Miami Dolphins will still face a tough AFC East in 2020
By Brian Miller
The Miami Dolphins have a shot at winning the AFC East this year but the chances of them doing so are pretty thin even with the changes in New England.
When the NFL kicks-off the 2020 season, the AFC East is going to be one of the more interesting division battles in the entire NFL and the Miami Dolphins may be able to turn the changes in the division, into a title.
Ok., we know that there is a possibility that the Dolphins could win the division this year but then we have to ask ourselves in the mirror, is that really going to happen? The answer is probably no but we should expect a lot more competition this year than we had last year.
The biggest change to the entire division is the removal of Tom Brady from it. There were other players that left New England, most of them for Miami but the core of the Patriots still exists and no one pushes the line of fair play better than Bill Belichick. While the Patriots are in need of a quarterback, some linebackers, and a few more players, they are still the Patriots and as such, will be well prepared for each game.
The Patriots are not going to go undefeated next year and they may not even win the division depending on what happens at quarterback and whether or not the team can make do without Brady but who else is ready to step up?
In New York, there are two teams that Miami has to contend with. The Bills are expected to be the team to push the Patriots for the division and many already have them penciled in as the division winner for the season. That may be so eventually but the Bills still have holes on both sides of the ball and there are some concerns about the team’s consistency. The addition of Stefon Diggs is huge but Josh Allen is wildly inconsistent on deep throws and tends to do more with his legs than his arm.
The Bills have the pieces in place to take the division but they also are a team that lacks the depth to overcome injury which could derail their season if too many occur.
The Jets, on the other hand, have all the talent in the world and a quarterback with a big arm but they have a coach who is borderline crazy and quite inept and being consistent on any level. Adam Gase is probably the Jets’ biggest problem and that isn’t getting fixed this year. Gase can’t get out of his own ego let alone deal with others.
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Gangreen is going to win games this year but they are looking like they could be feeding on the bottom once again.
That brings us to Miami where the Dolphins’ success is going to ride on two things specifically. The play of Ryan Fitzpatrick and whether the team can establish a running game.
The Dolphins should be much improved defensively this year with additions like Byron Jones and Kyle Van Noy as well as pass-rushing edge players, Emmanuel Ogbah and Shaq Lawson but while the defense should be able to keep the Dolphins in games, it will be the job of the aforementioned items that need to be fixed and put points on the board.
If the Dolphins can play the start of 2020 as they did at the end of 2020 they are going to surprise a lot of teams and fight to remain in contention for the division. In reality though, if the Dolphins can’t get consistency from Fitzpatrick and their running game, they won’t finish much better than the Jets.