AFC East weekend recap

The Miami Dolphins were off on Sunday because they play tonight on Monday Night Football. The rest of the AFC East however had games.

Miami’s bye week was supposed to be next weekend but Hurricane Irma saw fit to destroy the plans of a late season break. Miami will play the Panthers tonight and then return home to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next week. A win tonight will move them into a tie for second place in the AFC East and two games behind the Patriots.

Here is how the rest of the AFC fared on Sunday.

New England at Denver

It was supposed to be an away game and it was supposed to be tough for a struggling Patriots defense. It wasn’t. The Patriots rolled over the Broncos 41-16 and were never really in a position to lose. New England took an early lead after going three and out on their first possession but recovering a muffed punt on fourth down. They scored two plays later and never looked back.

The Broncos were able to move the ball well in the first half but their drives stalled in Patriot territory and while the Patriots scored touchdowns the Broncos could only match with field goals. Denver had a chance to pull closer late in the third quarter but New England ran away with the game as it turned to the final quarter.

New England now sits at 7-2 on the season tied for the best record in the AFC with Pittsburgh. They hold a two game advantage over the Bills in the AFC East.

New Orleans at Buffalo

For Dolphins fans this game was fun to watch. If only the Dolphins were the ones putting the drubbing on the Bills. Buffalo gave up 298 yards on the ground to the Saints rushers including two players with over 100 yards each.

The Saints were so effective on the ground that Drew Brees threw for less than 200 yards and no touchdowns. He didn’t need to throw touchdowns as the running backs combined for six scores with three coming from Mark Ingram.

The 47-10 loss was a big blow to a team that was starting to make a move on the Patriots instead the Saints laid the foundation for other teams to beat the Bills.

New York Jets at Tampa Bay

The Buccaneers had high hopes for the 2017 season but like the Dolphins the early season week one hurricane drama may have had an impact as well. The Buc’s have been horrible this season while the Jets have surprised a lot of people including their own fan base.

On Sunday, the two clubs looked more like two teams that didn’t know what to do to win a football game.

Both teams exchanged field goals for much of the game unable to generate much offense. In the fourth quarter both teams finally put touchdowns on the board. The Jets never led the game and in the end lost 15-10 on the road dropping them to 4-6 on the season. For the better part of the 2017 season the Jets have played good football but on Sunday it appeared that all of the changes made in the off-season are finally starting to catch up.

Next week:

While the Jets get their week 11 bye week and the Dolphins get to make-up the opening week game at home against the Buccaneers the Bills and the Patriots will both travel to the west coast.

The Patriots will play the Raiders who are coming off a bye week and the Bills will travel to Los Angeles to play the Chargers.