2011 NFL Pre-Season: Indianapolis Colts @ St. Louis Rams Preview

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="780" caption="Joseph Addai puts a move on James Laurinaitis"]Colts and Rams[/caption] If you have been living under a rock for the last three weeks, you may not have realized that THERE'S A FRIGGIN FOOTBALL GAME TODAY! Game Details: Where: Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis When: Saturday, August 13 at 8:00 p.m. EST TV: Indianapolis feed: Indianapolis, IN: WNDY My23 Evansville, IN: WEHT Sports 25.2 (Insight 524) South Bend, IN: WBND 57 (ABC) Terre Haute, IN: WTHI 10 (CBS) Louisville, KY: WMYO My58 St. Louis feed: St. Louis, MO: KTVI FOX 2 Springfield, IL: WCFN My49 Cape Girardeau, MO: KFVS 12 (CBS) Columbia, MO: KOMU 8 (NBC) Oklahoma City, OK: KOCB CW 34 Tulsa, OK: KTUL 8 (ABC) The game is also streaming on NFL.com's preseason streaming package ($19.99), or on NFL Network Replay on August 14th, 10 p.m. EST Radio: 97.1 Hank FM, 1070 AM The Fan, 101.1 FM WXOS (In St. Louis) I've been looking forward to this game since the lockout ended. Heck, before the lockout ended. Tonight, there are several key things that we should be watching for:

• The Offensive Line

There are a lot of questions on the subject of the offensive line going into the 2011 season. First, the play of the of the rookie linemen Anthony Castonzo and Benjamin Ijalana. Will the rookies be somewhat up to speed yet? Or will they still have a lot of work to do? Second, how will guards Jacques McClendon and Mike Pollak fare? McClendon has a lot of potential, and the FO has been very high on him, but he doesn't have much game experience. Pollak played well at the end of 2010, will that carry over?

• The Defensive Line

With new acquisitions Tommie Harris, Drake Nevis, and Jamaal Anderson, the Colts have brought in a lot of new talent they hope will fix one of their biggest weaknesses. Will the DT pairings of Mookie and Moala, or Nevis and Harris (or any combination of that) be successful for the Colts' defense? How about the backup defensive ends? What about the 2009 Draft Grudge Match, Jerry Hughes vs. Rodger Saffold? That's a matchup that I'm very interested in, to see if Hughes has really taken some big strides, or if it's training camp hype.

• Health

The biggest problem with 2010's team was the injuries that piled up. Be on the lookout for any injuries that might occur in preseason, especially to positions like the defensive backs and wide receiver, where several players (Collie, Gonzalez, Powers, Bullitt, Thomas) had injury problems in 2010.

• Quarterback play

Will Curtis Painter be able to run the offense effectively? Or will Dan Orlovsky or Nate Davis make the backup QB contest a closer contest with a good showing?

• UDFA's

Every year, the Colts have somebody who comes out of nowhere and becomes a key player. Who will that be in 2011? Safety Joe Lefeged? Center Jake Kirkpatrick? David Gilreath? Chad Spann? There have been many good reports coming out of camp about the undrafted rookies, but who will impress in a live game setting? There are plenty of other things to be on the lookout for, as I'm sure you have your own things that you can't wait to see. If you can't watch the game, be sure to visit Coltsider for reactions to the first Colts game of the 2011 season. Get excited Colts' fans! Its football time again!