This is the first post of a two-week series I will be doing, discussing every team by division and how I see their 2008 NFL season playing out. Today, we are discussing the AFC East division, which is populated by the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and New York Jets. Let’s get started!
New England Patriots The Patriots almost capped off an undefeated season last year, only to come up short against the New York Giants on the biggest stage of them all. Well, Tom Brady’s foot is bothering him again, yes, the same foot that was all over TMZ and ESPN last January. I wouldn’t be too concerned about it, however. A hobbling Brady is still better than your quarterback. The Pats upgraded their defense in the first round of the draft by picking up physical animal, Jerod Mayo, from Tennessee to bolster their already strong line-backer corps. He should have a sensational rookie year, and maybe even DROTY (Defense Rookie of the Year) honors. My biggest question mark about this team has to be the health of Brady. I understand not wanting to risk injury in the pre-season, but if he’s in Week 1 against the Chiefs (which won’t be much of a challenge), and hurts himself rolling out of the pocket or getting hit by beastly rookie DT, Glenn Dorsey, then what? In my opinion, this will be the offensive line’s jobs on the line. I’m sure Belichick wants to put a red shirt on him in the games, as in “Don’t hit him!”. If he gets hurt facing one of the stud DTs or LBs, his season could be over, and for that matter, the season of the Patriots as well. You’re not gonna win enough games to make a playoff push with Matt Cassel in there.
Regular Season Prediction: 15-1, 1st in AFC East, No. 1 seed in AFC playoffs
New York Jets Of course, the biggest off-season acquisition of any team was the addition of future Hall-of-Famer, Brett Favre. He already appears to have good chemistry with his new teammates, and that’s critical if you want him to win you football games. Favre has some secret weapons to utilize in that offense, such as Leon Washington, Jerricho Cotchery and Dustin Keller, rookie TE from Purdue. The offensive line is now one of the toughest in the National Football League. The Jets acquired Alan Faneca and Damien Woody via free agency, and still have Nick Mangold, a strong center. If these pieces are put together correctly and quickly, then I would be confident in their playoff chances. The Jets’ head coach, Eric Mangini has never been very popular here in my world, but if he can ride Favre’s coattails to the post-season this year, which is the best he can hope for, then I wouldn’t be afraid of keeping him around. He’s the guy until Favre doesn’t like him, because the Jets have no choice but to go as Favre goes. Do they really have a better option at this point? No. It’s basically up to Brett whether or not Mangini is coach, because they can’t afford their by-far best player to have a disagreement and lack of chemistry with the guy calling the plays.
Regular Season Prediction: 10-6, 2nd place in AFC East, No. 5 seed in AFC playoffs
Buffalo Bills The Bills made quite a remarkable push last season, finishing 7-9 with most of their best guys gone or injured. Trent Edwards has really stepped up the past 10 months and proved to me he can be the leader of this football team for years to come. Lee Evans should have an extraordinary year, and Marshawn #### will keep the ground game moving, nay, shoving and pushing and gaining 4-5 yards a carry. This guy is nothing but power, and I look forward to watching him as much as I used to look forward to watching Michael Vick. Sheer excitement on every down. The defense upgraded with Super Bowl 42 Champion linebacker, Kawika Mitchell, who had a sensational year for what was expected of him. This year, he won’t be as lucky. I have high expectations for this defense, in particular what Mitchell can contribute to it in the first few weeks of the regular season. It’ll be interesting as to how well he adjusts to Buffalo’s smash-mouth defense. Probably not much adjusting, because he’s used to slamming into people for losses of yards. #### Jauron has nothing to worry about if you ask me, however, you never know. If him and the Bills have as good a year as I expect, he won’t be out of a job anytime soon.
Regular Season Prediction: 9-7, 3rd in AFC East, no playoffs
Miami Dolphins The Dolphins made an attempt to improve their sad offense in the off-season, first drafting OT Jake Long in the draft back in April. He was a physical beast in college, and should transfer most, if not all, of that dominance over to the Pros. The late off-season acquisition of Chad Pennington at QB was a good one. Pennington has the best completion percentage this far into his career of any starting QB in NFL history. Now, things could be said about that stat, but the reason it’s so high is because his passes are literally no further than 7 yards downfield. If he can be the 3rd down or pressure situation QB, and Chad Henne can start by Week 9, I like the offense’s chances of becoming more potent. They still need to get the reliable receiver that has eluded them for years. They should have addressed that in the off-season as well. The defense still looks pitiful, and if the Dolphins offense is so slow that they have to rely on the defense to bail them out, they will go 0-16 this time. However, I’m not prepared to hand out that bad of a record.
Regular Season Prediction: 3-13, 4th in AFC East, no playoffs
I thought you might want to see the AFC east from a (reverse) parallel universe............But it's funny that the AFC north always has the Steelers #1 no matter what world your in.........LOL!
aero- There's a couple games on their schedule that could go either way. 10-6 looks to be the WC entry record at this point, and the Bills could get there.
evilquacks- I like the bizarro world predictions.
Oh, the Stillers will alwys be on top! GO STEELERS!
i firmly believe this is the un -predictable year where the dogs keep barkin' and the public teams are in for rough or marginal years
sorry pats, colts, stillers, boyz, and packer fans....
stay tuned MG my predictions ain't goin' to be pretty and the favs will fall in 2008...i like da jets and bills to have better records than the pats
I don't think the Pats will go 15-1. They aren't going to expend the type of energy required for another perfect run. Plus, I still say the loss of Donte' gives them less explosiveness on offense. We'll see if the ground game picks up. Haven't seen much from Jordan, but he might be another gem addition for them if his head is still on straight.
Jets are going to be good and it isn't just far. As you say the O-line. Putting two quality pieces with the developing pieces (Brick/Mangold) plus the most experienced QB there is will lead to good things. 8-8 min, 10-6 max.
Bills are so hard to read. Who's going to get hurt this year? Who will surprise or disappointment for them? Never put it all together. I think worse than 9-7, maybe 7-9 or even 6-10.
Dolphins get a boost from Chad. Sadly it's only good for 1-2 wins. No talent down there. Imagine all the guys they sent off in trades... Welker, Chambers, Taylor, Ogunleye and others. Might squeeze 4 wins.
tiger- Wow, even though the Patriots have the best QB, WR and defense in that division? Nah. The Bills are good, but they aren't lucky. The Jets could surprise some people with their firepower, but c'mon, better than New England? Eh, we'll see. They are all opinions until they are facts or incorrect. Take care!
Norcal- 15-1 ain't prfect, however, and neither was last year's 18-1 mark.
Stallworth only had 3 TDs and >600 yards receiving last year. He may have helped out Moss and Welker by creating an extra target for defense's to cover, but even Jabar Gaffney or Chad Jackson could look great with Brady at the helm. I wouldn't be too worried.
The Jets piece in your comment makes sense, and I wouldn't disagree with you in saying they might drop some easy games here and there. 10-6 is what I'm sold on, however.
You're point on the Bills is absolutely correct, the injuries are always piling up around now, but none have really happened yet to get concerned about. Come to think of it, the only one I've heard of so far is Trent Edawards, and from what I hear, it ai't to serious.
If the Dolphins get a boost from Chad, it would be better than 1 win, considering that's how mnay they had last season, thus not making it a boost at all. 2 wins would be exciting don't you agree?! LOL.
Ogunleye? Who's that, and where's he now?
They really got killed in the Welker deal. Come to think of it, did they trade him or let him go? He wasn't a big name when they parted ways with him, and was never very explosive down there. Maybe Wes grew up a Pats fan and wanted to play for them?
Your Jets playoff prediction is off. The #2 place in the AFC South is going to be your #5 seed in the playoffs. Especially since you have the Jets at 10-6 (which is about where I see them).
Hey Mike, I think Tiger might be commenting from that (reverse) parallel universe that I was joking about..........With that Bills and Jets, better than the Pats statement........LOL!
empty- You'll just have to kep checking to see how I think the South plays into all of this. Take care!
raiderflyy- I assume you're talking to me, and in case you can't read, I'm a Steelers fan, not a Bills fan. Anywho, their defense is quite strong. They now have a Super Bowl champ in Kawika Mitchell, and of course, Leodis McKelvin via the draft. That defense is gonna be good this year.
evilquacks- I never stopped to think about that! Maybe that's it! I doubt it, though, Tiger likes to take his picks to Vegas, and I'm not sure how gutsy you can be with those predictions. LOL!
Green - So you know it was 697. The TD total is low because Brady wanted to get Moss the record. Would have been 8-10 otherwise. Gaffney sucks and Chad Jackson is another UF WR bust.
Ogunleye is a DE they traded to Chicago I think 3 years ago. They traded Welker it was a 2nd/7th I think.
Only reservation I have with Jets is Madden Curse. Shaun Alexander is freaking unemployed!
Wow...I must be reading and watching about another Miami team. 3 wins...they should have won more than that last year but didn't due to poor coaching an d bad luck. That won't happen again. They have upgraded plenty of positions. I'm not usually one to argue on these boards but you're not giving the Dolphins any credit. I believe the Dolphins will have at least 6 wins.
Last edited by kshangy on August 28th at 11:41 AM.
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I am Mike Greenspire and I am a sports blogger for FOX Sports and I love the NFL, NHL, MLB, NBA, and NASCAR! I was born and raised in the city of Pittsburgh, PA, so naturally I am a die-hard fan of the Pens, Buccos, and Steelers. Since Pittsburgh basketball is long gone, my favorite team in the NBA is the Orlando Magic. Please leave a comment on my blog, I love feedback. My blog is fun, and I enjoy writing it, and I hope that you will enjoy reading it! Thanks!
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