AFC East Preview

Other than the 2002 and 2008 season, QB Tom Brady
has been king of the AFC East.

Other than the Miami Dolphins winning the AFC East crown in 2008, when was the last time a team other than the New England Patriots won the division? You'll have to go back to 2002, when the New York Jets won the crown with a 9-7 record. Since QB Tom Brady has taken over for an injured QB Drew Bledsoe in the 2001 season, courtesy of the New York Jets, the Patriots have not looked back. When it comes to talking about who has a chance to win this division, the conversation usually starts and ends with the Patriots.

In the 2008 season, the Patriots were coming off of a perfect regular season and a loss to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl to end their perfection. Expectations were high going into the 2008 season. However, it took a turn for the worse when Kansas City Chiefs S Bernard Pollard, currently of the Baltimore Ravens, attempted to sack Brady at the knees, subsequently tearing his ACL. The Patriots still went 11-5 with QB Matt Cassel, but a couple of division losses at home to the Jets and Dolphins, two games they probably would win with Brady, cost them the division and a playoff berth.

DE Mario Williams signed with the Buffalo Bills for six years
and $100 million.

The other teams in the division have changed things up a bit in an attempt to remove the Patriots as the dominant force in the division. The Buffalo Bills signed DE Mario Williams to a $100 million contract, and were able to pry DE Mark Anderson away from the Patriots. They also retained their best offensive threat in WR Steve Johnson, and they just traded for QB Tarvaris Jackson. That resulted in the release of QB Vince Young, who had a horrible game this past weekend against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Jackson has been a starter in Minnesota and Seattle, so if incumbent starter QB Ryan Fitzpatrick doesn't get it right sooner than later, Jackson could be the starter sometime this season.

New Dolphins coach Joe Philbin
will start QB Ryan Tannehill right
away.

The Miami Dolphins used their #1 pick to draft Texas A&M QB Ryan Tannehill. They also hired Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin to be their new head coach. Philbin hired Mike Sherman, who was fired in the middle of a rough season at Texas A&M, to be the Dolphins offensive coordinator. This reunites Sherman with Tannehill, so the transition from college to the NFL could be a little easier for Tannehill. Tannehill won the job over QB Matt Moore, who rescued the Dolphins a bit after a horrible start under QB Chad Henne. However, like in Carolina, Moore loses his job to a rookie after doing a solid job the season before. In the 2010 season, the Panthers gave the job to QB Jimmy Clausen after Moore got off to a bad start. At the end of the 2009 season, Moore was excellent in the games he started, going 4-1.

The New York Jets made headlines by trading for QB Tim Tebow. Ever since then, he has been the dominating topic on all NFL shows. The Jets, however, had a lot more work to do to better a team that only went 8-8 with lofty expectations last season. QB Mark Sanchez had to repair his relationship with volatile WR Santonio Holmes. After not bringing back WR Plaxico Burress, the Jets had to draft a receiver, and did so in the second round by drafting WR Stephen Hill of Georgia Tech. The Jets used their first round pick on promising DE Quinton Coples of North Carolina. The year prior, the Jets used their first round pick on DE Muhammad Wilkerson, so developing a pass rush has been the focus for the Jets.

Will QB Tim Tebow become the starter sometime this
season?

The New England Patriots didn't need to make a lot of changes, but they did anyway. After losing offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien to Penn State, they hired Josh McDaniels to fill the role. McDaniels was their offensive coordinator in the 2007 and 2008 seasons. In the 2007 season, McDaniels guided the offense to record-setting numbers for QB Tom Brady and WR Randy Moss. They signed WR Brandon Lloyd, giving Brady a sure-handed receiver. However, the focus of the Patriots was to get better defensively. They used their two first round picks on DE Chandler Jones of Syracuse, and LB Donta Hightower of Alabama.

There is no reason to believe anything will be different this upcoming season. The Jets simply need better production from QB Mark Sanchez to compete for a playoff spot and the division crown. The Jets also need to look for receiving weapons before the season starts. Simply put, the receivers have not been good at all this preseason. The Dolphins don't know what they'll get from Tannehill, but I have a hunch that it will not be pretty for the Dolphins. Tannehill has a ways to go before he is a solid quarterback in the NFL. He is still refining his mechanics, as he started his career at Texas A&M as a tight end.

The Bills have the players on both sides of the ball to compete and get their first playoff berth since 1999. Everything rests on one guy -- QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. He played very well at the start of the 2011 season that the Bills gave him a solid extension. After the extension, Fitzpatrick, along with the rest of the team, imploded. If Fitzpatrick gets off to a rough start, look for Chan Gailey to pull the plug and start Jackson.

It could be argued that the Patriots wins the Super Bowl if WR Wes Welker makes that catch in the fourth quarter. However, their defense simply needs to play better. The Patriots wouldn't have been in the Super Bowl in the first place if WR Lee Evans doesn't drop the touchdown pass, or if K Billy Cundiff forces overtime by making an easy field goal. QB Joe Flacco had one of the better games of his career, and that is simply unacceptable for the Patriots. Their schedule this year isn't as easy as it was last year, but it still fairly easy. Therefore, the Patriots will continue their dominance in the division.

Predictions

New England Patriots 12-4
Buffalo Bills 9-7
New York Jets 8-8
Miami Dolphins 5-11