AFC East Preview

Buffalo Bills: Offensively very young. JP Losman had a decent second half and should grow this year. He has come out publicly and stated that he will have a good year, but what QB in the NFL would say the opposite. The offensive line was a major concern last year and was addressed with the additions of Derrick Dockery, Langston Walker and Jason Whittle. Protecting Losman will let him hit some very talented, but very young wide outs in Lee Evans and Roscoe Parrish. Peerless Price will probably start the season as the #2 option. He needs to refocus himself and get back to his 2002 form if that is possible. He caught 94 passes for over 1200 yards but that was with Eric Moulds getting double teamed on the other side of him. 1st round draft choice Marshawn Lynch will be the clear cut starter by week 4 replacing a departed Willis McGahee and should see some running lanes behind the new O-Line. A fast but inexperienced defensive corp will have an up and down season. The losses of Tikeo Spikes and Nate Clements will hurt but 2nd round pick Paul Posluszny, DE Aaron Schobel and an underrated CB Terrence McGee, should pick up the slack and need to have excellent years to help the Bills win games.

Miami Dolphins: Cam Cameron has a tough job. The Offensive line is an absolute mess. No significant upgrade at any O-line position will make it difficult to find a statuesque Trent Green any time to throw. Ronnie Brown is a gifted runner. Averaging 4.2 yards a carry, he did most of the work after getting hit. Trent Green needs to get a talented and physically awesome Chris Chambers the ball a lot more than the 59 catches he had last year. Miami fans will be clamoring for Ted Ginn Jr. to do more than return kicks and punts. Most fans feel that Brady Quinn would have been the best choice and now hope that the Dolphin brain-trust knows more than they do. The loss of McMichael will not hurt too much since he was used mostly as a blocking lineman last season. Cory Schlesinger will add excellent blocking from the FB position. Defensively, not much has changed, except that they have all gotten one year older. If that does not translate into one step slower, then the Dolphins have a chance to win 6 games this year. Joey Porter is a very good addition and will cause havoc if Dom Capers can use him the right way.

New England Patriots: Tom Brady is always the main attraction. Most people are thinking that the additions of Moss, Stallworth and Wes Welker will be beneficial. I disagree. New England, under Belichick, has always been a team first organization. Randy Moss has stated in past interviews that he plays only when he feels like. Will the Patriots be able to motivate Moss? What happens the first or second time only two or three balls are thrown his way in a game? I can not see Moss being happy in New England for very long. Dante Stallworth is very talented, exceptionally fast and will be a deep threat for Brady. However, with a quality QB in McNabb, and then Garcia when McNabb injured his knee last year, he had 38 catches for 725 yards in 12 games. He is not a possecion receiver and his route running is suspect. The Patriots gave Stallworth about 3.5 million in guaranteed money because they are aware of his injury history as well. Wes Welker needs to prove himself on a team that has pressure to win. He may be the possession receiver that the Patriots expect, or a one year wonder. I have not seen enough of him to say he will be a bust or not. It will be interesting to see if Laurence Maroney can be an everydown back. He was impressive last season, but that was in a two running back rotation with Cory Dillon. Look for an experienced back up in Sammy Morris to take 15-20% of the carries this year. The defense is strong up front and in the linebacker corp, and then they get Adalius Thomas. One knock is at cornerback. The lack of depth will try to be masked by schemes Belichick creates, but good offenses will be able to throw against the Pats.


New York Jets: Mangini has the Jets playing inspired, team oriented, goal-oriented football. A major distraction is the Pete Kendall situation. Veteran of the line, he could have been mentor for the young, but potentially best in the league O-line. Now that he is gone to Washington, who will play gaurd. LT D’Brickashaw Ferguson and C Nick Mangold are going to be special. The line needs to give Thomas Jones and Leon Washington room to run, work the clock a bit and help the defense not be on the field as much as they were last year. An excellent acquisition, Thomas Jones will show work ethic and professionalism needed in every clubhouse. The line will need to give injury prone Pennington time to get the ball to a talented trio of receivers in Laveranues coles, Jerricho Cotchery and Justin McCareins. Defensively the Jets need to improve their rush defense. The group wore out towards the end of the season last year, in part to being on the field too long most games. Shaun Ellis is an All-Pro at End and Von Oelhoffen is an underrated player on the D-line. Veterans Kenyon Coleman and David Bowens give depth. ILB Vilma will be an All-pro this season and 2nd round pick David Harris will fit in the 3-4 set the Jets run. 1st round pick Darrelle Revis compliments a secondary that will be better this year anchored by opportunistic safeties Kerry Rhodes and Erik Coleman.

Predictions: The Pats will lose some games they are not accustomed to losing and the young,talented and motivated Jets will win the division. I figure New England getting the wild card. Most pundits will have the Pats and Jets finishing 1-2 in the division, but I am probably in the minority in terms of who finishes 1 and who finishes 2.

1) Jets 2) Patriots 3) Bills 4) Dolphins