the game I will actually be able to handle and the fact that college football is on tomorrow, will make me want to just wait.

Be sure to check out this weekend’s post for a breakdown of the 53-man roster.

Good luck to the alma mater, the defending back-to-back National Champion Appalachian State Mountaineers who head to the “Big House” tomorrow to take on the Michigan Wolverines.