You seemed so nice and reasonable. And you didn't have any stories of Tom Brady turning water into wine or healing sick children with just his smile. You didn't have any of the normal hallmarks of a Patriots fan! Seriously though I appreciate your input. My poor Dolphins are pretty much an afterthought in the national press so I wanted to get other's viewpoints on the division. I'm beginning to think we're the least respected division champs ever.
Check this out. TO did the sports on a local TV station in Buffalo..... Actually kinda funny... wkbw.com Sorry, my post count isn't high enough to post a link......
They attacked it by run blitzing, and bringing safety's down in the box - 8 and 9 men in the box at times... because they simply weren't scared of Ronnie Brown passing the ball. When Miami did pass out of the Wildcat vs. the Ravens (the Pennington flee flicker) it went for a TD to Ted Ginn. But with Ronnie Brown as the trigger man... Baltimore wasn't scared of the pass out of any WC formation. It may indeed be a fad... but I have to think the drafting of Pat White is an indicator that Dan Henning and the mad scientist from Arkansas (David Lee QB's coach) aren't done playing with the formation. Time will tell.
You really have no clue what you're talking about, probably cause your head is so far up Brett's ass you could doulbe as his small intestine. Nevertheless, Miami didn't have a strong rushing attack last year, hence the wildcat and Chad had his best season as a starting QB. Chad doesn't throw the ball 75 yards in the air yet Chad had a better season as a passer than Brett did. Now you can come up with some lame BS why your man love for Brett is all you need to see Brett as the better QB, but Chad had the better all around season and he did it with much less than Brett had, deal with it!
I thought I had already replied to this. You got me. I meant Pat White. Must have tater salad on my brain.
I think the division is over rated based on a powder puff schedule last year. I don't see Brady being as good next year as he was pre-injury but I see the NE running game and D having a nice bounce back and being very good. They have made some nice moves that everyone is underestimating. If Taylor can still move the Dolphins are much better on the D side of the ball and they have a great running combination. They will compete but Chad will have more to do to win games against a tougher schedule and it wouldn't surprise me if he isn't starting by mid season. The Jets go as far as Sanchez or Clemens take us which is probably sub 500. The Bills are always a tough team to get a read on. They seem to always be better than you think but not good enough to make the next move. I suspect we compete with them for the bottom of the division. There are so many changes on all of these teams that until we see them in real game action it's hard to see where the division really is. I just don't think Miami, NE or the Jets were that good last year. We all showed flashes but basically beat up on a soft out of confrence schedule.
I want to address your NE comments. The Patriots defense is really old. In fact I've been reading a couple of NE fan sites and they are freaking over their LB situation. They have a bend not break defense and a high powered passing offense. If Brady isn't back to full form they won't get back to the playoffs. Their defense isn't good enough to carry them and neither is their offense without Brady.
The Pats have a couple of older players on D... but really old? Bruschi is 36, but only plays 1st and 2nd down, and Springs is 34. Adalius Thomas is 32 and Seymour 30. They'll probably be the only other defensive starters over 30. Wilfork (27), Warren (28), Bodden (28), Sanders (25), Meriweather (25), Mayo (24), (Woods, Crable, Guyton?) are all in their 20's still. The Pats weakness on "D" could be it's lack of experience at outside linebacker and depth at middle linebacker. Getting a consistent pass rush was a concern last year and will probably be this year. They upgraded the defensive backfield, but as the Jets fans on this board all know, it's all about pass rush. The Jets have really good DB's but they can only cover for so long....
Yeah I liked the Patriots pick up of Patrick Chung and Ron Brace. Darius Butler also. Both seem to be solid players. But with all those picks available why didn't they spend one on a pass rusher in the 2nd round? I think they missed an opportunity there and it will burn them a few times this year. It's all down to Tom Brady though. If he comes back well then the offense will be good enough to make up any defensive shortcomings. I wonder what happens if you run into a ball control that keeps that defense on the field for 5-8 minutes at a time. I think the Patriots can be ground down. And all the other AFC east teams have good running games. It's going to be interesting to see how it plays out.
I'm not ready to cede the division to anybody or count anybody out yet. I do think the Pats and Fins have somewhat better prospects than the Jets and Bills but I could see any of the 4 teams winning double-digit games and I could see any of them playing sub-500 depending on the breaks. It really depends the QB play at this point. If Brady picks up and keeps going like he was prior to the injury then the Pats win the division easily. If he doesn't they could struggle. If he gets hurt again they could collapse. The Dolphins will try to get back to back good seasons out of Chad for the first time in his career. The Jets will rise as far as Sanchez allows them too. If Clemens plays QB they're not going to the playoffs barring a miracle. The Bills need a great season out of Trent Edwards. They get that and they go to the playoffs, they don't get that and they could win 5 games.
If the Jets can play the kind of D similar to Ryan's Raven defenses, the Jets could make ome noise with a control the ball style offense. The Dolphins should improve, yet the tougher schedule may not let it show in the standings. (OF course you could say all the afc east teams are facing tougher schedules). The Pats probably run away with the didvision (13 wins) with a healthy Brady. Without... it's a race! Bills won't be a factor this year IMO.
I agree this is a talented divsion. I mentioned before that with the talent the Bills have if they were in another division they'd be in the playoffs each year. And it really depends on the QB play. If Tom Brady plays well then the Patriots will play well. And if Pennington stays healthy and plays as well as he did last year then the Dolphins will try to repeat as division champs. I think Sanchez is the real wild card. Everyone has an idea of what Pennington, Brady and Edwards can do. Is Matt Sanchez going to light the world on fire or have rookie struggles? I just think this division is going to be really competitive.
I actually give Trent Edwards a slightly better chance than Sanchez to step up to the next level this year, mainly because he has more experience in the NFL and if the game is not slowing down for him now it never will. Obviously I think Sanchez is the better QB long term. Chad has never put together two really good seasons back to back without having an injury slow him down. I just believe very strongly in his track record at this point: 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 good - 2003, 2005, 2007 hurt or bad. I'm hoping that now that the Jets aren't tied to that track record they can put together two good seasons in a row for the first time since Chad took over. Brady is Brady. He's very good if healthy and who knows otherwise.
The Patriots offense is going to put a ton of points on the board. That's almost a given at this point, considering they have Brady coming back, have a receiving group that's better than the '07 in some ways, and have a much better running game than last time around. Whether or not this team is just very good, or is on another level of dominance like the '07 squad is really going to be determined by its defense. The linebacker core has gotten younger, but there's some serious question marks there. In the secondary they have some real talent in Bodden and Springs, but most likely one of the two will get hurt. Wheatley and Whilite need to contribute or the secondary could wear thin as the season rolls on. They aren't going to go undefeated because of their schedule and just simply the luck required to do so, but this team could be better than the one that lost the super bowl in.
I wouldn't expect the same Brady in 2009. Even if he's 100% physically, and he's almost certainly not, I think he's going to struggle mentally with defenders bearing down on him. It's going to be all about putting defenders in Brady's face. If you can do that, the Pats offense will struggle. If not they certainly do have the potential to be explosive, but I don't see them being as prolific as 2007. I imagine the running game will be much more key for them this season.
It's no guarantee, but I'm pretty confident we'll see something close. This is going to come off as a Brady splooge fest and reading too much into a what a player says in an interview, but with someone who says this doesn't sound like intimidation is going to be a problem. Getting to Brady isn't an easy task. Only a handful of teams were able to do it last time he played, and the Giants were one of them. If you're looking for a reason to doubt this team, Brady's not it.
