AFC East Quarter Report With Grades

With the first quarter of the season in the books it’s time to look back at the season thus far in the AFC East division. Three teams are tied at 2-2 and no one looks ready to run away with the lead. Only the New York Jets are left with one victory.

Struggling:

The New England Patriots have looked far from their championship self this year. Problems on the offensive line, lack of quality receivers, and a defensive unit that can’t stop a cold has put more pressure on Tom Brady then ever before and he isn’t getting it done. To start the season the teams genius coach opted to send a message to the team rather than do what is right for his team when he traded veteran offensive lineman Logan Mankins to the Buccaneers. On Monday night against the Chiefs the Patriots couldn’t stop anyone from getting into the offensive passing pocket.

A week before, week three, the Patriots barely escaped a loss to the Oakland Raiders in Foxboro no less. There are no quick fixes for the Patriots this year and we truly could be seeing the team finally fall out of real contention, contention that even Tom Brady and Darrell Revis can’t get them out of.

The New York Jets are a complete mess on both sides of the ball and a lot of that has to do with coaching decisions. Geno Smith is struggling at quarterback and there is rumblings internally that some players believe the job should be Michael Vick’s. That may help the team but at this rate by the time the keys are handed to Vick the season will be lost. The Jets can dig out of 1-3 but not at their present level of play. The Jets rolled some free agent dice and in particular added running back, Chris “former 2K” Johnson who has done next to nothing for the team.

Needs Consistency

The Buffalo Bills are walking a tightrope as they transition deeper into the Doug Marrone system and coaching style. They Bills are not a bad football team but they are very young and while they should get better as the season progresses, pressure to win will also increase the potential for mistakes. The Bills have a good chance at winning the division and ending the NFL’s longest drought of non-playoff appearance. The Bills have not been in the post-season since 1999 which was 14 years ago. Physical play will get a team far but they need to score points. The Bills have a solid core of players but this season could be a waste if they don’t get more consistent with their play.

Ryan Tannehill came close to being benched unless he didn’t. Joe Philbin created a rift within the locker room that caught the attention of the national media and owner Stephen Ross. In addition it now appears that cracks are beginning in the Dawn Aponte/Joe Philbin foundation. The Dolphins looked good in the 2nd half of their first game before losing two consecutive games by 19 points. Will the real Miami Dolphins stand up? The Dolphins have talent on both sides of the ball but like the Buffalo Bills they have far too much inconsistency to put points on the board.

This season is within the reach of the Dolphins with the other AFC East teams either struggling or inconsistent like Miami. There is no excuse for Joe Philbin not to take the needed steps to get this division under his belt but there are a lot of questions as to whether or not he can. Sadly if the Dolphins don’t make the playoffs this year, a hard internal look will need to be made everywhere as this is a prime season for the Dolphins to get to the post-season. In the first quarter of the season the Dolphins have yet to display the consistency needed to do that.

The next four weeks:

The Patriots: New England will face the Cincinnati Bengals next Sunday night in what could be their second lopsided loss on national television. A loss would put the Patriots below .500 with the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets to follow. They will end the first half of the season with a game against the Chicago Bears.

The Bills: Buffalo faces the Lions in Detroit next week before facing the Patriots, Vikings, and Jets. Three of those four games are on paper winnable as Detroit will likely give them a big task to overcome. If the Bills can find some rhythm they could finish the first half of the season 5-3.

The Jets: It’s very likely that New York will finish the first half of the season with only one win. They travel to San Diego next weekend, then face the Broncos, Patriots, and Bills. While the Bills and Patriots could be wins for the Jets there is no guarantee that will be the case. Not with the way they have started the season.

The Dolphins: In order for the Dolphins to finish their first half they will need to dip into week nine. Miami has a bye week this upcoming week and losses by all three division foes could put them in first place when they return to face the Green Bay Packers in Miami. They will then travel to Chicago and Jacksonville before returning home to face the San Diego Chargers. It’s a tough stretch of games but the Dolphins should find a way to win at least two of those. The Packers have struggled on offense and defense this year and Miami could find them at the right time to get a victory. Chicago is also a team that plays up and down. The biggest challenge of all four games at this point is San Diego who is playing very good football.

First Quarter Grades

New England: C 

After last nights game they should get a D but they are 2-2. It hasn’t been an impressive first month for New England but it’s a long season.

New York: F

Is there real hope in New York that the Jets will get any better any time soon? If their second quarter of the season plays out like the first they will be playing spoiler at the mid-point.

Buffalo: C

Buffalo has managed to beat the Dolphins and Chicago while losing to San Diego and then dropping a very winnable game against the Texans last Sunday. There is a lot of room for improvement but will Kyle Orton be the answer? He very well could be enough of the solution to give the Bills a chance.

Miami: C-

The minus is for losing to the Bills. The Dolphins looked o.k. in the first half of their season opener and then looked like they were ready to take the AFC East and maybe the NFL by storm in the 2nd half. They followed that with an ugly loss to the Buffalo Bills and for grins opted to lose by the same amount of points to Kansas City a week later. Sure they destroyed the Oakland Raiders by their biggest margin of victory since 2011 when they beat the Bills 38-8. The Dolphins up and down play this year has prevented them from sitting atop the AFC East and they have the talent to do just that.