Improved AFC East: It's Anybody's Division

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Okay, I read Tom Casale’s recent article "Improved AFC East Is Still Patriots’ Division To Lose" and it just didn’t sit right with me.

I mean really? Last I checked, the Dolphins were in the playoffs last year, not the Patriots. Last I checked, except for the Bills, every team split in the win loss column in the division.

It doesn’t really matter to me that Matt Cassel was the QB and if it was Tom Brady they would’ve dominated. That’s not what happened. Yes, Brady may be the best QB of this decade and maybe even all time, but how much could he have done getting sacked 47 times like Cassel did?

It’s obvious that the Giants figured out how to beat Brady; bring the heat.  They exploited something in the Patriots. Their offensive line is getting old and it just isn’t as good as it used to be. 

There is no denying that they were still good enough to be ranked fifth in total offense, but you have to believe teams game-plans changed when Brady was out of the line-up. The heat will be coming this year though.

You could argue New England’s dominance over this decade as the sure fire team to beat, but there are lingering questions. Like will Tom Brady be 100 percent at the start of the season? Can the offensive line hold up? What about the defense? Isn’t it getting a little old?

So among all these questions, what did Bill Belichick do to improve his team for 2009?

Well, they brought in Fred Taylor, who is on the back end of his career.  He might be able to produce for a year or two, but the main thing they are getting out of him is putting Lawrence Maroney and his putrid 3.3 YPC on the bench.

They also brought in Joey Galloway, who although is up there in years, still has speed and can be an effective decoy. Randy Moss and Wes Welker are extremely dangerous and unless these guys break their legs are going to dominate.

What about defensive pressure? Richard Seymour topped the team with eight sacks. No wonder they were trying to pull Julius Peppers away from Carolina.

They drafted a solid safety in Patrick Chung, but I’ve never heard of any of their other draft choices.  I’m no expert, so I really can’t say too much on their draft.

So what does Rex Ryan the new head coach for the Jets have to say about all this?  "I never came here to kiss Bill Belichick's rings, I came here to win, let's put it that way...I'm certainly not intimidated by New England or anybody else.”

And why should he be? For the past couple of years he has been running the defense for one of the best defensive teams in the league. Granted, he doesn’t have the personnel that he had in Baltimore, but he shouldn’t have any trouble getting his hybrid scheme up and running.

There certainly is a long uphill battle that the Jets will be facing this year. Mark Sanchez should be the starter week one and its way to early to tell whether he can carry this team. This team could struggle mightily. 

For this reason and this reason alone the Jets need to establish a strong running game early. Drafting Shonn Greene should help alleviate some of the pressure off of Thomas Jones and Leon Washington. Greene could be Jones' eventual replacement.

It will take pressure off Sanchez, who needs to develop a strong rapport with Jerricho Cotchery and Chansi Stuckey. He should be looking Dustin Keller’s way as well.

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