What Advantages Do the Miami Dolphins Have over AFC East Foes?

A couple of years ago, the AFC East was considered one of the tougher divisions in football.

Today, it is a division with a lot of unanswered questions.

While the Patriots are the favorites to win the division once again, the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets and Miami Dolphins are looking to play the spoiler role.

The Dolphins and Bills are each looking to rebound from another losing season and both have improved this offseason. The Jets are probably the most scrutinized team not only in the division but in the entire league, and they have a lot of questions to answer as the season approaches.

Even though the Dolphins won't be fielding the most talented team this season, they will be a tough team to beat, especially for division rivals. 

With a new offensive and defensive system, the Dolphins also have a lot of questions to answer, but there are some advantages they possess over AFC East foes that might help them finish with a winning record within the division.

New England Patriots

• Defense

New England has had the luxury of having one of the best quarterbacks in the game Tom Brady has the capability of picking defenses apart and making them look foolish.

However, against Miami, Brady has had some rough patches.

Miami's defense is poised to be better than they were last year, and this could cause Brady even more trouble. Miami's offense should be more explosive this year, and if Brady isn't able to score, New England will have a tough time against the Dolphins.

New England doesn't have a good defense and relies heavily on its offense to win games. If Miami's defense outplays New England's, Miami will win at least one of the two games.

New York Jets

• Stability

Unlike New England, Miami doesn't have a clear-cut starter at quarterback. But unlike the Jets, Miami doesn't have Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow fighting for a starting spot. 

Dolphins QB David Garrard looks for now to have earned the starting job, but if for some reason Miami gets off to a slow start, it has the luxury of not having Tebow as a backup. Miami fans understand that Ryan Tannehill probably won't play a significant role this year, so the best option at quarterback will be Garrard.

For the Jets, if they get off to a bad start, even 0-2, New York fans will be calling for Sanchez's head. If this happens, Rex Ryan will have a tough decision to make. Such uncertainty will make the whole team—not just the quarterback situation—unstable and leave the Jets vulnerable to having a disappointing season.

Buffalo Bills

• Running Backs

Miami has one of the deepest backfields in the NFL. Reggie Bush is coming off his first 1,000-yard rushing season and looks to improve upon his production. Second-year back Daniel Thomas has a lot of potential, but was disappointing in his first season. The Dolphins still hopes that he will be the back they are looking for to run inside the tackles and in short-yardage situations. 

Miami also drafted Lamar Miller and signed Jerome Messam. Both backs have a lot of upside that will further improve Miami's running ability.

As for the Bills, they return Fred Jackson, who looked like a Pro Bowl running back before getting hurt last year. Behind Jackson, the Bills don't have too much depth.

C.J. Spiller has been more than disappointing in his first two years in the league, rushing for only 844 yards and scoring just four touchdowns. The Bills also have Tashard Choice, who was a big disappointment in Dallas.

It's hard to imagine that either of these players will have a big impact for the Bills this upcoming season.