August 15th, 2016

Predicting each AFC East Team in the Division

I know its only the start of preseason but were only couple weeks away from the start of the Regular Season which I can't wait for starting in September. Even though it's too early to predict due to possible injuries, different personnel, etc. I'm pretending that I'm an Espn Analyst and go through each schedule. Here are my predictions for each team in the AFC East.

Buffalo Bills- My prediction for this Buffalo Bills is that their record is going to be 6-10. Their strength of schedule is pretty tough but for alot of NFL teams, it's not like there the only one. Their bye week is Week 10. Their toughest stretch in the first half of the season is Weeks 3 and 4 against the Cardinals at home and against a Patriots team on the road which is very tough. Then the two weeks before the bye week are games against the New England Patriots who will have Tom Brady back when New England goes to Buffalo in Week 8. Then before the bye week, the Bills have a tough week as they travel to face a Seattle team who's defense is very good. After the bye week, I would say their toughest games will be at Cincinnati in Week 11 and Week 14 when they play the Pittsburgh Steelers in Buffalo. Bills on offense isnt overly bad as they have Tyrod Taylor who's a running quarterback, LeSean McCoy who when healthy is a great running back, and there's a great deep threat in Sammy Watkins but he's had injury issues as well. This team will have it's ups and downs this year as they won't have enough to contend with the teams in the division like the Patriots and Jets.

New England Patriots- My prediction for this New England Patriots squad is 12-4 and there going to win the division. Now I'm not saying that this is a definite record especially since the Patriots are my favorite team, it's just that out of every team in my mind, the Patriots have the most depth out of any team in their division. They just got a guard in Jonathon Cooper for Chandler Jones in the Cardinals trade earlier in the trade, they also boosted their Tight End in Martellus Bennett and Clay Harbor. The first four weeks of the schedule will be tough especially with the absence of quarterback Tom Brady after his four game suspension. The good thing about backup Jimmy Garoppolo is that 3 out of the 4 games will be at Gillette Stadium where the fans will be behind him. Weeks 6 and Weeks 7 once Tom Brady comes back he will be pissed off and he'll be ready to play his first home game against the Bengals and at Pittsburgh. There bye week is 9. His first game back after the bye will against Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl rematch. After that the Patriots really only tough matchup is at the Broncos. Expect the Patriots to be a Super Bowl Contending team if everyone is healthy.

Miami Dolphins- I expect the Dolphins to be at 8-8. There going to ok but not good enough. What i'm pretty much explaining about this team will be good at times and not so great. Now not any NFL team is perfect by any means but they have more of a stronger defense than offense. I expect them to win alot of there games due to their defense. Headlined by Ndamukong Suh and Cameron Wake, with also adding Mario Williams made them even better. There offense though has proven to be inconsistent. Jarvis Landry in my mind will be under the radar though and I expect him to be huge especially with no Lamar Miller anymore. Miami has a brutal schedule before the bye week as Week 1 at Seattle, Week 2 at New England, Week 4 at Cincinnati, and Week 6 vs Pittsburgh. Their second half their toughest games will be twice against the Jets and the Cardinals.

New York Jets- Out of any team in this division, the New York Jets from Week 1 to Week 6, it might be the worst out of anyone. Out of those 6 weeks, 5 of them made the playoffs last year: Cincinnati, Kansas City, Seattle, Pittsburgh, and Arizona. Despite that brutal start, I still have a record for the Jets at 9-7 and possibly making the wildcard. The Jets do have one of the wide reciever duos in the league in Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker. They also brought in a very good running back in Matt Forte who should help them in the backfield on the ground and getting his catches when he needs to. They did resign Ryan Fitzpatrick who didnt have a bad year last year so they should be alright at QB

To wrap things up, I hope all football fans out there are excited for this years season like I am. Hopefully we can get to see where predictions stand after the regular season is over