Biggest Question Each AFC East Team Needs to Address Before Preseason

With the NFL preseason beginning on Sunday with the Hall of Fame Game, there are no more weekends without football until February.

The AFC East figures to be one of the more competitive and interesting divisions in all of football, but each team faces important questions heading into the year.

The New England Patriots have won the East in 11 out of the last 12 years, including each of the last six seasons. But their chances were dealt a serious blow with the suspension of future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady, making the division more wide open than usual.

The potential resurgence of the Miami Dolphins has most definitely put pressure on the aging Pats for division favorites. Also lurking in the shadows are old friend Rex Ryan and his new New York team, the Buffalo Bills. And lest we forget the Jets, who could at least help play spoiler.

Like all NFL teams, each AFC East club has questions heading into the year. Here’s one question each AFC East team must address before the preseason.

New England Patriots

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Believe it or not, the question the Patriots must answer does not involve any quarterbacks, PSI or anything else Deflategate-related that you are probably tired of hearing about.

The question the Pats must address is the defense. How good is it actually going to be?

Darrelle Revis is wearing green again and former heart of the defensive line Vince Wilfork is clogging the middle in Houston for the Texans, leaving a 6'2", 325-pound hole in New England.

Cornerback Brandon Browner has also departed via free agency, leaving 2014’s 17th-best passing defense with two major question marks.

Luckily, only the Dolphins figure to have a decent enough offense to hang with the Pats in the East, but you only play half of your games against division opponents in the NFL.

Teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers, Indianapolis Colts, New York Giants, Denver Broncos and Philadelphia Eagles—all top-10 offenses a year ago—will make life very difficult for New England.

The Patriots may want to enjoy their ring ceremony this season. It might be the last one they see for a while unless the defense plays better than expected.

Miami Dolphins

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Is this finally the year? Can the ‘Phins finally get over the hump of mediocrity?

The Dolphins made perhaps the biggest splash in free agency, signing very large man Ndamukong Suh to boost the NFL’s ninth-worst rushing defense. Against the pass, Miami was the sixth-best in the league, so shoring up the D-line was a smart move.

On the other side of the ball, the Dolphins struggled to find consistency in 2014, finishing as a middle-of-the-pack offense.

Ryan Tannehill threw for more than 250 yards just six times, although he finished out the season with three such games in a row, including a 346-yard effort against the Pats and a 396-yard thrashing of the Minnesota Vikings.

The Dolphins traded inconsistent wide receiver Mike Wallace to the Vikings and drafted DeVante Parker to be the guy with their first-round pick. Parker will begin the season on the PUP list, so Miami will need to rely on new tight end Jordan Cameron and hope that wideout Jarvis Landry can take another step forward.

The time is now for Miami. It's been given a gift with the Brady suspension. Getting off to a hot start is going to be the key to keep the team from floundering again.

New York Jets

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There’s really only one question the Jets should even worry about this season. They’re not going to win the division and might even contend for the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft.

That question is for quarterback Geno Smith, and it’s really simple:

Geno has turned the ball over 41 times in 30 NFL games. That’s even more than punching bag Blaine Gabbert (35 turnovers in 29 games).

Geno might think he’s going to be a top-five quarterback—spoiler alert: he won’t be—but he really just needs to stop turning the ball over.

If he can do that with some consistency, he might push the Jets far enough down the draft board to consider not taking a quarterback in the first round again next year. That's doubtful, though.

Buffalo Bills

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Boasting one of the NFL’s top defenses in 2014, the Bills figure to be even better with the addition of defensive guru and head coach Rex Ryan.

They even added superstar running back LeSean McCoy to give them a bona fide offensive weapon and help keep opponents’ offenses off the field longer.

The only real question for Buffalo is, who’s the quarterback?

The Bills' quarterback situation is murky, to put it kindly. General manager Doug Whaley has even publicly stated it, telling Buffalo sports radio station WGR 550 that the Bills are “almost in quarterback purgatory.”

With a defense and potential run game as good as Buffalo may have, just having someone to manage the game and not turn the ball over could make Buffalo a legitimate AFC East contender—and possibly even more.

Hey, the Ravens won a Super Bowl with Trent Dilfer. It could happen.

All stats and info courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise noted.

Follow Aaron Brand on Twitter @AaronBrand47.