AFC East Preview

The Patriots are coming off another Super Bowl victory, can anyone in the AFC East pose a threat to their dominance?

For the past 15 years, the AFC East has been absolutely dominated by the New England Patriots, and every year it seems almost predetermined that they will finish atop the league and get close to, if not win, the Super Bowl. This year they, once again, come in as heavy favorites. Can any other team in this division make a run at the AFC East crown this season? Will the Bills or Dolphins make the playoffs this year? Will the Jets even win a game??? Here is how i see the AFC East shaping up this year:

4th Place: New York Jets (1-15):

After purging most of their veteran and proven NFL players, such as Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker, and David Harris, the New York Jets are the worst team in the NFL, plain and simple. Their most glaring hole is at the most important position in the sport, as none of the quarterbacks on their roster have proven they can be anything but a low-level NFL starter at best. Things have only gotten worse for the Jets, as one of their most promising young offensive players, and best returning wide receiver, Quincy Enunwa, will miss the entire season with a neck injury. There is a very real chance this team ends up averaging only around 10-12 points per game, so this season will definitely be a grind for Jets fans. All that being said, it’s tough to finish a season at 0-16, so I am going to say their defense and a big game from Josh McCown steal them a game somewhere in there. The #SuckForSam campaign is real in New York.

3rd Place: Buffalo Bills (7-9):

The Bills enter this season desperately looking to avoid missing the playoffs for a league leading 18th year in a row. But can they do it? I honestly believe this team has a very talented roster and has the potential to reach 9-10 wins this season. On offense they have one of the best offensive lines in the league, a top-5 running back in LeSean McCoy, and Tyrod Taylor, who is coming off a very productive year, scoring 23 total touchdowns and throwing only 6 INTs. They also just made a move to acquire 4th year wide receiver, Jordan Matthews, who has put up between 800 and 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first three years, from the Eagles. And although Matthews does not have the raw talent of Sammy Watkins, he has at least been able to stay on the field for the majority of his short career and has flashed the potential to be a WR1 at the NFL level. Their defense, who seemed to take a step back almost every year under head coach Rex Ryan, still has the talent to be a very good unit. But, dealing cornerback Ronald Darby, after losing Stephen Gilmore this offseason, will no doubt hurt this team’s ability to defend against the pass. Darby was their best cover corner and one of my favorite breakout candidates for this season. They will now start rookie Tre’Davious White and EJ Gaines, who came over from the Rams in the Sammy Watkins trade, at cornerback this season. But, let’s not forget, this team lead the NFL in sacks just a few years ago. If Marcell Dareus can stay healthy and avoid any more suspensions, Lorenzo Alexander can come close to replicating his unreal 12.5 sack season from a year ago, and talented 2nd year players like Shaq Lawson and Reggie Ragland can successfully return from their injuries and play to their potential, this front seven could be lethal. The question is, will they put it all together? And will they be able to stay healthy throughout the entire season? To me, this Bills team just has too many question marks and uncertainties surrounding its season, not to mention a very tough schedule. The Bills need a lot to go right for first year head coach, Sean McDermott, to reach the playoffs. So I am sorry Buffalo, but it looks like the drought will continue for an 18th year.

2nd Place: Miami Dolphins (8-8):

The Miami Dolphins are coming off a surprisingly successful season, which saw them reach the playoffs for the first time since 2008. However, the Dolphins are already having a tough time this preseason. Starting quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, was lost for the season with a knee injury suffered during training camp, star running back Jay Ajayi has missed time with a concussion, Pro-bowl wideout Jarvis Landry is under investigation for a battery charge, and their second round pick and projected starting linebacker, Raekwon McMillan, will likely miss time this season after injuring his knee in the first preseason game.  After starting last year at 1-4 and looking like one of the worst teams in the league, the Dolphins then went on to win their next 6 games and 9 of their last 11. Everything changed for this team when second year running back, Jay Ajayi, broke out for 204 rushing yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers in week 6. With a run heavy, ball control style offense, this team was able to mask many of their weaknesses and win several close games throughout the season. If this team is to have any chance of repeating their success from last year, Jay Ajayi will have to carry this team week in and week out. A huge part of Ajayi’s success will be tied to the success of veteran-QB Jay Cutler, whom the Dolphins signed to start this season with Tannehill out. It will be up to Cutler to keep the opposing defenses honest and prevent them from stacking the box against Ajayi. This team has a talented enough receiving corps with Jarvis Landry, Devante Parker, Kenny Stills, and Julius Thomas, to be able to throw the ball at decent clip. Even so, I think it will be tough for Ajayi and this offense to duplicate their success from last year with no real improvement at quarterback or offensive line. On the defensive side of the ball, the Dolphins made several good moves this offseason to strengthen a unit that allowed the 18th most points per game last season. They bolstered their weak group of linebackers by resigning starter Kiko Alonso, signing former Steeler, Lawrence Timmons, as a free agent, and by drafting Raekwon McMillan out of Ohio State in the second round of this year’s draft. They were also able to resign Pro-bowl safety Reshad Jones at a great price, and acquire William Hayes from the Rams for almost nothing. But ultimately, I think it will be tough for the Dolphins to rely on Jay Cutler, Jay Ajayi, and a shaky defense to carry them to the playoffs this season. Sorry Miami, but I just can’t see Jay Cutler leading this team to anything but mediocrity.

1st Place: New England Patriots (14-2):

Never before have I seen or heard of a team adding as much depth and talent to a Super Bowl winning roster as this New England Patriots team did. Fresh off a Super Bowl victory and a 14-2 regular season, the Pats decided they needed to stack their roster even more. The biggest moves this team made were, trading for star wide out Brandin Cooks, and signing former Bills Stephon Gilmore and Mike Gillislee to start at corner and running back respectively. Not to mention, Rob Gronkowski is healthy and ready to return to his dominating form after missing 8 regular season games and the entire playoff run last season. The Patriots have come into almost every season since 2002 as one of the favorites to reach the Super Bowl, but this year seems different. This year it seems like they are almost in another league compared to the rest of the teams in the NFL. On paper, this team looks like the best team in the league by far and many people believe they can and will run the table and finish the season at 19-0. However, 19-0 is very difficult to do in today’s NFL, especially because the Pats have a very good chance of having home field advantage locked up by week 15. It would also be irresponsible to just assume that this team will stay 100% healthy throughout the entire season. If they lose key guys along the offensive or defensive lines, it could make this team very vulnerable. In the past, we have seen the Patriots struggle when Tom Brady does not have a clean pocket to operate from. Having the league’s best weapons won’t mean much if Brady does not have time to find the open receivers on each play. But of course I am just nitpicking with this team. The Patriots should, once again, easily win this division and that will not change until Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are gone. With Tom and Bill at the helm, it’s always Super Bowl or bust in New England.

Written by Ryan Scimone