2018 AFC East Preview

The NFL season kicks off in two days! We've almost made it!

I've worked my way around the rest of the country, and now we're down to just the East divisions in both conferences. Given the alternating pattern, we're starting with the AFC East today, which is a little weird still given that the Patriots are the Patriots.

I'm taking the opportunity once again to plug this year's edition of the Pigskin Pick 'Em contest which you can join here. Every Thursday (except for Thanksgiving, where it will get accelerated to the day before) I will be joined by Adam Quinn for our picks against the spread.

Until then, let's preview some more football teams.

2017 AFC East Preview

It's taken eight days, but we're finally here. The final division, and the home of our defending champions, gets the final look in my series of division preview posts.

One final time as a shameless plug, I will be picking NFL games against the spread this season, featured in a weekly post with my friend Adam Quinn. It's an open group if you would like to prove yourself as smarter than either of us, which may not be that hard. You can join here.

And so one final time, here's the division preview.

2016 AFC East Preview

Today will mark the halfway point as I work my way around the country previewing the upcoming NFL season.

As a general rule, I tend to get a lot of these picks completely wrong. It's the nature of the predictions business. Some picks are obvious, but every year there's always at least one or two teams that surprise in one direction or the other.

Before I get to the AFC, I want to do another shameless plug for NFL picks. Adam Quinn will be defending his title against me, and we will continue our weekly picks post for the third straight year and my fifth doing at least some on this forum. If you want to pick against us, you can join our ESPN Pigskin Pick 'Em group.

Here's a look at our next NFL preview.

2015 AFC East Preview

Happy Labor Day! I hope you're enjoying your day off as we approach the start of the 2015 NFL season!

Today is the final day of NFL previewing, since with this I'll have a blurb on all 32 teams. If you want to go more in-depth for previews or see some different takes, my friends over at UKEndZone have done a bigger preview of every division in the past week or so as well. I'm also extending one final invitation to join in on picking games against the spread as part of my ESPN Pigskin Pick 'Em group. Adam Quinn and I will be back on Thursday with our Week 1 picks, and we'll be competing against my dad and Grabbing the Bull Horns blogger Geoffrey Clark this season. This should be fun.

And now, let's get our final division previewed.

AFC East

Common opponents on schedule: AFC South, NFC East

1. New England Patriots
2014: 12-4 (1st), won Super Bowl XLIX
I'm just going to start this preview by saying this: Roger Goodell is a tyrant who must be removed from office. Fortunately for the Patriots, Tom Brady stuck to his guns and a judge saw through the NFL's lies and slander and Brady will play all 16 games. This means certain doom, because if anyone is going to use the last few months to fuel his competitive fire, it's Brady. I see the pretty good ground game of LaGarrette Blount and Jonas Gray providing balance while Brady rains hellfire down upon opposing defenses with a good receiving corps and Gronk being Gronk. Defensively, this unit took a step back after losing Brandon Browner and Darelle Revis in the secondary, though Super Bowl hero Malcolm Butler is probably ready to step up, though Bradley Fletcher on the other end concerns me. The rest of the unit is, overall, pretty solid. While this year is the best chance for the rest of the division to try and overthrow New England, there's too much firepower here, and you don't want to mess with a pissed off Brady.
2015 Prediction: 11-5

2. Miami Dolphins
2014: 8-8 (3rd), missed playoffs
Of all the teams in the division best poised to topple New England, I think it has to be Miami. Ryan Tannehill has taken steps forward each of the last few years, but he's overpaid with his new contract. He does have good weapons though with Greg Jennings along to complement Kenny Stills and Jarvis Landry. Lamar Miller is also poised for a breakout year, so the Dolphins will be able to put points on the board. Their defense, which was middle of the pack last year, will definitely improve solely with the addition of Ndamukong Suh. I think that alone has them in the conversation for the playoffs and the division title.
2015 Prediction: 9-7

3. Buffalo Bills
2014: 9-7 (2nd), missed playoffs
Injuries abound with this Buffalo team going into the year, but they boast probably the best defense in the division, largely thanks to that defensive line. Their back seven isn't bad either, and they're going to be a thorn in the side of every team they face especially with Rex Ryan in charge. So why do I have them finishing third in the division? They're heavily banged up on offense, including with Lesean McCoy up in the air for Week 1. The receiving corps is very talented with Sammy Watkins and Percy Harvin, as well as Charles Clay at tight end. The big question, like with every Rex team, is at quarterback. Tyrod Taylor was named the starter last week over guys like Matt Cassel and EJ Manuel, and Taylor has a total of 35 NFL passes on his resume. I think the inexperience will come back to bite the Bills a little bit.
2015 Prediction: 8-8

4. New York Jets
2014: 4-12 (4th), missed playoffs
Ah, the Jets... Ryan Fitzpatrick will start the year under center while Geno Smith recovers from getting punched in the jaw by IK Enemkpali. Both have some decent targets, including getting Brandon Marshall from the Bears in a deal they will love until Marshall decides to be a loudmouth idiot again. The ground game will help a little bit, but the fun part will be on defense. Darelle Revis returned to his original team and, along with Antonio Cromartie, will help lock down opposing passing attacks. The defense overall will be good thanks to new head coach Todd Bowles, but there's still just too much dysfunction here. They'll improve on their 2014 mark, but not by much.
2015 Prediction: 5-11

So with the entire NFL complete (I finished the NFC yesterday), here's your look at the AFC Playoff picture:

1. Indianapolis Colts (12-4)
2. Denver Broncos (12-4)
3. New England Patriots (11-5)
4. Baltimore Ravens (10-6)
5. Houston Texans (10-6)
6. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6)

Thus complete my NFL predictions for the 2015 season: some of which will be right, others of which will be not even close.

The next couple days, I will go back to college football with a look at results from Week 1 and how they relate to Playoff Points, then on Wednesday I will look at the Week 2 schedule from a non conference standpoint. Finally, on Thursday I will go back to the NFL as Adam and I (and possibly some special guests) bring you our Week 1 NFL picks.

Good luck to your teams this season!

AFC East Preview

We're back from the distractions! With Week 1 of the college football schedule numbers out of the way, I can return to NFL-related posting.

Today we head out to the East Coast and look at the AFC teams out there. It's all but been a one team division since the last expansion, but will there really be any difference this year?

Random aside before we begin: I'm still taking entries for another week in the COAS Pigskin Pick 'Em competition. Want to pick games against the spread with me and a guest picker on a weekly basis? Follow the link above to join for free!

All right, enough shameless plugs. Let's get to it.

Common opponents on schedule: AFC West, NFC North

1. New England Patriots
2013: 12-4 (1st), lost in AFC Championship Game
As long as Tom Brady remains at quarterback for New England, the Pats will be the favorites in the division. The big question remains about their weapons though. When your best two wideouts are Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola, you have to be slightly concerned, especially when Rob Gronkowski is still a question mark in terms of health. On defense, the Pats might finally have their stoppers at cornerback after signing Brandon Browner and picking up Darelle Revis. He may not be what we was four years ago, but Revis should be a big help to a middle-of-the-pack back end from last year.
2014 Prediction: 10-6

2. New York Jets
2013: 8-8 (T-2nd), missed playoffs
Surprise, surprise: the big thing we heard out of Jets camp is big talk. It's what the Jets are best at. It only makes sense then that they picked up Chris Johnson in the offseason, though whether he can regain his form from his heyday remains to be seen. On the other side of the ball, linebacker Calvin Pace called this defense the best in the NFL. Um... no. There's definitely some good young talent in Dee Milliner and Calvin Pryor in the secondary. I'm not totally sold on the rest though. This isn't a bad team like they were towards the end of the Mark Sanchez era. Geno Smith needs to markedly improve from his rookie campaign though if the Jets want to compete.
2014 Prediction: 7-9

3. Miami Dolphins
2013: 8-8 (T-2nd), missed playoffs
Really, I'm not sure how last year could have gone worse for the 'Fins. They had the huge controversy with Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin; now both men are gone. Mike Wallace struggled in his first year in Miami, and will need to have a better year if the Dolphins want to compete. The defense is all right, and they added a decent safety in Louis Delmas, but the biggest what-if for Miami is Ryan Tannehill. He's been average in his first couple years, and needs to make a leap if they want a shot at the playoffs.
2014 Prediction: 6-10

4. Buffalo Bills
2013: 6-10 (4th), missed playoffs
EJ Manuel is in Year Two, and hopefully for the Bills is more prepared this season. He has a fun new toy to work with in first round pick Sammy Watkins. This might mean some serious passing yardage this year, we'll have to see. On defense Jairus Byrd is gone, and now there's something of a void in the middle of the field. The front seven isn't terrible though, depending on how well Mario Williams plays this season. It'll be a rough year I think though, as Manuel continues to go through some growing pains.
2014 Prediction: 4-12

I'll be back at it tomorrow as we switch conferences and go to arguably the weakest division in football in the NFC East. Also, I get to make fun of Jerry Jones again. Good times.