From a fan's perspective, the preseason opener has to be one of the most boring and worst-played games on the NFL calendar. Each team is carrying 90 players, and outside of some key players, most of the 90 play in the game. That leads to mistakes and usually a large number of penalties. What I have learned to do over the years is treat the preseason opener as just a glorified practice where the score is kept and an excellent chance to evaluate individual players.
It's my opinion that what the "team" does means nothing, but how individuals play is extremely important.