[BFritz]

I was not worried or anything until my brother relayed the news to me that Irons would be out for the season after last night's game.

To me the pre-season is in no way any prediction of the regular season.

To some extent, you're right, but take what I posted about Palmer for example: the situations in the games will be almost identical, if not identical, to the situations that he was facing in the game (pass rushers all around his knees, following through on throws, etc.)

The defense's ability up front in the box also gave a hint to their potential.

But none of that says what teams will come to play and come through in the clutch, for instance, you probly wouldn't be able to tell that Tom Brady is arguably the 2nd or 3rd best late drive, big game clutch quarterback in the history of the NFL.

Basically you can't judge everything, but you can judge some things and make some observations about techniques, forms, styles, etc.