Patriots will have another cakewalk in AFC East
The New England Patriots have been nothing short of the NFL’s greatest all-time dynasty over the past two decades. Under head coach Bill Belichick, the Patriots transformed into to a team that has reached an absurd eight Super Bowls. Since the 2001 season, it has won five of them.
In that same span, the New England Patriots have been able to rack up 15 division titles. Only twice have they ceded the division to a foe. Of course, much of this is because New England is one of the greatest teams we’ve ever seen. However, some of it is because the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins and New York Jets can’t stop getting in their own way.
Going into the 2018 season, it appears we’re headed down a very familiar road.
Buffalo finally made the playoffs last season for the first time since 1999. However, a return trip appears to be highly unlikely. General manager Brandon Beane went out and traded away quarterback Tyrod Taylor to the Cleveland Browns. He is banking on the notion he can land a franchise guy in the first round. That may be the case, as Buffalo has multiple picks in each of the first three rounds. However, the Bills will still go through growing pains. Factor in a quiet free agency period, and Buffalo is set for a minor rebuild.
The Jets are very much in the same boat. New York was able to secure a bridge at the quarterback spot by signing both Teddy Bridgewater and Josh McCown to one-year deals. All while trading up to the third-overall pick in hopes of landing Josh Rosen, Josh Allen or Sam Darnold. Still, while general manager Mike Maccagnan did upgrade the defense with Trumaine Johnson and Avery Williamson, New York has a long way to go before being able to contend.
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Miami might be the most disappointing team, considering it looked like a group on the upswing only a season ago. After reaching the playoffs in 2016 with rookie head coach Adam Tase, it appeared the Dolphins were poised to take the next step. Instead, Ryan Tannehill went down with a torn ACL in the summer. As well as that, Jay Cutler wasn’t any good as his replacement, and the team ended up faltering all through the fall and winter.
This offseason, the front office decided to blow things up. It got rid of Ndamukong Suh and Mike Pouncey via release, and Jarvis Landry by trade to the Browns.
With the New England Patriots looking strong once more behind the duo of Tom Brady and Belichick, it’s tough to envision any team in the AFC East being more than a speed bump.
