AFC East Preview

Another day, another NFL preview, even though we're only into the second day of it. It's a football week, what can I say?

So today we swap conferences but stay out east for the AFC. This has been a division that's undergone a lot of turmoil both in terms of personnel moves and legal ramifications. And injuries. It's been an interesting lead-up to the season out here. Without further ado, here's how I think these guys finish out 2013.

Common opponents: AFC North, NFC South

1. New England Patriots
Last year: 12-4 (1st), lost in AFC Championship Game
I don't even know where to begin with these guys. First you lose Wes Welker in free agency (to Denver of all places), then Gronk ends up needing more surgery, and then the whole situation with Aaron Hernandez that I've actively tried to avoid. That leaves Tom Brady with the possibility of Gronk (assuming he isn't "Yo soy fiesta'ing" his way into a broken cheekbone after drinking shots of tequila and jumping headfirst into a 4-foot pool of Jello or something), Danny Amendola If He Stays Healthy (credit Bill Simmons), and Julian Edelman as his top receivers. His running game is pretty good though with Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen, and this is Brady we're talking about. If this were any other division though, I think we'd be talking about a major collapse.
2013 Prediction: 9-7

2. Miami Dolphins
Last year: 7-9 (2nd), missed playoffs
Look, I'm not entirely sold on Ryan Tannehill either. But he has some good weapons (Mike Wallace, rookie Lamar Miller) and it's only Tannehill's second year in the league. As long as he doesn't end up looking like Blaine Gabbert, he'll be fine. Defensively, I'm not 100% sold on their secondary, but their front seven doesn't look too bad. I think it's too early to think playoffs for these guys though.
2013 Prediction: 7-9

3. Buffalo Bills
Last year: 6-10 (4th), missed playoffs
CJ Spiller is CJ Spiller and he's going to put up plenty of yards. This isn't the issue. The issue continues to be the man taking snaps under center. Early in the 2011 season we all thought Ryan Fitzpatrick was going to be a good quarterback and help the Bills back to respectability. He fizzled, and their management decided to bring in... EJ Manuel with a first round pick! My friend and former WONC colleague Trevor, as the one Bills fan I know, was less than thrilled about this and took his frustrations to Twitter (here's a microcosm of the night. Really it was all around entertaining though.) But with Manuel a question mark, we're looking at Jeff Tuel as the Week 1 starter! On the other side of the ball, Jairus Byrd remains a good safety and the biggest question for me is whether or not Mario Williams can rebound. Trevor, I know you said 4-12 is generous, so I'm going to, at least for the next 5 seconds, pretend to be like Andrew Carnegie or something.
2013 Prediction: 6-10

4. New York Jets
Last year: 6-10 (3rd), missed playoffs
So here we have a team that got gashed on the ground last year but was good against the pass, then instead of keeping their best defensive player (Revis Island) traded him away (in fairness, he was coming back from injury). Then in an effort to erase the laughter surrounding the circus franchise, they traded the source of the circus to whom they never gave a chance to salvage things, and now based on Sanchez possibly being hurt and Geno Smith being not very good, Greg McElroy might be your Week 1 starter. You know what? Just for posterity's sake:

2013 Prediction: 4-12
Come back Friday for the NFC South Preview! Tomorrow I'll be looking at how well college football team's set up their Week 1 schedules.