AFC East remains open after one week with Dolphins and Bills at top
By Brian Miller
There is no real gap at the top of the AFC East with both the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills winning but the division is going to be a race out of the gate.
Week one is in the books and now 16 games remain but the start of the season is going to be critical for each team in the division and by week four, thing are going to look a lot different than they do today.
- Currently, the AFC East division looks like this.
- Miami Dolphins
- Buffalo Bills
- New England Patriots
- New York Jets
The Dolphins and Bills both sit 1-0 but Miami gets the designation at the top because they have a division victory and the Bills do not. In week 2 of the season, it means nothing more than aesthetics.
- Recapping week one in the AFC East
Buffalo Bills
The Bills kicked off the NFL season last Thursday night with a big win against the defending Super Bowl champion, the Rams. The Rams were no match for the Bills’ high-powered offense and the Bills top-rated defense shut the Rams down.
Buffalo remains the favorite to take the AFC crown this year and they did nothing to make you wonder if that will be false.
New York Jets
The Jets head coach Robert Salah was disappointed in the result be he feels that his team played much better than the score indicated. The Jets lost to the Ravens 24-9. It wasn’t what the Jets believed would happen but most knew they were not ready to face the Ravens.
New England and Miami
The two opened against each other and we learned quite a bit about both teams. The Patriots have an offensive problem that fills the spectrum from play calling to line execution. We also learned that while their defense will still be good, it may not be as elite as they once were.
For the Dolphins, the defense looked good against an inconsistent at best offense. On offense, we got our first real glimpse at how Mike McDaniel will handle this unit and while there were some hiccups, there is enough there to be excited about.
- What’s in store for week 2
Buffalo Bills
The Bills will face a Tennessee Titans team that barely managed to hold on against the Giants and by that, I mean staying in the game. The Giants won by one point on a late missed field goal attempt. The Titans are going to need to be a lot better if they will beat the Bills.
New York Jets
Before the season, many wondered if the Jets would start out with seven straight wins. Week one didn’t give Jets fans hope that those predictions might change. This week won’t be any easier as they play the Browns but the good news is, the Browns didn’t look like a great team on Sunday against the Panthers. Truth be told, the Browns might just be the Jets’ best chance for a win in the first four weeks of the season.
New England Patriots
A date with the Pittsburgh Steelers awaits and last Sunday, the Steelers were good enough to beat the Bengals who made a late push to force overtime. The fact that the Bengals kicker missed two game-winning field goals late would have changed that outcome. Pittsburgh should match up well enough with the Patriots this week.
Miami Dolphins
Miami will take their talent to Baltimore in an early season game that could inevitably have playoff implications 17 weeks from now. Baltimore will try and get some revenge on Miami’s big win in primetime last year and the Dolphins should expect the Ravens to come out firing on all cylinders.
- Week 2 predictions
Buffalo – Should easily beat the Titans and advance to 2-0
New York – The Jets will put up a fight but their offense is still too uncertain and the Browns defense is good. That leaves the Jets D against the Browns O to see who wins. I think it will be Cleveland.
New England – The Patriots will not look as bad as they did in week one but is that enough? I think the Steelers will force Mac Jones into a lot of bad throws and they should be able to control the game.
Miami – Hard to predict this game. Miami should match well with the Ravens offense to defense but the Ravens offense could do enough damage to put Miami into a position of needing to win from behind. It is going to be a telling game for McDaniel and Tua Tagovailoa.