1. New England Patriots– Tell me if you’ve read this sentence before. The Patriots are Super Bowl champions. Their dynasty continued just when you thought it was over. Yes, they struggled at times last season, but they got their swagger back just when it mattered. Normally, the Patriots are penciled to win 12-13 games each year. They only won 11 but that didn’t stop anything. They clinched another first-round bye in the AFC playoffs and went from there. Rob Gronkowski decided to retire after nine dominant seasons in the league, but this won’t affect their offense at all. They’ll always be in good shape if Tom is under center. They have their running back; Edelman has been extended and comes in to a full year healthy and they drafted N’Keal Harry who gives Brady a big weapon in the redzone. The team acquired Michael Bennett in April and decided to bring back Jamie Collins. No matter who leaves, the Patriots will always be in good shape.
2. Miami Dolphins– At this point, they’re just an average team at best. They were the talk of the league early on when they started their season 3-0. Then, they came back to reality and struggled. Adam Gase was fired after the season ended. The Dolphins decided to hire Brian Flores as their new head coach. The quarterback has been their glaring weakness. No disrespect, but Ryan Tannehill just hasn’t cut it. After the Cardinals drafted Kyler Murray, the Dolphins acquired Josh Rosen to be their guy. Whenever they put it all together, they could be the one team that could possibly challenge New England (calm down, I didn’t say they’d overtake them in the division).
3. Buffalo Bills– After snapping their playoff drought in 2017, the Bills had a disappointing 2018. The one bright spot was Josh Allen. He hasn’t even scratched the surface yet. Give him a few more years and he can be a good quarterback for years to come. He made some plays that just wowed me. Put some more weapons around and that’ll make all the difference. On defense, longtime Bill and fan favorite Kyle Williams decided to retire. Buffalo filled that void by drafting Ed Oliver from Houston in the 2019 NFL Draft. The one thing the Bills need to work on is consistency. They can stay in games but struggle to close them out.
4. New York Jets– The last time the Jets made the playoffs, Barack Obama was still president. After rumors and speculations, the franchise decided to terminate Todd Bowles of his coaching duties. The Jets hired a familiar face to take over as the new head coach, Adam Gase, the former head coach of the Miami Dolphins is staying in the division. The Jets were also active in the offseason. Their defense added C.J. Mosley which I thought was a good move and they also landed Le’Veon Bell and signed him to a four-year deal. What I was disappointed about was the Jets deciding to fire then-GM Mike Mcccagnan. Here’s what I’m not understanding. He signed one of the best running backs to the team, got you a good defensive player and even drafted Sam Darnold to be your franchise quarterback. You fired him why?
2019 Predictions
1. Patriots (13-3)
2. Dolphins (8-8)
3. Jets (6-10)
4. Bills (6-10)
Did you expect me to say anything differently? The Patriots will once again claim the AFC East. There are just a few things we can count on and the Patriots winning their division is one of them. Their offense will be more unpredictable because Gronkowski won’t be there. Brady will be Brady and I know for a fact he doesn’t care what his stats are. The only thing that’s important to him are the wins. I’m really looking forward to seeing their defense play this year with Bennett, Collins back in the fold and their secondary which showed up big time in the Super Bowl.
