The New York Jets' Divisional Rivals: A Sneak Peek

This Sunday, Rex Ryan and Mark Sanchez will compete in their first NFL regular season games as head coach and quarterback, respectively. The rookies will be under pressure to get a victory in that opening day fixture against Houston because some difficult contests await them shortly thereafter in the AFC East.

The division looks to be very competitive again this year and filled with star studded names. This year Ryan will become acquainted with Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Jason Taylor, and Terrell Owens.

You get the feeling Ryan relishes a challenge. He will definitely be in for one this year.

Once again New England will start the season as favourites to win the division, and with good reason. A certain Tom Brady will return.

The Pats may have added strengthened on one side of the ball, but it is a completely different scenario on the other.

The offense may look imperious, but the defense is in a transitional stage. The Super Bowl stalwarts are gone and a new era is being ushered in. Mike Vrabel, Teddy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison, and Richard Seymour have 11 Super Bowl rings between them, but this summer all four have departed.

On the flip-side, the Patriots have freshened up. Had they continued to use the veterans, there would have been questions about whether they could have handled the rigours of an NFL season.

One the other hand, losing that much experience is going to damage a team. There are large voids in the Patriots defense and someone needs to step up.

One player who will have a big burden on his shoulders is Jerod Mayo. Mayo is an excellent player on a good team but he needs to become a great player. The loss of Bruschi means the Pats have lost a leader and Mayo may need to fill that role as well. 

Mayo has the potential but he will need to quickly establish himself in the same group as Patrick Willis and Ray Lewis. It’s been five years since the Patriots won a Super Bowl and the defensive unit in particular will look for a leader to carry them there this time around.

Offensively, much depends on Brady’s health. Will the knee hold up? In preseason, linemen and linebackers got to Brady and you can be sure this will be a recurring theme in the first few weeks.

Teams will be keen to test out Brady’s durability, and with no established backup New England will be praying he stays healthy.

Their success this season depends on it.

From the Jets' perspective, the rivalry with New England will once again be fierce. Eric Mangini’s departure from New York to Cleveland has changed nothing. The animosity still exists.

Rex Ryan has targeted the Patriots in the preseason and claims the Jets will not be intimidated by them. Week Two’s encounter between the two sides will be hotly anticipated.  

This time last year, few would have predicted that Miami would be the eventual winners of the AFC East but the Dolphins were the surprise story of the season.

They were led by Jets reject Chad Pennington and behind the scenes former Jets Coach Bill Parcells masterminded a remarkable turnaround. They even captured the title against the Jets, ruining Brett Favre’s retirement (at least that’s what we thought) in the process.

This year, the pressure will be on Miami to replicate last year’s form. This time around nobody will underestimate what the Dolphins can do. Everyone is now fully aware of the Wildcat formation and fully aware of the danger the Dolphins pose.

The main question for the Dolphins will be the effectiveness of the Wildcat system, particularly after they drafted quarterback Pat White out of West Virginia University.

Last season, the formation bamboozled New England. The Dolphins’ season appeared to be heading in the same direction as the previous years until Ronnie Brown's prowess in the Wildcat formation changed it all.

It is a rare sight to see Bill Belichick tactically outclassed, but on that day he had no answer to Miami’s innovative plays. That set the precedent for the season and Miami cruised to the title. Then they faced Baltimore. Rex Ryan’s defense was superb and limited the Dolphins to just nine points forcing Pennington into four turnovers.

Will Ryan mastermind another victory over Miami or will Pennington continue to haunt the Jets? Will the Dolphins continue to effectively run the Wildcat on offense?

Another interesting factor for the Dolphins this year will be the return of Jason Taylor. Taylor had a terrible time in Washington, DC with the Redskins last year. Was it a result of being home-sick or old age catching up with the former Defensive Player of the Year?  

He will try and form a formidable partnership with Joey Porter and their reputations alone should strike fear into opponents. Porter’s form steadily declined in Pittsburgh and his first year with the Dolphins was equally poor. Will last year prove to be a one-off or is Porter flourishing once again?

As the champions of the AFC East, the Dolphins were not exempt from Ryan’s jibes this offseason. His war of words with Channing Crowder provided some light relief in a period filled with trash talking. Ryan won’t be taking the Dolphins easy.

Ultimately the Dolphins' win over the Jets on the final day of last season cost New York a place in the playoffs. That will not have been forgotten by the men in green.

For the Buffalo Bills, 2009 will be a make or break season.

Coach Dick Jauron has not experienced a winning season since 2001. The Bills have not made the playoffs for nine years and that is a hard pill to swallow. Quarterback Trent Edwards is also due a break-out year. After being handed the starting role last year he was distinctly average, throwing 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

This offseason hasn’t passed without incident in Buffalo either. Enter Terrell Owens.

Owens is enigmatic, controversial, and temperamental. He is a brilliant receiver with a point to prove.

Are his off-field antics worth the hassle? Can he prove to the world that he’s just misunderstood? Will Owens cripple the confidence of Edwards if he doesn’t get the ball?

Opposite T.O. will be the fantastic Lee Evans. Buffalo possess two of the finest receivers in the game but keeping them both happy will not be easy.

Keeping Edwards upright could prove to be even harder.

The addition of Owens was a massive coup but the loss of Jason Peters was a huge blow. Arguably the best left tackle in the league is now plying his trade in Philly and Edwards could face a long, hard season on the run if the reformed offensive line cannot protect him.

Ryan will be fully aware of this and his blitz happy packages may be the key when the Jets and Bills lock horns. On the other hand, this may leave the secondary exposed to Evans and Owens and is veteran corner back Lito Sheppard up to the task of stopping them?

A dismal preseason spelled the end for the Bills’ offensive coordinator Turk Schonert and it remains to be seen if this late, radical move will work for or against the Bills.

Their season will certainly be fascinating to watch. Whenever T.O. is in town there are bound to be fireworks and much rests on the shoulders of Messieurs Jaron, Edwards, and Owens.

Once again the AFC East will be one of the strongest divisions around. The team that finishes second is likely to obtain a Wildcard berth but everyone will want to be top of the table come January.

The Jets face a difficult trip to Houston on opening day but it is the games against the Patriots, Dolphins, and Bills which will once again shape their season.