Patriots vs. Buccaneers: 5 Things to Watch for in NFL Preseason Week 2

Week 2 of the 2011 NFL preseason gets underway tonight when the New England Patriots travel to Raymond James Stadium to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Both teams dominated last week, with the Patriots besting the Jacksonville Jaguars by a score of 47-12, while the Bucs silenced the Chiefs 25-0. This will be a meeting of two preseason powerhouses, whatever that means.

Regardless of the importance (or in this case, lack thereof) of the outcome this week, fans will be eager to see their team back in action. Here are some of the most important things Patriots fans should be looking out for tonight.

Erik Frenz is the co-host of the PatsPropaganda and Frenz podcast. Follow Erik on Twitter @erikfrenz.

How Does Ryan Mallett Look?

With Mallett taking the majority of second-team snaps over the past few practices, it appears he may be getting the nod as the No. 2 quarterback in tonight's game. His performance against the Jaguars was solid, going 12-or-19 for 167 yards and a touchdown last week.

This time, it looks like he'll have his chance against a Tampa Bay defense that is expected to be much deeper than the Jags. The Bucs blanked the Chiefs last week, with six sacks along the way.

The Patriots are wise to test the ability of their young quarterback. This allows them to raise the level of competition he faces slowly, while also raising his value by showing off his talents. Whether the move works out well for them remains to be seen, but the logic behind it is smart.

Wide Receiver Depth

Many wondered how the battle for the fourth, fifth and sixth receiver spots would shake out. With Brandon Tate, Taylor Price and Julian Edelman all injured as of late, the complexion isn't quite what many thought it would be. 

Who knows when those guys will be back, so for now, it's up to guys like Matthew Slater, Jeremy Ross and Buddy Farnham to show their worth. They'll be working mainly with Ryan Mallett and Brian Hoyer as the second and third quarterbacks, respectively.

Who Gets the Majority of Snaps at Safety?

One of the big stories out of training camp recently has been the revolving door at safety. Sergio Brown has taken over some of Brandon Meriweather's snaps, and this appears particularly the case on passing downs. Only occasionally did Brown take Chung's place. 

Additionally, there has been a lot of news of the Patriots working out safeties and having them in for physicals as of late, with names like Dashon Goldson, Renaldo Hill and Darren Sharper comprising the biggest names.

All this has made for an uncertain situation at safety.

Meriweather remains the most polarizing player on the Patriots roster. Here is a guy who is regarded as a Pro Bowl safety by some, while others don't even think he's the best safety on his own team.

Back-Up Offensive Linemen

Only so many offensive linemen can fit through the door to the roster. With 53 guys on the roster, there's only room enough for eight offensive linemen, the typical number that Belichick carries.

We can rest assured that the starting five from the end of 2010 will be back to kick off the 2011 season, and obviously Nate Solder will get a spot, but who will the final two be?

Ryan Wendell, Steve Maneri, Rich Ohrnberger, Thomas Austin, Zach Roth, Jonathan Compas and others fight for those three depth spots, and though the last three on that list are long shots for the roster, no one can be counted out of the running until the final list is handed in.

As we learned last year with Logan Mankins' extended holdout, solid depth on the offensive line can never be overvalued.

Special Teams Impact

Bill Belichick has gone on record as saying he values special teams contributions heavily when making his evaluations of players for the final roster.

These will make for some of the toughest decisions in the final cutdowns. How valuable is that special teams ace over an extra skill position player, offensive linemen or defensive linemen? Belichick elaborated on Thursday:

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"I think you have to think about it. If instead of covering 60 kickoffs in a year, you think you're only going to be covering 30, is that coverage player as important?

"On the flip side, in the return game, you're going to be returning 30 instead of 60...If you think you're going to be returning more punts than kickoffs—usually it's the other way around—then maybe you put more of a priority on your punt returner than your kickoff returner, just as an example." 

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That being said, Belichick told me previously that there is value in the number of special teams units a guy can contribute on:

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"A player that can play on two, three, four special teams, obviously the more the better. If it's at a high level, the more value that player has to your teams. That value has to be weighed with the player's performance on his side of the ball, offense or defense, along with the other players at that position."

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