New England reached the Super Bowl again, although this time, their attempt to win a third Super Bowl in a four year span, for what would have been the second time during the Belichick/Brady era, fell just short. The Philadelphia Eagles played a brilliant game, but it took all that they had to hold off the still explosive Pats, who were nevertheless immediately installed as favorites to reach and win the Super Bowl this season. And let's face it, with Belichick still as head coach, and Brady still as quarterback, they always have a chance. None of the other other teams look like obvious contenders to dethrone the Pats a AFC East champions. The Bills made the playoffs last season, but they lost some talent, and have the pressure of having been a playoff team. The Dolphins have their fair share of problems as well, and the Jets are still in rebuilding mode. It is not impossible that someone other than New England takes this division, although I do not know anyone, myself included, who would put money on it. Indeed, the Pats once again look like the class of this otherwise weak division, and they will likely have yet another title shot this season, once the playoffs roll around.
Here are my predictions for the AFC East for the upcoming 2018-19 season:
1. New England Patriots (projected division winners) - Yes, many people are sick and tired of the Patriots enjoying the level of success that they seem to perennially enjoy, season after season. But no, I do not see this changing anytime soon, or at least not for this season. Indeed, there are some concerns. After all, Brady is not getting any younger. Sure, he has managed his age very well, but the NFL can be a brutal sport, obviously, and the physical toll that it takes can be tremendous. Remember that Brady has been injured in his career before, and at 41, his recovery from any potential injuries would be slower than before. Plus, he might simply start to look old and ineffective almost without warning, although that may seem hard to imagine right now. Still, it seemed to happen to Peyton Manning, Brady's main nemesis throughout his career, and so one has to imagine that it could happen to Brady, too. But the thing is, New England has a lot of depth. Head coach Bill Belichick is considered one of the greatest football minds in league history for a reason, and he always seems to have his team prepared. Last season, New England has the second most explosive offense in the league, and their defense ranked among the elite units in the league. The Pats struggled to a 2-2 start in the first month, but then caught fire, winning all but one of their remaining regular season games to finish 13-3, and then blowing out Tennessee in the divisional round. But they finally showed some vulnerability against Jacksonville in the AFC Championship, and just fell short in the Super Bowl. But this team is still loaded, and you just kind of sense that Belichick will find a way to get this team rolling again. You cannot count them out, almost ever, as a legitimate Super Bowl contender, and it certainly is difficult to imagine a scenario at this point where they do not win this division outright.
4. Miami Dolphins (projected second place) - The Dolphins went from a playoff team in the 2016-17 season, to ranking near the bottom on both offense and defense, and not even coming close to being a playoff team last year. The offense looked very inconsistent too often last season. They were shut out twice, and were held to 17 points or less eight times, going 1-7 in those games. Clearly, that was a problem. Another problem was that their defense really allowed far too many points in some games. There were five straight games where they gave up 170 points, for an average of 34 points during that stretch. They won only one of those games, and they just narrowly won that one game, at that. Yet, since I have the benefit of having seen them in their first two games, things are looking up. Already, they are 2-0, and appear to have a real chance at giving the Patriots a run for supremacy within the division. Of course, let's wait and see what happens during the rest of the season, especially in those meetings against New England. But it is difficult to see why they should not feel good about themselves so far, having beaten a playoff team from last season in Tennessee, and then beating a division rival in the Jets. I still do not know that they are playoff bound, or anything, but they seem to be heading in the right direction so far.
3. New York Jets (projected third place) (projected last place) - The Jets are rebuilding, obviously. They have been rebuilding for some time, but there were some promising signs last season. At one point, they managed to pull off three wins in a row, and they also defeated three playoff teams last season. To be sure, the expectations for this team heading into last year were incredibly low, with many expecting them to be nothing less than the worst team in the league. Yet, they managed to surprise quite a few people at different points throughout the season. Sam Darnold is the hot quarterback prospect, and this team seems to clearly be repositioning themselves to be a contender. The problem right now is that will likely take a bit of time, perhaps a couple of seasons at least. Which , of course, does not bode well necessarily for their chances to really become contenders this season. That is probably alright for long-suffering Jets fans, who are used to their team struggling. So long as Gang Green actually does field a serious contender within the foreseeable future, my guess is that they will not be overly bothered by another mediocre season with mediocre results this season. Meanwhile, the Jets will get a serious look at what Darnold, their presumptive quarterback of the future, is capable of. Some believe that he is nothing short of the future dominance of this division for the Jets, so he is a big deal. Whether that actually pans out or not is a matter for future determination, but it is hard to argue with the thinking of Jets management with this move, because he sure seems like a strong quarterback with a bright future ahead of him. Again, though, the Jets likely have too many overall weaknesses to likely be a serious contender this season, but so long as they are indeed rebuilding towards a brighter future, as they appear to be, then most likely can be forgiven. Even if they are not particularly good, this will be an interesting season for Jets fans.
4. Buffalo Bills (projected last place)- The good news for the Bills was that finally, after 18 long seasons of failing to make the postseason, the Bills finally punched their way to the playoffs last season, albeit just barely. At least they made it, although they quickly got dismissed with a one and done in Jacksonville. They played tough, but fell short. Then, they lost a ton of talent in the off-season, and all hell has broken loose. Since I did not get around to publishing this particular divisional prediction blog entry, I have caught a glimpse of the Bills and how they will be playing. And let's face it, they look bad. Like, really, really bad. Probably the worst team i the entire league bad, at this point. Plus, all of the other teams within this division seem to be in okay shape, at least. There are the Patriots, who always seem to thrive on whipping and tormenting Buffalo. The Dolphins look great so far, and the Jets also look like they are going in the right direction. Which leaves the Bills, who are clearly in rebuilding mode, and have perhaps the least amount of star power of any team in the league. As of my writing this, they are 0-2 and heading to Minnesota, so it is a fairly safe bet that they will start the season at 0-3, as the disaster continues to spin out of control. I know a Bills fan, and he already is saying he would be very happy with just three wins, although the way things look for this team, that might be a tall order. Hard to see how they avoid being cellar dwellers in this division, and quite possibly in the entire league, for this young season.
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