AFC East Breakdown: Week 7
By Brian Miller
(Brian Miller writes for Phin Phanatic, which is FSB’s Dolphins blog. Representing the rest of the AFC East are Musket Fire, The J-E-T Press and The BuffaLowdown.)
The Jekyll and Hyde AFC East once again showed their opposite. Once again the Buffalo Bills stand alone on top of the division no one seems to want to run away with. The Dolphins flounder again proving that they can only seem to beat really good teams and the Jets showed why they epitomize the J & H label.
Looking back: The Bills lost 3 weeks ago to the Arizona Cardinals and spent their bye week stewing in their own self-pity. They came back to face the San Diego Chargers and after giving up a 4th quarter lead, they rebounded to hold off the Chargers and win. The Bills are playing solid football but they are allowing teams to linger to long which could be an issue down the road should it continue as it easily could put the team in dire straits.
Looking ahead: The Bills will travel south to face division rival Miami. The Bills have had the Phins number for the last several years, but this is not a cake walk push-over team like the last few years. The game will put the Bills in a position to improve to 6-1 but they can’t fall into the trap of overlooking the Dolphins.
Miami Dolphins (2-3):
Looking back: So much for the Houston game being a fluke in week 6, the Dolphins defense looked so bad at times that it was impossible to believe that this was the same team that held New England to 13 points and San Diego to 10. The Ravens easily controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and were able to win the time of possession battle.
Looking ahead: The Dolphins may be happy to see a team that has a winning record again after losing the last two weekends to teams that were below .500. The Buffalo Bills will pay a visit to south Florida and while the game is important it is still not a must win although the Dolphins have very little of those games left this season.
Looking back: The Patriots displayed their Dr. Jekyll against the Denver Broncos on Monday night when they took over the game Vs. the Denver Broncos to improve to 4-2. Matt Cassell found Randy Moss early and kept the WR involved. It was the opposite of the San Diego game the previous week when they were on the losing end of a blow out.
Looking ahead: The Patriots are now one game behind Buffalo and while it is still uncertain whether the real Patriots are the ones who lost to SD or the ones that beat Denver handidly, they will not find any comfort in facing the St. Louis Rams in week 8. The Rams knocked off the NFC favorite Dallas Cowboys in week 7 and the Patriots can ill afford to look beyond them or they too will fall victim to the suddenly dangerous Rams.
Looking back: The Jets rallied late to tie the game on the arm of Brett Favre but the Jets could not move the ball in overtime to allow a FG opportunity, instead the Raiders’ Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 45 plus yard field goal to put the Jets 2 games behind the division leader.
Looking ahead: The Jets will have to face the reeling Kansas City Chiefs and for the J.E.T.S…Jets, Jets, Jets, the game almost becomes a must win considering the fact that their late schedule is not as favorable as the first half. The Jets must find a way to not beat themselves or allow themselves to be manhandled. This could be a crutch game for them as they come off the OT loss to Oakland.