Predicting The AFC East: Who Comes Out Of This Mess - Brendan Darr's Blog

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Predicting The AFC East: Who Comes Out Of This Mess Stuck

Posted on October 16, 2012 at 07:05 PM.

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I don't know about you, but this division could break any number of ways and I wouldn't be surprised. Most of you will probably assume that New England is still a lock to win the division, and in years past I would have agreed with you. Now I'm not so sure.

Survival style, we'll go from who I predict will finish in fourth to first.

Last Place - New York Jets

The Darrelle Revis and Santonio Holmes injuries will be the downfall of this team. That, and the terrible offensive line that is getting Mark Sanchez killed. Sooner, rather than later, this team is going to turn to Tim Tebow. His days as a miracle worker are done.

Especially not with this schedule. Forgetting the games within the division, the Jets still have to travel to Seattle and St. Louis. I see three winnable games left on this schedule -- Miami at home and Jacksonville and Tennessee on the road. The game against Arizona at home and at Buffalo are toss-ups. The rest, even against the Chargers, are all games the Jets will likely lose.

At best, I see this team finishing 6-10, but wouldn't be surprised to see them finish worse than that.

Third Place - Buffalo Bills

While the Bills do still have road games against Houston and Indianapolis, the latter of which is a winnable game, the easier part of their schedule is ahead of them. They get the benefit of playing Seattle and St. Louis at home and still have home games against Jacksonville and Tennessee.

The offense is unpredictable, so its hard to tell which Buffalo will show up, but the return of Fred Jackson should help steady this Buffalo offense. Hopefully for Buffalo the return of Jackson will also help settle Ryan Fitzpatrick.

At this point in the season, given their remaining schedule, I wouldn't be surprised if Buffalo won 10 games. However, I ultimately see this team finishing 5-5 down the stretch to finish at 8-8. Not bad in this division.

Second Place - Miami Dolphins

I guess this should be an apology to the Miami Dolphins, their fans and Ryan Tannehill -- you aren't a bust. In fact, you're actually quite good, and perhaps more importantly you and not your wife are the biggest story of the season so far.

I think Miami is starting to come together offensively. While Reggie Bush may not rush for 2,000 yards and win the rushing title, he's still been a solid piece to this team. Tannehill has ignited Brian Hartline's career, and Anthony Fasano is a relevant name in football again.

Ultimately, it is Miami's easy schedule that got makes me believe they will finish second. I think they'll lose to San Francisco, and ultimately one or both games to New England, but the rest should be winnable games. I think a 10-6 record is not out of the question for the Dolphins.

First Place - New England Patriots

I know I said I wasn't sure if the Patriots would win, but lets be serious. They have way too much talent to not win.

The schedule also breaks their way in the final ten games as well. Outside of the Houston and San Francisco games, both of which are at home, they should be favored in every other game. If the Patriots can split those two home games, and avoid a slip-up in St. Louis, I think they should finish (at least) 11-5 this year.

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Comments

# 1 RnRexpress3423 @ Oct 16

Like I've been saying, the Dolphins are tough to be beat if they don't turn the ball over. Best run d in the league thus far.

# 2 Bmore Irish @ Oct 16

dolphins def look good, and while i've wanted to believe the patriots will turn it around, i just cant say it for sure. their defense is so questionable. this is basically a question you could ask about almost every division though, so much parity in the NFL today

# 3 yevinorion @ Oct 17

I'm a Dolphins fan and I still think 10-6 is a bit crazy. Don't get me wrong, I love the direction we're moving in and how well Tannehill is developing, but we're still a young team. Tannehill will make more rookie mistakes, we only have two decent receivers on the roster and our secondary is pretty questionable. I feel like we're more a 7-8 win team right now.

# 4 The_Wise_One @ Oct 17

I think the Bills are finally going to make it to the playoffs this year as the defense will become stout down the stretch.

# 5 keator @ Oct 17

For some reason i thought the jets have already beat the dolphins and the bills, yup thats right they have.... Pats will win this division but they arent that good, but no way the bills or dolphins finish above the jets...

# 6 rudeworld @ Oct 17

I am a fan of the NY JETS and I believe many have put them in the ground and covered them with dirt, including myself at times. Sure we have (they) lost maybe the best defensive player in the league in Revis and have lost our most skilled WR in Holmes and boy who can even forget about the final score of that 49ers game. But as I look deeper into the games that have been played I realized all have been competitive with the exception of that blow out loss to the niners, and even in that game the Jets we're in position to cut the score to 10-7 or with a FG 10-3 before going into half time.... but a INT and a niners FG killed all hope and well.... but my point is that the Jets defence will keep us allow us to remain in most games and if the offense- now with Keller and Hill returning from injuries - can put up a few point I can see the jets making the playoffs with a 9-7 record (the AFC is very balanced this season) #LETSGOJETS

# 7 cbenti60 @ Oct 18

Patriots don't play in St. Louis

# 8 justcallmedaddy @ Oct 18

the Jets and Sanchez suck. So I agree with this list.

# 9 LeonM @ Oct 19

I don't have a problem with someone projecting that the Jets will finish in last place. I do have a problem with inaccuracies. The Jets offensive line is top 5 in the league in least amount of sacks allowed. They have 3 pro bowl offensive lineman. No other team in football has that. So to label their offensive line as bad is just plain ignorant.