AFC East Preview

Part seven of an eight part series examining each of the NFL's divisions as we approach the beginning of the regular season. Today, we take a look at the AFC East.

New England Patriots
The Patriots have won the Super Bowl already, right? Well, that's what the vast majority of the football watching community has implied. And, well, the Patriots are as much a favorite to win it as anyone has been in the past decade. This team would have been one of the favorites if they returned the exact team from last season. But, seeing just how tough the top of the AFC is, the Pats went out and had the best offseason in the league. Granted, winning the offseason means nothing - the Redskins proved that all too many times - but the Patriots are the absolute best at evaluating talent AND fitting it within the team system. The one position of weakness last season, Wide Receiver, has been big-league upgraded with Donte Stallworth, Wes Welker, and Randy Moss. Even if Moss isn't the player he used to be (which he isn't), anything would have helped the WR unit. The addition of Adalius Thomas to the defense gives coach Bill Belichick a big time joker to throw at opposing offenses. There have been some hits already though. Rodney Harrison will start the season on a four game suspension and Richard Seymour will start the season on the Physically unable to Perform list (PUP). But if there is one thing we all should have learned over the past six years, it's that you should never count the Patriots out until they are actually golfing at home.
Prediction: 12-4

New York Jets
The Jets, and their coach, Eric Mangini, are to the Patriots and their coach, Bill Belichick, what Mini Me is the Dr. Evil. Mangini, a former assistant of Belichick, has taken everything he learned from Belichick about making a solid football team, turned the Jets into a carbon copy of the New England; albeit not on the same level. But give him time. The Jets, last season, were expected to fight for the first overall draft pick this past summer. But instead they came out of nowhere to make the playoffs in an extremely deep AFC field. Normally I'd expect a drop off from a team that seemed to play over its head, but Mangini demands that Belichick vibe: never underestimate us. And I'm not. There really is nothing to write home about on this team. They added Thomas Jones, but he is just another average piece in a very average looking puzzle. But don't forget that it took a couple Super Bowl victories before people realized that the New England puzzle was not so average looking. That said, the Jets are not the Patriots. They will have to claw for a second consecutive playoff birth.
Prediction: 10-6

Buffalo Bills
The Bills will use this season to continue their youth movement. But they will not be doormats. J.P. Losman and Lee Evans have become a very dangerous QB-WR duo, and they have a rookie on each side of the ball that has the talent, and will have the opportunity, to win Rookie of the Year honors. RB Marshawn Lynch takes over for Willis McGahee and LB Paul Posluszny will step right in at linebacker and make a difference - think DeMeco Ryans and AJ Hawk last season. However, the offensive line needs to open up some holes for Lynch, and provide some time for Losman to gain some consistency. Teams who are looking for a break in between all the land mines on their AFC schedules should look somewhere else besides Buffalo. The Bills will beat the teams they should this year, and upset a few that they're not supposed to.
Prediction: 8-8

Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins offseason is littered with mistakes to follow up the offseason mistakes of previous coaching staffs. New coach, Cam Cameron, started it off by ignoring the huge hole at Quarterback during the '07 entry draft. Passing up on Brady Quinn, Cameron selected WR Ted Ginn Jr. with the 9th overall pick. Why? Because he can't wait to see this guy return kicks. Somebody watched too much of Devin Hester last year. Yes, a great returner can turn games around for you, but it won't matter when you have more important holes to fill...like QB. Obviously, the Dolphins picked the wrong door last offseason, signing Daunte Culpepper over Drew Brees - I don't need to explain how that turned out - but they had a chance to fix that mistake by drafting a franchise QB in Quinn. They didn't. Then to make matters worst, they "solved" their QB problem by acquiring Trent Green from Kansas City. Again, Cameron must have been watching Chicago game too much, because he obviously didn't see Trent Green play last year in K.C. If he had, there is no way he would have thought this was the answer. Their offensive line is average and aging - How many times can Ronnie Brown run into the line for a 2 1/2 yard gain. The defense is still good, and got better with the addition of Joey Porter, but they too are getting up there in age. Being in a tough division and tougher conference will not help their situation.
Prediction: 6-10