First Cuts Coming, Time To Impress Dwindling: There’s A Lot Of Action In NFL This Week, Including Five National TV Game For the starters, it’s time to get ready. For the backups and rookies, it’s decision time.

(August 19 2008 – TMRZoo.com) It’s Week 3 of the NFL preseason, the weekend before the first roster cutdown to 75 players next Tuesday, August 26. If things were serious before, now they are really so. This is the week that traditionally sees the starters getting their most extensive playing time of the preseason. But it’s also a key week for the non-starters.

“You feel like everybody is on the bubble,” says three-year NFL running back PATRICK COBBS of the Miami Dolphins. “You feel like at any given moment somebody could come in and take your spot.”

It’s time to ratchet it up even more. And a lot of that effort will be able to be seen this week by fans across the country on five nationally televised games, starting Thursday night:

SAN FRANCISCO at CHICAGO (Thursday, FOX, 8:00 PM ET): One QB starter is set for Kickoff ’08 Weekend, the other at least for this week.

After a minicamp and training camp tussle between quarterbacks KYLE ORTON and REX GROSSMAN, Bears head coach LOVIE SMITH this week named Orton the regular-season starter, so the rest of preseason for the QB will be spent getting ready for Week 1. “In the end, it comes down to a gut feeling you have,” says Smith about Orton, who has completed 63.2 percent of his preseason passes. “I feel good about Kyle leading our team.”

For the Niners, sixth-year QB J.T. O’SULLIVAN — who played in four games last year with Detroit under new 49ers offensive coordinator MIKE MARTZ — has been named the starter for the third preseason week in a row by head coach MIKE NOLAN and will play most of the first half, with ALEX SMITH and SHAUN HILL sharing the second half.

“We seem to be making progress with our entire offense, so I want to keep that going,” says Nolan.

HOUSTON at DALLAS (Friday, CBS, 8:00 PM ET): Schaub looks set, the ’Boys are finally settled.

Texans starting QB MATT SCHAUB, who missed most of the last month of last season with a shoulder injury, comes off a solid Week 2 performance. The five-year NFL veteran completed 14 of 16 attempts for 187 yards and two touchdowns against New Orleans on Saturday night to lift the Texans to 2-0 on the preseason. The three drives he led resulted in the Texans’ first 17 points in their 31-27 victory.

“There are always some things you can clean up, but it was one of those nights where everything clicked,” said Schaub.

The Cowboys are just glad — and excited — to be home after 24 days on the road at training camp in Oxnard, California and preseason games in San Diego and Denver. Dallas is aiming to mesh its return home with its first preseason win in this, Texas Stadium’s last year.

“Getting back home, being familiar and playing at home, all those things are important,” says Cowboys head coach WADE PHILLIPS.

PITTSBURGH at MINNESOTA (Saturday, CBS, 8:00 PM ET): Troy might be back, Tarvaris too.

The Steelers expect to welcome back Pro Bowl S TROY POLAMALU to practice this week after he had missed all of training camp with an injured left hamstring. If things work out, one of the NFL’s top safeties will see action Saturday night against Minnesota.

“As soon as they put me on the field, I’m like, ‘Don’t take me out of the game,’” says Polamalu. “That’s always every preseason football player’s mind-set. Once you get in the game, it’s ‘Don’t take me out.’”

The Vikes want their starting QB, TARVARIS JACKSON, out there too. Jackson sprained his right knee against Baltimore on Saturday, will take it somewhat easy early in the week, but aims to start against the Steelers. The team’s second-round draft choice in ’06 went 8-4 as a starter last year.

BUFFALO at INDIANAPOLIS (Sunday, NFL Network, 8:00 PM ET): Welcome to the NFL, Lucas Oil Stadium!

The Colts debut their new 63,000-seat, retractable-roof stadium — which will host Super Bowl XLVI in 2012. And they could welcome back two of Indy’s key defensive starters who have missed training camp with injuries — S BOB SANDERS, the 2007 AP Defensive Player of the Year — and DE DWIGHT FREENEY.

“Playing in a game is important just to get the chemistry back with the first-team guys and getting your timing down,” says Sanders. “You get that down and you play better.”

Bills QB TRENT EDWARDS certainly seems to have his chemistry down, judging from his performance in Buffalo’s win last Thursday against Pittsburgh in Toronto. In two series, he went 9-for-11 for 104 yards and two touchdowns — both to TE ROBERT ROYAL, who has had an impressive preseason.

“Robert’s a big-effort guy,” says Edwards. “That’s the way we score points in the red-zone, with a guy like that.”

SEATTLE at SAN DIEGO (Monday, ESPN, 8:00 PM ET): Hasselbeck’s back, and two stellar rookies can continue to impress.

Seahawks QB MATT HASSELBECK – called the “toughest player I have ever coached” by his former quarterback coach in Seattle and new Washington head coach JIM ZORN — has started participating in practice after missing 10 days with a bad back and will play Monday night.

He should be wary of one of the DBs lurking back there — Chargers 2008 first-round draft choice ANTOINE CASON. The safety from Arizona who averaged 23.3 yards on 15 interception returns in college, had a 53-yard return off a pickoff of St. Louis’ MARC BULGER last Saturday.

And he was drafted six rounds below Cason, but Seattle is quite pleased with its seventh-round choice of this year, RB JUSTIN FORSETT from California. He had the highest single-game rushing output in preseason this summer with 136 yards last week against Chicago and carried a defender across the goal line for a TD.

AMONG OTHER INTERESTING GAMES THIS WEEK: THERE ARE TWO OTHER “BRAGGING RIGHTS BOWLS” (in addition to Houston-Dallas). At the Meadowlands in New Jersey, BRETT FAVRE and the Jets will host the Giants. The last time Favre met the Giants was in the 2007 NFC Championship Game. And in Tampa Bay, the Buccaneers will host the Jacksonville Jaguars. The teams have played in every preseason since 2002 and the Jaguars have won the last four……PRO BOWL CB ASANTE SAMUEL of the Eagles will travel to face his former team New England for the first time……and TWO FIRST-ROUND QBs (both No. 3 overall picks) will square off when Tennessee (VINCE YOUNG) visits Atlanta (MATT RYAN).

2008 NFL ROSTER CUTDOWN DATES

LAST WEEK’S NFL RESULTS

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2008 NFL PRESEASON RECORDS

THIS WEEK’S NFL SCHEDULE (AUGUST 21-25)

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