Near and Favre

So the New York Jets traded for Brett Favre. That's nice, but they still won't beat the Patriots.

The best part of this news is this finally puts to an end the biggest soap opera of the off-season. Favre and the Green Bay Packers complete their divorce and they go their separate ways. Now they get to write a new chapter for their divergent lives.

And Favre's new life will have an effect on the Patriots since they play at least twice this year. To accommodate Favre, the Jets released QB Chad Pennington and squash their quarterback controversy. It won't matter how well QB Kellen Clemens does. He will sit behind Favre and learn the game behind a productive and durable future Hall of Famer.

The good news for Clemens is he probably won't sit for long. Part of what made last season fun for Favre was that the Packers won the division and were a win away from the Super Bowl. That's not gonna happen with the Jets. New York was 4-12 last season and I don't expect Favre to be a six win difference for the Jets. Maybe they go 8-8 or optimistically 9-7 and sneak into the playoffs. Then the off-season waffling game begins again as New York experiences what G.B.'s front office dealt with for the past four years: Waiting to see if Favre returns or retires. If it's a losing season, I believe Favre hangs it up for good.

But enough about the Jets. The Patriots have a preseason game of their own to play. Five things I'll be looking for:

The cornerbacks:It's an open competition to find the right pair of starters. The three front-runners are Fernando Bryant, Terrence Wheatley, and Jonathan Wilhite, but I'll look for Mike Richardson. He looked promising during last year's preseason. I want to see if he gets in the mix as well.

The linebackers:People made a huge deal out of Oscar Lua for making ordinary plays last preseason. The hoopla will be magnified with Jerod Mayo because he's a first round draft pick. But it comes down the plays made. The story will be the same for Shawn Crable and Bo Ruud. There's a purpose to their being on the field. I'll keep a close eye on the pass rush as well. Pierre Woods should create consistent pressure against first teamers, dominant if facing the second string.

The O-line:Super Bowl XLII was an aberration. The line will be fine. But what has my interest is the right side of the line. RT Nick Kaczur is playing to remain a starter. And RG Stephen Neal, still on PUP, won't be able to hold off his challengers.

The ground game:Last season an inspired Baltimore shut down the Patriots rush attack. This game lacks importance, but the challenge is still there for the line and running backs. Watching LaMont Jordan and BenJarvis Green-Ellis will be particularly interesting.

The back-ups:Whether or not QB Tom Brady plays matters very little. Matt Cassel and Matt Gutierrez will try to get an edge in their competition. Kevin O'Connell begins his quest to prove he's worth developing as the emergency QB.