1. Buffalo Bills: Football as a whole is great when the legendary teams are good. They won the AFC East for the first time since 1995. I loved every second that I got to watch Josh Allen play. He would’ve been MVP if someone else didn’t dominate last year. Everyone kept saying get Josh a true number one weapon and look what happened. He and Stefon Diggs built amazing chemistry together. The Bills won 13 games in 2020. They were the two seed in the AFC playoffs and made it to the AFC title game where they fell short to the Kansas City Chiefs. In the off-season, they signed Emmanuel Sanders to a free-agent contract. The defense needed to add pass rushers and they drafted Gregory Rousseau from Miami. I’m ready to see how Josh builds off his breakout year in 2021. Two things I will be watching this year is their ground game. Can they build up a consistent attack with the running backs? The other is the defense. A pass rush will help the Bills.
2. Miami Dolphins: Here’s how good the AFC was last season. A team with ten wins was, unfortunately, going to miss the playoffs and it was these Dolphins. They are a few roster moves away from being at the top of this division. When Tua Tagovailoa came in as the starter, he gave the Dolphins a boost of confidence. In the nine games he started, the Dolphins had a 6-3 record. He threw 11 touchdown passes as he continues to adjust to the NFL level. In 2021, he’s coming in as the starting quarterback. In the Spring, the Dolphins wanted to get him more offensive firepower and who better to provide that than his former college teammate, Jaylen Waddle? Brian Flores had this defense playing lights out at one point. Each week, they appeared to force a turnover. This will be an interesting year in Florida.
3. New England Patriots: For the first time since 2008, they missed the playoffs. Last year was different for them. Tom left for Tampa Bay, they signed Cam Newton and many of their key contributors decided to opt-out due to COVID-19. The rhythm we’ve seen the Patriots get into over the years was something they couldn’t seem to find at all in 2020. In the off-season, Bill Belichick was active in free agency, something we aren’t accustomed to seeing from the Patriots. They signed Kendrick Bourne, Nelson Agholor, Jonnu Smith, Hunter Henry, and on the defensive side, they added Matthew Judon. Also, they shocked us all and decided to bring Cam Newton back for another year. They drafted their quarterback of the future in Mac Jones in April.
4. New York Jets: The Adam Gase experiment is finally over. It’s a brand new era of Jets football. They hired former defensive coordinator Robert Saleh as their new head coach. He becomes the first Muslim-American head coach in league history. When the Jets decided to trade Sam Darnold, that immediately told us what direction they were going in. With the second overall pick, they selected Zack Wilson from BYU. Is he the answer for them moving forward? Only time will tell. I was impressed with the Jets draft as well. After selecting Zack, their next priority was to protect their new quarterback and they selected Alijah Vera-Tucker from USC. There’s some optimism in East Rutherford.
2021 Predictions
1. Bills (14-3)
2. Dolphins (11-6)
3. Patriots (8-9)
4. Jets (5-12)
The Buffalo Bills will win the AFC East once again. The only team I see giving them a true test is the Miami Dolphins. Their offense should be fun to watch once again. Josh had an MVP-type season last year, Stefon Diggs established himself as a true number one receiver, Sanders will give Josh another weapon and I can’t forget the safety valve in Cole Beasley. What’s keeping the Bills from getting to the top of the AFC is their defense. In 2019, they were the second-ranked defense in the league. Last year, they were in the middle of the pack. Hopefully, Sean McDermott can get that pass rush.
2021 Predictions
1. Bills (14-3)
2. Dolphins (11-6)
3. Patriots (8-9)
4. Jets (5-12)
The Buffalo Bills will win the AFC East once again. The only team I see giving them a true test is Miami. Their offense should be fun to watch once again. Josh had an MVP-type season last year, Stefon Diggs established himself as a true number one receiver, Sanders will give Josh another weapon and I can’t forget safety valve in Cole Beasley. What’s keeping the Bills from getting to the top of the AFC is their defense. In 2019, they were the second-ranked defense in the league. Last year, they were in the middle of the pack. Hopefully Sean McDermott can get that pass rush.
