A Look Inside the AFC East

The 2009 NFL season is just months away and the Buffalo Bills have a long hard task ahead of them. Not only did they get swept by every team in the division, they just seemed like a team that started the race in a Porsche and finished the race in a Geo Tracker.

The AFC East isn’t helping them in any way. Taking a look at every other team, outside of the Jets, both Miami and New England seemed to take some steps forward, while the Buffalo seems to be sitting right where they were last year.

The Jets most notable loss was Brett Farve. Although the guy has next to nothing left to offer a team he was still better than every other guy on the roster. Guys like Kellen Clemens and Brett Ratliff just weren’t going to get it done and the Jets subsequently traded Ratliff and all but handed the keys to their fifth overall selection Mark Sanchez.

They lost Laveranues Coles as well, so they are lacking a solid WR. They could throw the ball to Jerricho Cotchery and Dustin Keller, but other than that they really don’t have too much offensive firepower.

Thomas Jones is an aging RB and it seems like there may be some disputes with his contract. They brought in Shonn Greene from the draft to dangle in front of Jones so who knows how this could all potentially shake out.

Defensively the biggest addition was Rex Ryan. He may be able to get a spark from Vernon Gholston the guy is looking like the biggest bust from the 2008 NFL Draft. Either way Ryan grabbed some of the guys he liked off of the Ravens roster in Bart Scott and Jimmy Leonhard.

I expect the team to play hard nosed defense, but don’t be mistaking this team for play-off caliber just yet. They are rebuilding and it might take a couple of years to see the end result. They have some pieces, but I expect the Jets to be drafting high next year.

This is the only team I see the Bills having a very good shot at beating this year. The Bills could sweep the Jets depending on the play of Mark Sanchez. The Jets are going to struggle offensively and they won’t be cohesive as a defensive unit in year one.

Prediction: Bills sweep the Jets this year.

The Dolphins haven’t seemed to lose any important pieces to the puzzle that they are building. Offensively they even took it up a notch.

After playing behind Chad Pennington for one year, Chad Henne may have gained some valuable clipboard holding experience. By watching Pennington play, he should stand to get a better idea of playing Bill Parcells football.

Bringing in Pat White just reaffirms that yes the Dolphins will be running the Wild-Cat this year. They now have a guy who can effectively throw the ball which makes it dangerous against teams that can’t fly to the football. You can’t just blitz them every play now.

The only thing I didn’t like about the Dolphins off-season was the fact that they didn’t get a receiver. Who is going to play opposite of Ted Ginn Jr.? Brian Hartline? Other than that this offense can be pretty dangerous.

Defensively the Dolphins grabbed Vontae Davis with their first pick on draft day. They also grabbed Chris Clemons who could turn out to be a solid starting safety for them in the future. The defense as a whole has a ways to go.

Both Buffalo and New England have serious wide-outs and the Dolphins secondary just doesn’t match up to the plethora of weapons both those teams have. They will be hard pressed to play against any passing attack, but you got to recognize that they acknowledge they are lacking in the area.

Joey Porter still provides a solid pass rush so that will make it easier on the DB’s. They could still stand to get another pass rusher on the opposite side of Porter. 17.5 sacks by Porter is insane, but you’d like another guy to help in that aspect. The team would be deadly if they had another terror opposite of him.

The Bills can beat the Dolphins, it’s just going to be a tough battle. The Dolphins won’t be able to do the Wild-Cat effectively against the Bills because they are a fly to the football type team, but these rivalry matchups could be split between these teams.

It is going to be either the Bills or Dolphins that will be vying for a wildcard play-off spot this December.

Prediction: Dolphins and Bills split series.

The biggest thing I can say for the Patriots is Brady’s back. There isn’t any doubt that he is one of if not the best QB in the game today. It doesn’t hurt that you have Randy Moss and Wes Welker as your receivers either. The addition of Joey Galloway and Fred Taylor is just going to make the team that much better.

They were already a potent offense and then you throw in the fact that they stole Alex Smith from Tampa Bay it could be a long season for opposing AFC East teams. The Patriots do so well because they have so many role players on their squad and they get the most out of their players.

Brady is going to come out on fire, I just don’t see a team that is ready to compete with their offense this year.

Defensively this team is old. They got some youngsters this year in Patrick Chung and Ron Brace, but realistically Patriot rookies don’t start early. I know that Jerod Mayo took the field last year, but he was picked high.

I see the rookies getting limited playing time and learning from the veterans, but Bill Belichick prefers his veterans. He was supposedly targeting Julius Peppers this off-season and if they do somehow acquire him, that defense could be really dangerous.

You got to hate the idea of facing Adalius Thomas and Julius Peppers coming off the edge. The only really weak spot on this side of the ball is CB. They drafted Darius Butler to possibly start, but still that would be breaking the mold of what the Patriots do.

The Bills have a very slim chance of beating the Patriots this year. It’s sad to say as fan, but the Patriots are stacked. They just have the best looking team on paper. Realistically, the best thing the Bills can do is play a close game against this powerhouse dynasty.

Prediction: The Patriots sweep the Bills this year.

The Buffalo Bills have done some interesting things this off-season that may or may not make this team competitive in 2009. They cut/traded basically their entire offensive line. It is looking like two rookies could be getting a shot at starting on this new line.

They went and got Terrell Owens and they drafted Aaron Maybin with their first pick in the 2009 NFL draft. The Bills are taking big risks this year.

You have a WR that could blow up on you if you start losing, you got a rookie DE that only started one year of college ball, your entire offensive line is being reshuffled and the organization is counting on two rookies to start on it. The SLB position is up for grabs and so is the FS spot.

Things are definitely interesting if not stable for the Buffalo Bills this year.