Later today, the Arizona Cardinals open their first pre-season game at home against the visiting Oakland Raiders. Many fans have expressed concern for the team's play, as their are still quite a few issues that they need to work out.
Here is a list of 5 of those things that you should watch for in Game 3 of the 2012 NFL Pre-season!
1) QB Battle: Perhaps the most obvious one, the QB battle between Kevin Kolb and John Skelton is going to be the most watched part of the game. At this point, reports state that Skelton is the favorite to start the regular season, although Kolb has just as much a chance of coming back as anyone.
2) The O-line: D'Anthony Batiste will be starting at right tackle, so all eyes will be on him to see how he holds up the right side. If he fails, the team may have to go back to Bridges, or resort to rookie Massie. Many fans have been unhappy with the O-line's play this pre-season, so their performance against the Raiders will be crucial.
3) Ryan Williams: Going down in a season-ending injury in last year's pre-season, many people will be watching Ryan Williams extra closely. The Cardinals RB has been proclaimed by many as a future star in the league, so seeing how he reacts to his first game in a year will be a main feature in the game.
4) The Defense: The Cardinals defense has been heralded by many as being a potential Top 5 defense this coming season. However, they have showed lackluster play so far in this pre-season. Missed tackles seems to be the main problem, so many eyes will be on how they react to the Raiders offense.
5) Matt Leinart: Although a lot of Cardinals fans are probably sick of hearing Leinart's name come up again and again, it will still be a huge story to how he reacts to the team that cut him before the 2010 season. Will he light up his old team as a sort of "revenge", or will the Cardinals get the better of him?