Giants vs. Patriots: 7 Things to Watch in the Patriots' Final Preseason Showdown

As the 2011 NFL preseason draws to an end, the games will get notably less notable.

In tonight's matchup between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants, we will likely see a lot less of names we're familiar with and a lot more of guys who are likely to be bagging groceries this time next week.

Still, these games are of viewing value for football fans, and are certainly of value to the coaching staffs and executives who help assemble the final 53-man roster for every team. From that perspective, there's a lot going on in these games that bears your attention.

Here are just seven things to watch in tonight's preseason game.

Erik Frenz is the co-host of the PatsPropaganda and Frenz podcast. If you're ready for some football, follow Erik on Twitter.

Game Plan, or Lack of One

The Patriots' defense fell under a lot of scrutiny last week after they gave up a 124.1 passer rating against the Lions. This anomaly comes after giving up just 48.18 the first two weeks of the preseason.

One of the main reasons for the struggles was a very vanilla defensive scheme that was easily picked apart by the Lions. The defense we saw against the Lions was nothing like the defense we've seen since Week 1 of the preseason—and everything like what we saw in 2010. 

The Pats registered just one sack when Kyle Arrington came free off the edge on a corner blitz, and one interception when Arrington intercepted a tipped ball in the back of the end zone.

While some of that can be attributed to the play of the secondary (more on that later), and some of it may even be attributed to a very vanilla defensive scheme, it's certainly worth mentioning that Andre Carter and Mark Anderson just weren't getting pressure or winning their one-on-one match-ups off the edge.

Chances are slim Belichick would use a strategy in the final game of the preseason he would otherwise find useful during the regular season. 

Rotation at Safey

ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss has tracked the rotation at safety the past two weeks, noting several moving parts along the way between his breakdown of the rotations against the Buccaneers and against the Lions.

The theme here seems to be uncertainty over which combinations to use. Just in those two games, the Patriots have fielded eight different duos at safety, and no duo has been on the field more than four times or less than twice.

Look for the Patriots to mix and match Brandon Meriweather, Patrick Chung, Sergio Brown and James Ihedigbo until they find the right combinations.

How Do the Defensive Backs Play?

None of New England's cornerbacks escaped unscathed from the brutal onslaught of the Detroit Lions. They were all victims at one point or another, with Kyle Arrington as one of the most egregious offenders of defensive discipline.

The scary part is, Darius Butler actually had the best game of the group. Yep.

The cornerback unit is still intact, although the team recently bid adieu to Jonathan Wilhite. A preseason game doesn't change the opinion on this group entirely, but it makes them one of the focal points of tonight's preseason game.

The cornerbacks were fighting a losing battle to begin with, though, as Belichick had them mostly in man coverage against the much bigger and more athletic Lions receivers. The vanilla coverages the Patriots ran exposed them to the attack, but this was a very deliberate move by Belichick. It will be interesting to see if he employs the same tactic again against the Giants.

Who Gets the Reps at Wide Receiver?

The New England Patriots have fought an uphill battle against injuries throughout training camp and preseason. At one point or another, Brandon Tate, Taylor Price, Julian Edelman and Wes Welker have all missed practice time. All but Welker have missed games, though Welker's neck injury looks likely to keep him out of tonight's game against the Lions.

Taylor Price was absent from the portion of Monday's practice session that was open to reporters. His injury status remains unknown, as Belichick declined to comment when asked by reporters about his absence the following day.

The battle at wide receiver thinned out a bit when the Patriots released Darnell Jenkins, as well as rookie free agents Jeremy Ross and Tyree Barnes on Monday. The battle for the sixth wide receiver spot was likely to come down to Tate and Matthew Slater, and with most of the others out of the way, this is the perfect opportunity for either to step up and show their value to the roster.

At this point, Slater's contributions on three special teams units gives him the slight advantage from this perspective. He has also shown some potential at receiver with four receptions for 39 yards in the first two games.

Whoever gets the most reps—and does the most with them—is likely to come out on top.

Does the First-Team Get Any Reps?

Really? This is a question? This is something to watch, in the fourth preseason game?

Don't put it past Belichick to send his starters out for one last go. He did it in 2010, and he could do it again in 2011. 

The way they played against the Lions, the Patriots probably don't want to go into the regular season with that sour taste lingering in their mouths. It may seem ludicrous, but it wouldn't surprise me at all to see Belichick send out his first units just to get them to end the preseason on a positive note.

One player who could particularly use that kind of send-off would be Chad Ochocinco, who still needs every opportunity he can get to learn the offense in game situations. 

On a side note, I find it interesting that the Patriots are closing out the preseason against the Giants for the seventh consecutive season. That trend started three years before Super Bowl XLII and has continued four years after it. 

Offensive Line Play

The Patriots' offensive line had a tough test last week against the Lions, going up against Ndamukong Suh, Cliff Avril and a whole host of talented defensive linemen. 

The Patriots have had just four days to lick their wounds, but they have to turn things around quickly.

They played poorly from top to bottom, failing to give quarterback Tom Brady any sort of pocket for much of the night. They gave up two sacks on Brady and way too many violent hits for one preseason game.

The test doesn't get any easier this week against a Giants defensive front that's considered one of the deepest in the league. Names like Chris Canty, Mathias Kiwanuka and Jason Pierre-Paul only scratch the surface of the Giants' depth in the defensive front.

This will be a good test for the Patriots to see if after being harassed and abused one week, they can stand up for themselves the next.

Will We Finally See More of Albert Haynesworth?

When Haynesworth returned to practice last week, many thought he would finally make his way onto the field.

So far, he has yet to play a single preseason game and hasn't even practiced more than a handful of times (despite having participated in four consecutive practices as of Wednesday).

Many have regarded Haynesworth as a Randy Moss 2007 situation, where the team kept him off the field to hide their weapon from opponents before springing their surprise attack upon unaware victims.

Patriots fans can hold out hope to see Haynesworth take the field, but shouldn't be surprised if he doesn't.