The unthinkable happened in 2007.
The New England Patriots, after acquiring Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Donte' Stallworth, and Adalius Thomas, ran away with the AFC East division by finishing the season a perfect 16-0 and blowing out nearly every team on the schedule. In the process, Tom Brady and Randy Moss set records for touchdown passes and receptions, respectively, en route to playoff wins against Jacksonville, Pittsburgh, and San Diego before ultimately being stopped by the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII.
Guess what? New England is hungry this year-hungrier than last year. Because now the Pats, the team every football fan now loves to hate, have a Super Bowl-sized chip on its shoulder. They have the same offensive firepower as last season minus Stallworth who left for Cleveland, and in a division that features two wins against the Miami Dolphins, New England will dominate this division once again in 2008.
But is another undefeated season in the clouds for Beantown? Probably not. The Pats feature road games at San Diego, Indianapolis, and a match-up with the Pittsburgh Steelers at Foxboro. Each of these opponents could hand New England its first regular-season losses since December 10, 2006.
Pending a major Super Bowl hangover, New England will win this division, but there are three other teams within the AFC East. How will they finish?
The Jets took proactive steps to improving a defense that finished 11th in the AFC in sacks (29.0) and an offensive line that allowed 53 sacks. New York shelled out big dollars for Alan Faneca, Damien Woody, Calvin Pace, and rookies Vernon Gholston and Dustin Keller, and pried Kris Jenkins from the Carolina Panthers in a trade.
No move shook this team more than the trade of a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft to the Green Bay Packers for 38-year old quarterback Brett Favre.
Before August 6th, when the Jets and Packers made the deal, there was little confidence in the Jets offense, and for good reason. Quarterbacks Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens were competing for a starting job, and neither one had much success in 2007. While Favre is learning a new offensive system, he still gives the Jets a better chance of winning than Pennington, who signed with the Miami Dolphins after being released by New York, and Clemens combined. Once Favre becomes comfortable within Brian Schottenheimer's offense, he could lead the Jets to its second playoff appearance in three years.
Though this team has been talked about as being a potential playoff team this season, it still has plenty of work to do. The quarterback competition between Trent Edwards and JP Losman currently slots Edwards as the starter, but in his first two preseason games he has looked like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This is one competition that will likely continue throughout the season though Edwards has improved immensely from his rookie campaign last year.
The Bills took steps to solidifying a defense that allowed an average of 124.6 rushing yards per game last year by signing linebacker Kawika Mitchell and trading for defensive tackle Marcus Stroud. Both players were intricle on their former teams in stopping the run last season. Second-year linebacker Paul Posluszny returns from a broken leg sufferred in 2007; in three games he made 17 solo tackles.
Look for these veterans to bring a veteran presence to the Bills locker room. With immature players at key positions, leadership is a tremendous need. Mitchell comes over from the Super Bowl-champion Giants, and his playoff experience could prove vital on a team aiming to play football come January.
4. Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins aren't a bad team. Sure, they lack any measurable talent on either side of the ball, but that doesn't necessarily make them a bad team. Bill Parcells has taken control of football operations, and after letting go of veterans Zach Thomas and, more recently, Jason Taylor, the Tuna wants to start fresh in South Beach.
That meant drafting his own franchise quarterback. In 2007, the Dolphins selected BYU star John Beck in the second round of the NFL Draft in hopes that he could some day lead the Dolphins. After struggling last season, Beck has now fallen to third on the depth chart, behind new addition Chad Pennington and 2008 second round draft pick Chad Henne. The hope is that Pennington will last long enough for Henne to adapt to NFL life and become the starter.
New Head Coach Tony Sporano knows that his team has considerable work to do to return to 1-15. The Dolphins are one of the youngest teams in the NFL, and youth and success are seldom mentioned together in terms of wins and losses. While Pennington brings some stability to the offense, a majority of scoring will come from the legs of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. If they are able to succeed on the ground, Miami could find a light in an otherwise dark season.
It is pretty safe to say, though, that the Miami Dolphins will sleep with the fishes in 2008.
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