For my second post in my series of "NFL Season Predictions" I am going to move to the AFC and make my predictions for the AFC East. By far it is one of the weakest divisions in the NFL and does not seem to be in any shape for a vast improvement in the upcoming season.
Lets Begin with looking over the ending results from last year in the AFC East.
New England Patriots- 12-4 record, 6-0 in division
Miami Dolphins- 7-9 record, 2-4 in division
New York Jets- 6-10 record, 2-4 in division
Buffalo Bills- 6-10 record, 2-4 in division
You do not get a very fun season from this division and its always the exact same thing as the New England Patriots just demolish the division. It was actually about what you expect from the division as a whole maybe even a little bit better with the Dolphins winning 7 games. This Division has a Top 5 QB and then 3 bottom 10 quarterbacks. Last year was just not a very fun one for the AFC East.
Analyzing each teams schedules now.
New England Patriots
Tough Games: Week 4 @ Falcons, Week 6 vs Saints, Week 12 vs Broncos, Week 13 @ Texans.
Toss up Games: Week 5 @ Bengals, Week 9 vs Steelers, Week 16 @ Ravens.
Easy Games: Week 1 @ Bills, Week 2 vs Jets, Week 3 vs Buccaneers, Week 7 @ Jets, Week 8 vs Dolphins, Week 11 @ Panthers, Week 14 vs Browns, Week 15 @ Dolphins, Week 17 vs Bills.
The Patriots have a very solid chance to have a very successful year this season with the schedule they have been dealt. They have all easy division games that they should handle very easily, only a few toss up games against some interesting teams, Ravens will look a lot different this year on defense and in the passing game, Steelers are just a solid team if everyone stays healthy, and the Bengals could give the Patriots secondary some troubles with AJ Green. I think that all of their Tough Games this year will actually be some very difficult games for them because of how much the patriots lost on offense they are going to have to have some players really step up.
Miami Dolphins
Tough Games: Week 2 @ Colts, Week 3 vs Falcons, Week 4 @ Saints, Week 5 vs Ravens, Week 8 @ Patriots, Week 9 vs Bengals, Week 15 vs Patriots.
Toss up Games: Week 1 @ Browns, Week 7 vs Bills, Week 10 @ Buccaneers, Week 11 vs Chargers, Week 12 vs Panthers, Week 13 @ Jets, Week 14 @ Steelers, Week 16 @ Bills, Week 17 vs Jets.
Easy Games: None
I really looked at this schedule a lot, and I just could not think of any of these games as an easy game for this team, even ones that should be, especially the Jets. I think they will play fair against most of the toss up games like the Browns, Buccaneers, and Chargers games but this is going to be a rough year for them.
New York Jets
Tough Games: Week 2 @ Patriots, Week 5 @ Falcons, Week 6 vs Steelers, Week 7 vs Patriots, Week 8 @ Bengals, Week 9 vs Saints, Week 12 @ Ravens.
Toss up Games: Week 1 vs Buccaneers, Week 3 vs Bills, Week 4 @ Titans, Week 11 @ Bills, Week 13 vs Dolphins, Week 15 @ Panthers, Week 16 vs Browns, Week 17 @ Dolphins.
Easy Games: Week 14 vs Raiders.
The Jets are just bad, and they have a horrible coach that has some serious leadership problems. Unlike the Dolphins I think that they will be on the opposite side of most of the Toss up Games, meaning the loosing side. I do think the y have one easy game in the Raiders as I think they are possibly the worst team in the league this year. Although the Jets themselves really could be the worst team in the league this year as well, especially if they decide to change QBs mid season or anything like that.
Buffalo Bills
Tough Games: Week 1 vs Patriots, Week 4 vs Ravens, Week 8 @ Saints, Week 13 vs Falcons, Week 17 vs Patriots.
Toss up Games: Week 2 vs Panthers, Week 3 @ Jets, Week 5 @ Browns, Week 6 vs Bengals, Week 7 @ Dolphins, Week 9 vs Chiefs, Week 10 @ Steelers, Week 14 vs Buccaneers, Week 16 vs Dolphins.
Easy Games: Week 11 vs Jets, Week 15 @ Jaguars.
I think the Bills are pretty much a Toss up team for now with the QB battle, but schedule wise I think for this team they could have a fairly successful year for this division. They only have 3 Tough games that are not Division games, and have a large chunk of Toss up games. They get to play the Jaguars which no other team in the division gets to do so it should be a fairly easy win there, and the Bills KILLED the Jets at home last year, in the second half of the season as well so it could look very similar there.
Overall Team Rankings
New England Patriots:
The Patriots are the best team in this Division as always and that most likely will not change until Tom Brady is gone. Tom Brady is one of the best ever and he will carry any team and make them look great! Now the big question this year is who on earth in the receiving end is going to be the guy this year! Obviously if Rob Gronkowski is going to be healthy he is going to be HUGE this year even more then usual. Danny Amendola could be good as well also injury prone though. Not to mention that the Patriots are going to have the best running game that they have had in years. Steven Ridley is gonna be great and then Vareen is an Offensive Weapon and will work well in mismatches for the defenses. Defense should be interesting as well, the defensive line is getting pretty good and they are improving in the secondary but its still a work in progress.
Miami Dolphins:
The Dolphins are an interesting team. I think it was big for them getting Mike Wallace and it should help Ryan Tannehill, but I just do not think that Ryan Tannehill should be a teams franchise QB in the league, he just has not been that good. Not to mention that they are going to have to put a lot of trust in a rookie running back that hasn't been getting big talk. Then you have the Dolphins defense which is fairly poor. They have no real power on the team that teams are going to have to majorly adjust for so.
New York Jets:
The Jets are a bad team. There defense went way down without Darrelle Revis last year, and now he will not even be on the roster this year so you know its going to be a rebuilding defense this year. They replaced him well with rookie corner back Dee Milliner, and Antonio Cromartie is a talented player as well, but the Jets need more then a rookie to make there defense a top D like it used to be. I will say, in order for the Jets to do well in games this year, they are going to need there defense to play really well. The offense for the Jets is the main reason that they are in such rough shape as they have zero players on that side of the ball that are star players. There QB is going to be a very rough position regardless of who they play there. Geno Smith is the better option as I think it is time to move on from Mark Sanchez. Then you have no real threats at WR so that does not help when you have a bad QB. Then running back is an interesting position as Chris Ivory is getting a shot to be a number one guy, he plays like Marshawn Lynch and when he has played he has been really good, but he has serious injury problems so you have to wonder how long is he going to last.
Buffalo Bills:
The Bills have a very solid team when you look at the big picture. There Defense is not top notch but they are above average and have Mario Williams who is really going to elevate the pass rush. On offense they have a solid receiving core, especially with Stevie Johnson. Then at running back you have CJ Spiller who everyone seems to love, I am not 100% sold on Spiller, personally, as his injury problems and for some reason the team has taken them this long to hand of the reigns in full. I do think Spiller is a solid running back, but I just do not see him as a Top 10 guy just yet. The biggest question this year is going to be who they play at QB. I cannot stand Kevin Kolb, ever since he started in Philadelphia, and I have always said he was very overrated. Apparently I was correct because he couldn't even get the job in Arizona, do you realize how terrible that really is! EJ Manuel I think brings a new dynamic to the team and they could turn into an up tempo run and gun offense. Manuel+Cpiller+Johnson makes for one exciting athletic offense. Manuel by far is the better option.
Final Predictions
New England Patriots: 14-2 record, 6-0 in division.
Buffalo Bills: 8-8 record, 3-3 in division.
Miami Dolphins: 6-10 record, 2-4 in division.
New York Jets: 2-14 record, 1-5 in division.
The Patriots are set up for really good year so I'm calling they have one of the best records in football this year. I think that if EJ Manuel gets the job in Buffalo then they could pull an even record, he has potential to change the team into something unique. The Dolphins just have a really tough schedule for there team with not enough talent so I think they decline this year. The Jets are just terrible, they have a bad coach that does not know how to use the players he has on offense. Geno Smith has potential to have a good career but I don't think he is going to be used how his skills will be best suited. All in all you have a very standard year from the AFC East.
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