The AFC East: Where the stars shine bright?

Let’s just call it Tyson Beckford Division. There’s enough star power in the AFC East in 2009 to fill up a New York runway during Fashion Week. Maybe Lindsey Lohan will even do the sideline reporting.

Why don’t we break this division down by the numbers:  4 teams, 3 GQ covers, 2 quarterbacks dating supermodels, a “Dancing With the Stars” finalist…and, of course, Terrell Owens.

Oh, by the way, they play football too.

Judging by the eclectic cast of characters, the AFC’s most competitive division a year ago will surely have some style, but does it have the substance?

This is the burning question for this division (That, and who would win a runway decathlon: Gisele Bundchen or Hilary Rhoda?)

In the end, however, the talking will be done on the field (or in Owens’ case, anywhere there is a camera). In a division which last year saw each team spend time in first place, all four squads made major improvements during the off-season.  But for as many answers as the teams tried to provide, the season comes down to a few simple questions:

Will Tom Brady’s knee hold up for sixteen games or is it being held together with pick-up sticks?

Is Matt Sanchez the Jets’ savior at quarterback or just a Vince Chase look alike who’ll spend more time doing photo shoots than in playoff games?

Will T.O. be the missing piece Buffalo needs or will he return to his serial killer ways and murder another team’s championship hopes?

Did Miami find an offense? Somewhere? Anywhere?

Who would win a steel cage match: Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick or Rex Ryan? (Does anyone have Vince McMahon’s number? Like you wouldn’t watch this.)

Let’s break this division down Ron Jaworski-style:

Miami Dolphins (The Champs…for now)

Under first-year head coach Tony Sparano, the Fish were the surprise of the League last year. Their 11 wins matched their highest total since 2001 and followed their disastrous 1-15 season one year earlier. Miami will be returning their roster nearly intact and will be graced by the return of former Pro-Bowl defensive lineman and Defensive Player of the Year Jason Taylor.

Miami’s defense, though, is not the problem. Their smoke-and-mirrors offensive strategy of a year ago resulted into the 21^st ranked scoring offense in the league. Most players score more in one night on South Beach than the Dolphins offense scores per game. The Dolphins are also reportedly trying to prepare backup second-year QB Chad Henne to be the team’s starter for Opening Day 2010, leaving current starter Chad Pennington’s status with the team uncertain.  Running back Ronnie Brown is one of the best backs in the NFL but the team’s vaunted Wildcat offense (couldn’t the Dolphins have copyrighted this idea and made some money off of every other team that copied it?) lost its effectiveness during the second-half of the season. If Miami can find more offense and Pennington can hit a receiver more than 10 yards down field on the fly, the Dolphins may repeat as division champions but don’t count on it.

ODDS:      5-1

New England Patriots (The Bad Guys)

Seriously, is there anyone outside of the Northeast who wants to see the Patriots win another championship? Does Tom Brady age? Does Bill Belichick have a friend? These are all mysteries surrounding the Pats. New England, just one year after riding an amazing amount of talent to a nearly perfect 18-1 record, showed the quality of depth their team possessed. The Patriots overcame Brady’s season-ending knee injury which occurred about two seconds into the season and still managed to win 11 games.

New England decided to trade the surprisingly successful Matt Cassel to pave the way for Brady’s return. The signing of former Pro-Bowler Fred Taylor also gives the Pats their best runner since Corey Dillon and Joey Galloway brings more speed to a receiving corps that already has a gluttony of burners.

The problem? Nearly every Patriots star is on the wrong side of 30 and injuries have been a problem. In addition to Brady, Pro-Bowl defensive end Richard Seymour has missed time due to injury in each of the last four seasons. If the Pats can’t stay healthy, their chances of reclaiming the division crown diminish tremendously. But their level of talent still might be too great for anyone to overcome.

ODDS: 3-1

New York Jets (The Headliners)

Clearly the most interesting team in the AFC East this season will be the Jets. Between a candid new coach with a uber-blitzing style of defense (Ryan) to a highly-touted rookie QB already drawing comparisons to the legendary Joe Namath (Sanchez), New York’s season is shaping up to be either a remarkable success or a colossal failure.

While Ryan is expected to make an already solid Jets defense even better, the season will come down to the quarterback position. A year ago, Brett Favre had the Jets looking like a Super Bowl contender at mid-season, but as his level of play declined so did the team’s, culminating in New York losing four out of their last five games. If either Sanchez or incumbent starter Kellen Clemens don’t prove to be effective, the season could be more of the same.

ODDS: 7-1

Buffalo Bills (The Upstarts)

It’ll be the T.O. show in Buffalo. The team in the AFC East with the least revenue, smallest population and fewest stars has ensured they will have the NFL’s biggest ego. Owens, coming off of a sub-par season in Dallas, joins former Pro-Bowler Lee Evans in what looks to be a formidable receiving corps. The Bills, however, will have to overcome running back Marshawn Lynch’s legal woes and Trent Edwards’ growing pains if they want to improve on last year’s seven victories.

ODDS: 12-1