During the offseason I started a thread about what you guys thought about the AFC East. I think overall I was correct in that I thought the Jets and my Dolphins would be more improved. That New England was vulnerable and that the Bills would accomplish nothing while Jauron was coach. Hopefully Jauron will stay in Buffalo for another 10 years. Anyway what does everyone think of the AFC East now?
I agree. I think the Jets are better. I think the Bills are bottom dwellers. Pats are obviously on the decline. Dolphins are my only question mark. I think they're better then last year, but I also think they over achieved last year. I think the Jets and Phins will be battling it out for 1 and 2 for the next 5-10 years.
The Patriots are still the Patriots. They will continue to be good for the next 5-10 years so not including them is nonsense. The AFC East seemed to be Jets/Patriots with Miami 3rd and Buffalo a deep 4th, but after last week, I am not sure what the AFC East is right now.
I think people underestimate the Dolphins. When they went 1-15 they were a much more talented team than that. The coaching sucked. The next year with a better front office and a better draft and offseason they went 11-5. This year the Dolphins are 2-3 so far. They only have 5 tough games left. Saints, Jets, Patriots twice and the Steelers. The other games are against teams like Titans or Panthers who are struggling. I easily could see the Dolphins a 10 or 11 win team this year. As long as teams keep underestimating the Dolphins they are going to get burned. I think the Jets did. They thought they were going to come into the Dolphins home and tomp all over them. The Dolphins were better than the Jets expected. You don't win 11 games as a fluke. I see the Patriots beginning to fade and the rise of the Jets and Dolphins. Buffalo will permanently dwell in the cellar of the division while Dick Jauron is coach there. Buffalo has plenty of talent but the man is a franchise killer.
Have you? Two guys from '07 and '08 look like they're going to be top contributors for awhile. Meriweather is starting to look like a pro-bowl safety, Jerod Mayo a top notch inside line backer. Gostowski, though he's only a kicker, was also a very nice pickup although the '06 draft was largely a miss. Gery Guyton also appears to be a solid player, and this years class is looking very good so far. Butler, Chung, and Edleman have all looked pretty promising so far in limited action. Offensively, they are aging and that will have to be a focus in upcoming drafts, but on defense they've actually done a nice job restocking lately. I think as Tom Brady declines, the team will too until they find a replacement. I still don't think what were seeing right now is his actual decline, it seems likely that he will get better as this season goes along and perform at a high level for another few seasons before he starts to go down hill. Manning was very inconsistent last year through the first 8 games coming off a less serious injury. Brady's qb rating so far has been 85.9, which is only bad in the context of what people expect from him.
^ How is Ron Brace doing for you guys? I wanted the Jets do draft him considering they don't have 1 guy under 30 on their line.
He hasn't been playing much so far. Mike Reiss had nice things to say about how he was doing in practices during training camp and offseason workouts but so far he hasn't been playing much. He sounds like he's doing decent enough behind the scenes but we might not being hearing much from him for the next year until he learns the system better or until Wilfork is gone.
As long as Brady and BB are there the patriots will be a handful. And look out if they strike gold in the draft next year with a running back.
I feel pretty much the same way about the Pats. They'll have some up and down seasons, but they will remain a tough opponent either way. I don't think so long as those two are still with them that you can ever take them for granted. The Bills are a train wreck - period. No amount of talent is going to turn that club around. They are phucked from the top down. In my mind they are approaching Raideresque dysfunction. The Dolphins meanwhile will continue to improve. They made a big rebound adding the Tuna alone. Part of their problem (as well as our own) is going to end up being the amount of competition within the East. It's starting to again resemble one of the tougher divisions. Give it another 2-3 years and it will likely be again. The jury is still out on Henne, but if he continue to grow as a QB they have a brighter future ahead of them. I don't see Penny coming back from this last injury. It's retire or pick up the clip board. That leaves the WR and Defense for the Dolphins to improve on. As for my Jets... I think they are moving up and ahead. Sanchez is looking like a solid QB thus far.. he continues to learn and stay healthy we could have some stability at this position finally. The defense has been much improved finally, although I would like to see more of the smash mouth defense we played against the Pats. The last couple of games have been disappointing, although one was against the Saints tough Off. I like what Mgt and Coaching is bringing to our team and with a couple more years of building we could be one of "those" teams. With some luck.
All I was saying is thinking it will be the Phins/Jets battling for the title for the next 5-10 years and not including NE is crazy. Until Bellichick leaves, they will always be around the top.
Gotta agree... recent drafts be damned. Teams have some luck with drafts and that luck goes both ways at times. The Pats are good at doing things like suckering extra picks out of guys who wear depends pants and they will end up striking some gold and silver picks among the crap of the draft. Discounting them is kinda shortsighted.. I think what we will see is the Jets and Dolphins pulling more in line talent and coaching wise in the next couple of years. I expect the division to become cut throat again.
Whatever happens this year I like our teams future. We may not do it this year but with this owner/coach/gm I can only see us improving in the immediate future.
OK, so There is something to be said for strength of schedule.... etc. But football if s not based on stats as much as baseball is and intangables include jet lag/hostile environment/inclement weather/missed blocks/unsound tecnique and halftime adjustments.... to name but a few.I sometimes equivelate it to medicine.... "its an art and a science".... anyway( I can almost feel the flamers coming after me....lol). Here are where the fins are after the by, and I am throwing out a vised W/L prediction sheet with a jets revised win/loss sheet to follow, I would be interested in your thoughts, comments, and education where you think Im missing the boat totally 7 Sunday, Oct 25 Saints/Loss...Land Shark Stadium 8 Sunday, Nov 01 @ Jets/Loss Giants Stadium 9 Sunday, Nov 08 @ Patriots/LOSS Gillette Stadium 10 Sunday, Nov 15 Buccaneers /win/Land Shark Stadium 11 Thursday, Nov 19 @ Panthers /Win NFLN Bank of America Stadium 12 Sunday, Nov 29 @ Bills /win Ralph Wilson Stadium 13 Sunday, Dec 06 Patriots win Land Shark Stadium 14 Sunday, Dec 13 @ Jaguars win Jacksonville Municipal Stadium 15 Sunday, Dec 20 @ Titans/win 16 Sunday, Dec 27 Texans/loss Land Shark Stadium 17 Sunday, Jan 03 Steelers/loss Land Shark Stadium 6 more wins and 5 losses= record of 9-7 TBC.....
Sunday, 10/18/09 4:15 PM Buffalo Win 1050 ESPN Sunday, 10/25/09 4:05 PM @ Oakland Win 1050 ESPN Sunday, 11/01/09 1:00 PM Miami Win Sunday, 11/15/09 1:00 PM Jacksonville Win 1050 ESPN Sunday, 11/22/09 TBA* @ New England Loss 1050 ESPN Sunday, 11/29/09 TBA* Carolina win 1050 ESPN Thursday, 12/03/09 8:20 PM @ Buffalo win Sunday, 12/13/09 TBA* @ Tampa Bay 1050 ESPN Sunday, 12/20/09 TBA* Atlanta loss 1050 ESPN Sunday, 12/27/09 TBA* @ Indianapolis loss 1050 ESPN Sunday, 01/03/10 TBA* Cincinnati Win 7-wins /3 losses added to our current record of 3/2 = 10/6......with lady luck on our side, an THE INTANGIBLES I MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY.......WE WIN THE EAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
