NFL Preview: The AFC East

AFC East – The New England Patriots are the defending Team of the Decade, and they entered this newest decade looking like they are ready to at least fight to keep that elite status, and not simply relinquish it without a fight. Going back a couple of seasons to 2010, they had an amazing offense, and were early favorites to not only get to the Super Bowl, but to win it, too. But once the January playoffs hit, they had a strong, going on historical, winning streak end at the hands of their division rival, Rex Ryan’s Jets. Then last season, the Patriots were an up and down team in the first half. They seemed to perhaps be stumbling quite a bit at the midseason point, following a home loss to the Giants in a rematch of Super Bowl XLII (and, for that matter, what turned out to be a preview of Super Bowl XLVI). But they managed to find themselves, and started what became a 10 game winning streak, finishing the regular season with a 13-3 record, good enough for the top seed through the AFC playoffs and home field advantage. Good thing, too, because they probably needed it. They plowed through Tim Tebow and the Broncos, but struggled against the Ravens, ultimately hanging on to secure their first Super Bowl berth in five season. But then, they lost the big rematch showdown against the Giants. Still, it’s a new season now, and Tom Brady is once again seeking that fourth Super Bowl ring that he’s been trying to win following this team’s 2004 championship season. That’s right, as dominant as this team still seems, seven full seasons have passed since they last won a Super Bowl. Nonetheless, Brady tied John Elway for the most Super Bowls that any quarterback led teams to, with five. He has a strong chance to lead his team to more, and possibly win another to tie Bradshaw and Montana for most Super Bowls won, too. This is a team that still has a load of talent on the offensive side, and their defense, though not exactly elite, is still a strong enough defense to make the leads that the offense provides hold up (at least, they do usually). They are obviously strong with experience and coaching, which helps. Belichick But you have to wonder what the impact of losing a second Super Bowl in what has turned out to be the best Super Bowl rivalry since the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970’s will have. Still, these are the New England Patriots, and they are perennial favorites for a reason. It is hard to imagine them dropping off too much. Plus, they are in a relatively weak division (unless the Jets and the Bills actually fulfill their promise), and they should win this one, unless….


The New York Jets could have a turnaround season, and get back to the relatively elite status that they enjoyed for two years running, in the 2009-10 season, and then the 2010-11 season, when they had runs in the playoffs both seasons, and made it to the AFC Championship Game (losing both times). Last season, however, was a different story. Before the season even started, Rex Ryan wasted no time putting the pressure on his team, as he predicted that his team was Super Bowl bound. But as it turned out, they were not even playoff bound. The fact that they did not have a tremendous record was not all that surprising, since the previous two seasons, they only managed to go 9-7, and then 11-5. Yet both of those seasons, they almost made it to the Super Bowl. But Rex Ryan’s ego, and mouth, were perhaps too big. He claimed that the new stadium was “Jets Stadium”, and also claimed the Jets were New York’s team, heading into a major showdown with their same town rivals, the Giants. We all know what happened there, right? The Giants dominated the game, which was as close to a playoff game as these two teams have ever played, with the loser in effect being eliminated. The Jets were 8-6 at the time, but lost the game and, in the process, also lost control of their destiny. A poor performance the next week at Miami sealed the deal of the season as a disappointment. Still, you have to wonder if this team really is done, given Ryan’s tendency to produce strong defenses. The running game has had problems, and the quarterback situation could prove to be a controversy. It is all too easy to picture Sanchez struggling somewhere down the line, and then Tebow making all sorts of headlines as he takes the reins as the starting QB. This team still has the potential to be good, but it would help if Ryan keeps his mouth shut, and curtails the legendary arrogance of the Ryan family. He might not be a great guy, since his personality seems a bit overbearing. Still, he has a very good football mind, and if the Jets stay healthy and focused on playing solid football, there is no reason that the Jets would not be able to be a playoff contender, and even possibly battle for supremacy within the division. That said, the war of the words within the Jets camp still shows no sign of slowing down, and this team’s greatest obstacle may be itself. It is not a good sign that, already, even before the first snap of the first preseason game, the team shows some infighting. I see the Bills overtaking a divided Jets team that really should have more talent and, admittedly, coaching ability, than this.

Things were looking up early last season for the new look Buffalo Bills. They finally had scrapped those ugly ass uniforms that they wore from 2002 until 2010, and reverted back to a very similar uniform that they wore in the early 1980’s, when I first became a fan of the sport. The new uniform looks much better, and truly suits them. It seemed that the results looked promising, as well. They even managed a surprising upset of the New England Patriots, and everything looked rosy in northwestern New York. If the season had ended three games in, the 3-0 Bills would have looked like the turnaround team of the year. Unfortunately, there was the matter of the remaining 12 games, and the Bills began to really struggle again. To be fair, they still had a decent record seven games in, at 5-2, coming off a shutout win over the Redskins. But that was pretty much it for the Bills with the positive results. Things fell apart in a hurry, and the Bills never seriously were playoff contenders going down the stretch. Still, there are some positives that this team can take away from last season, and reason to hope for the future. They have some strong offensive talent, and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick may be coming into his own. It will be interesting to see how this team responds this year, but if luck is on their side, they could take steps towards making a more serious run for the playoffs, a place that this franchise has not been to since 1999, when they lost the “Music City Miracle” against the Super Bowl-bound Tennessee Titans. That was a long time ago, and Bills fans starving for success would obviously love to see their team get back not even just to elite status, which this team possessed in the 1990’s, with Coach Levy, Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, Bruce Smith, Cornelius Bennett, and the rest of the Bills that made it to four straight Super Bowls, still an NFL record. That team was a poster boy for consistency, while these Bills, by contrast, have had consistently disappointing seasons. But the Bills may be close to a turnaround, and with some consistent good play and a little bit of luck on their side, and may have what it takes to finally break the playoff drought. The Bills might not be the best team in the division, let alone the league. Yet, they may have enough tools to make a serious run not only at the playoffs, but perhaps even at the division championship. The Dolphins are not that good, and the Jets season could be good, or could be bad – it really is hard to tell. If the Patriots react badly to a very disappointing loss in the Super Bowl, the Bills would be the natural team to step up and contend for the division title, particularly in the event that the Jets struggle. It might be a stretch, but you cannot completely discount Buffalo as a possible playoff contender, and even as a division champion. I can see them at least being second place on this team, and possibly more, as the Jets probably struggle through another season, and the Patriots perhaps come down a notch from last season. Hopefully, that will translate to qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 1999, when Clinton was still President, and the economy still looked strong.

I mentioned in the review on Buffalo that I started watching football in the early 80's, and back then, one of the teams that seemed always to rank among the elites were the Miami Dolphins. They seemed to dominate the AFC East, and made it to two Super Bowls in a three years span. They almost won the first one, and were favored against the 49ers in the second. They still were pretty good in the 1990's, qualifying for the Championship Game in 1993, and ranking among the better teams. They usually made the playoffs, and this lasted into the early 2000's. But things have changed, and it has now been a long time since the Dolphins have been considered among the elites nowadays. There has not been a quarterback who stands out since the departure of Dan Marino. The Dolphins started 2007 with an 0-13 record, and although they recovered nicely to take the division in 2008, they have had bad seasons since. Last season, they and the Rams lasted a long time as the only two teams that had yet to win a game, as Miami got off to a horrendous 0-7 start. Now, when they won more in the second half of the season, they really started to win, and seemed almost to be good at times. But still, they finished at 6-10, and this is a team that had some serious problems offensively. Their defense was relatively solid, however. They probably could, and maybe should, have been better. Yet, it is hard to picture this team really being a playoff contender this season. There are just too many problems in too many areas, and it does not seem like they did nearly enough in this offseason to address them. They may not have been as bad as the 0-8 start indicated, but make no mistake about it, this is not a very good football team. Another last place finish seems in order for this team, barring something drastic.