AFC East
- NE Patriots, 11-5 – Why? Not sure. They have some older players, they shouldn’t be that good and Belichick continues to be weird. But they always have older players, they always end up being good anymore and Belichick’s weirdness is often smart weirdness (like going for 4th downs). Borrowing from soccer’s apparent claim on the word “mercurial”, Belichick’s mercurialness hasn’t faded a bit and I can’t help but think he will mercurially help the Patriots achieve success once again. In particular, the Brady/Moss/Welker trio will remain brutally difficult to defend and some may be surprised when the Laurence Maroney/Fred Taylor duo ends up being shockingly productive. Watch out for the Pats this year.
- Miami Dolphins, 9-7 – Most will be shocked that I’ve put the Jets in at least 3rd place in this division. But the Dolphins have been quietly solid since coach Tony Sporano has taken over. He’s a good coach who goes about things quietly, yet effectively. They have a young group but they also have players who can just plain get the job done. The signing of Brandon Marshall was huge. Huge. This guy is good and his presence will immediately help the passing game – especially the other WRs like Davone Bess, Brian Hartline and Greg Camarillo. And I don’t see why Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown will slow down at all. Now that there is a greater threat in the passing game (especially with the emergence of Chad Henne over the last few games of last season – 4 300 yard games in a row), it stands to reason that an already potent running game could be even better. This team could be quite good.
- NY Jets, 8-8 – What? The Jets not winning the division? AW not buying the puffery surrounding Fat Ryan? Does AW predict this because of the Revis controversy? How could someone dare not believe in the Jets after their surprising ascent last year? Joey, have you ever been to a Turkish prison? A potential Revis holdout will hurt, yes, but it won’t ruin them. What will ruin them is a few setbacks. I’m envisioning a team having a seriously difficult time bouncing back from a few crucial setbacks. Rex Ryan is a coach who is so full of himself (and hot air), that I really doubt the “you should believe in yourself because I’m making you believe in yourself” approach will work this year. When he settles down some, it’s possible the Jets will settle down and be good again…in a few years. But not this year. The Jets won’t be bad and may contend for the playoffs because they do have talent. But they don’t have THAT much talent and I think people will be surprised by how good the Pats and the Dolphins are this year.
- Buffalo, 4-12 – Whenever there’s even the potential that someone like Brian Brohm, the slow-motion Brian Brohm, could start at QB, your team is hurting. Buff has some offensive talent (though both Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch have recently been slowed by injuries), but overall, they mostly suck. Too bad. I like the Buff and their fans and root for the team, but I just don’t think they’ll be bringing much this year at all. And hiring Chan Gailey was questionable.
packergeeks 
August 23, 2010 at 7:24 pm |
It’s really hard for me to get a read on the teams in the AFC East:
Patriots: they sure didn’t look like much last year, including an embarrassing loss in the playoffs. Maybe Brady’s knee wasn’t completely healed up, and he’ll be better this year?
Jets: they really didn’t look like much in the regular season last year (including a “wait what” loss to the Falcons). I think it’s going to be a big job for Ryan to mold all those free agent acquisitions into another contender.
Dolphins: they were really hurt by injuries last year. But even so, I think the wildcat offense is mostly a cover for the fact that they don’t have a real QB. I would tend to agree, if they stay healthy, they should be able to get to 8 or 9 wins.
Bills: these guys are doomed.
D∈T
August 24, 2010 at 4:24 pm |
The Jets are overblown. I agree with you AW, I dont think they will be that great.
Have you seen Mark Sanchez this preseason? He can’t anything! So, plan on defenses stacking 8 in the box and dominating LT and that O line.
August 24, 2010 at 4:25 pm |
Sorry…..”he cant HIT anything”
August 25, 2010 at 1:21 am |
Jets are going to struggle for a few reasons. Sanchez has a lot of pressure this year, because of early success last year, and the loud mouth coach they have over there. It will be a tough season and will prove to Sanchez that the NFL is not a kids league. It’s going to take a lot of work and experience, and he’s not there yet.
With that in mind, last year Rex’s coaching style of being confident and trash talking his way in and out of press conferences, it won’t help this year. Last year, they had some success, and he got the team pumped up. It worked, the players believed. But with key players still not there (Revis, Thomas Jones) and a lot of attention surrounding the team, it would not be surprising to see the team struggle out of the gates. And because Ryan has not shut his mouth since he came to the Jets, the players are going to lose faith in his confidence if they struggle early. So I don’t expect Rex’s confident, trash talking style to help the team, as I feel it may actually hurt the team.
Ryans talk also will reflect on Cromartie. He will struggle, he’s not a very good corner. Your going to see missed tackles, and he may get beat deep (they do play some talented WRs). So if he struggles, it’s going to be tough on him. Ryan says he’s more than capable of carrying out his duties and filling in for Revis. Well that’s big shoes to fill and Cromartie is not there yet.
And I do have a feeling Thomas Jones not there this year, will play more of a factor than most expect. I like Shonne Green, but having Thomas Jones was big for them and it might hurt them this year.
Thats my rant on the Jets not going to be as good as people think. Patriots ran into them last year and weren’t expecting the Jets to show up… I don’t think Bill is going to let that happen again this year. And Tom will probably have a hell of year especially if he doesn’t get that contract till the season is over.
August 26, 2010 at 9:51 am |
I love the Dolphins this year. I always trust that a Parcells-run organization will be prepared and will find players that others have overlooked, Henne is a potential breakout QB and they seem to be flying under the radar.
I agree with everyone about the Jets. The defense is for real, but Sanchez doesn’t seem to be ready to lead a top flight team.
NE is a mystery to me, wouldn’t be surprised if they go 13-3 or 7-9.
Poor, poor Buffalo . . .
August 27, 2010 at 1:43 am |
it seems this site is slow right now on current events- but i gotta say that we need to exploit Sam Shields- hes the fastest guy on the team and used to be a receiver at the “U” so he could be the “X ” factor like Desmond was back at the last Super Bowl (4 us )
August 27, 2010 at 3:35 pm |
Check out this vid of him running a ko back for a td against the Badgers. Dude has got some jets!
August 27, 2010 at 10:22 am |
Totally agree Mark. He made a fantastic play last night at CB (yes, even though it was against Curtis Painter), and while he had trouble fielding the ball against Cleveland in the punting game – he could be great on kickoffs or as a potential end around type guy on offense. Given his speed and experience at WR, you could use him in a number of positions to throw defenses off. Even as a decoy, it could be great.
All that to be said….A Rodg looks fantastic so far. He seems to be in a zone where nothing will phase him. He hasnt come close to a INT yet, and it seems as though when there is nothing there, hes throwing it to places where only a WR can get to. Worst case, just an incompletion. Also, hes been unloading the ball quickly and scrambling early to get out of jail. Just awesome to watch.
August 27, 2010 at 10:48 am |
Any comments about the game last night?
August 27, 2010 at 12:44 pm |
First string D looked shaky in the beginning, and that has been a hallmark of MM Packer teams…not prepared to play on Play #1. After that, they looked ok, but we will not be able to afford big holes every game this season.
Hopefully we can get all of our starters to play next week so they have a chance to play together before week 1.
The O looks awesome. ARodg is in mid-season form and JFin is going to be near unstoppable this season.
Flags have been very low so far, which is great, but special teams have been a little off and on so far. Seen too many long returns to be comfortable again.
August 27, 2010 at 2:15 pm |
Special teams is definitely shaky. I discount the return in the 4th Q as the game was in garbage time. The muffed return by Indy was a gift and not having anything to do with our coverage from what I could see. jury is still out with this part of the team.
D started out very weak, then made a stronger statement with some takeaways. Tramon did not do himself any favors last night with his coverage. We need to get our core defense together for at least a series or two before we open the season. Granted, it is pretty much the same group from last year, but it would be nice to see them all on the field once.
Took my soon to be 8 year old son last night for his first ever trip to Lambeau. Loved every second of it and was so happy he had is #80 jersey on when Driver scored. Another fan in the making. So much more interested after having been there than just watching it on TV.
August 27, 2010 at 3:36 pm |
This is trade week in the NFL. The injury bug has hit some teams harder then others and other teams know they are going to have to cut some good players and want to get something in return. Six round picks will be flying around the league!
I think Colledge was excellent again last night. My guess is that he is off the trading block and will be the starting LG for the Packers this season. My hunch is the Packers would love to keep Spitz also. How nice is it to have a starter quality player able to step in and play all three interior line spots and then you have Bulaga waiting to play LG or LT. What a change from last year in terms of quality and depth. This offense could be fantastic if the line stays healthy and performs well.
We might get a 6th rounder for Evan D-Smith. If a team is desperate for a interior lineman we might get real value (OLB!!) for Spitz. (think Dallas) Donald Lee might also garner a 5th or 6th round pick if a team doesn’t want to risk losing him on the waiver wire.
August 27, 2010 at 3:46 pm |
My thoughts on the first 3 preseason games:
— I really hope the defense has been holding back. Delhomme was 6/7 for 66yds on a TD drive, Hasselbeck was 11/15for 127yds, 1TD, and Manning was 15/26 for 214yds, 2td, 1int (things did fall apart for him at the end). If that’s the way the pass D is going to be this year… the Packers are likely going to need to put up 35+ points every game to have a chance to win.
— The offense looked a little slow at times, but I’m willing to chalk that up to the preseason. I think they’ll be fine.
— I haven’t seen any games, so I can’t say much about special teams. I was glad to see Mason Crosby made all his FG tries, including a long of 51 yards. That will be a huge improvement right there if he’s more reliable in the field goal game this year.
September 4, 2010 at 7:45 pm |
I am wondering why defense is not mentioned in any of these predictions besides Revis??
You also left out the fact that Maroney is in the Belichick’s dog house from what I have heard. Unless I missed something in the last few day I thought it was looking like the Pats will be starting 2 rookie cornerbacks, with all those talented recievers you mentioned (and the ones you didn’t)how can that not be a factor?
Then the Dolphins defense, they lost 2 guys in the offseason that made up for almost 1/2 of the teams sacks, it would be ridiculous to think that won’t have some effect on their pass rush.
The Jets unlike the Dolphins and Pats have a defense. They look promising but all of the possible success rests on a second year qb who threw 20 int last year (2nd most in the league)? You can have all the talent in the world at every position but without a consistant QB it will be hard to be successful.
The Bills have way more questions then answers going into the season most of which revolve around the QB. Like the jets like lack consistancy from that position. If they get performances from Trent Edwards like before the Arizona hit 2 years ago things could come together for them. They have a great secondary who was 2nd in the nfl last season in int. The biggest problems the Bills have had in recent years besides what I already mentioned has been staying healthy and run defense. Both of which I think were addressed this offseason. The 3-4 should allow the linebackers to play a bigger part in run defense and the Bills endured a totally different kind of conditioning under Coach Gailey.
Bottom line I am not saying that I totally disagree with you at all but you have failed to mention some of the major points when discussing the AFC EAST.