AFC East Preview

Since the turn of the millennium the New England Patriots have won 10 out of 13 AFC East titles. The Patriots are the team to beat and have dominated the division as well as the NFL in the early 2000's when they won three Super Bowls in four years; 2001, 2003 and 2004. In 2012 New England broke a tie with the Dolphins for most division titles; The Patriots have won 15 division titles to Miami's 14 with the Bills on ten and the Jets on four.

To decide which team is the greatest threat to New England's throne in the AFC East is tough and we will preview all four teams by taking a look at the Patriots' chances along with how the Jets, Bills and Dolphins will do to see if anyone can topple them:


Buffalo Bills

When you think about unlucky sports teams look no further than the Buffalo Bills. The team lost 4 Super Bowls in a row in 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993. To add further salt to their wounds the team currently has the longest playoff drought in the league as they have not appeared in the postseason since 1999. The doom and gloom has continued as the Bills also have the longest active streak of losing seasons as they have not finished .500 or better since 2004.

CJ Spiller is one of the Bills top talents

So how will the Bills perform in 2013? It is their first season under new head coach Doug Marrone and the Bills will start the new season with first round draft pick E.J. Manuel as the teams quarterback so to be honest their 2013 season will be based around his production. C.J. Spiller, Marquise Goodwin and T.J. Graham are all talented players on the Buffalo offense but it is going to be hard to have a successful season especially when their defense is getting a makeover as well.

Doug Marrone will entertain the fans with a fast run offense and their unpredictability may help them throughout the season but it is hard to see this team progressing further than 6-10 record wise. The Bills' main aim will be to keep Jarius Byrd on their roster as the pro bowl safety is being linked with a host of teams including divisional rivals the New England Patriots. Kyle Williams is probably the key player on the Buffalo defense as he has the versatility to play nose tackle and defensive tackle. On offense C.J. Spiller has the ability to win them close games but the question is how many of their games will be close enough for someone to step up and put W's in their column. 2013 is hard to predict for this franchise but their best hope will be to see a productive year out of E.J. Manuel and ensure they don't finish bottom of the AFC East for a 6th successive season.

Season prediction: 5-11. 4th in AFC East.


Miami Dolphins:

Head coach Joe Philbin was hired to in an attempt to revitalize the Dolphins and hopefully end a run of three consecutive losing seasons. Despite Dan Marino's best attempts Miami missed out on the signing of future hall of fame quarterback Peyton Manning so instead turned to the draft where they picked up former Texas A&M man Ryan Tannehill has the 8th overall pick. Tannehill had a productive 2012 as he helped the Dolphins finish 2nd in the AFC East with a 7-9 and went on to set franchise rookie records for passing yards, attempts, and completions.

Will Tannehill & the Dolphins progress in 2013?

Tannehill was hurt by the team's poor offensive line with the rookie throwing 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions; it is natural to assume he will progress in 2013 but O-line issues are hard to ignore. Nevertheless the Dolphins were the biggest spenders in the 2013 off-season and regardless of some weaknesses they have improved their team on both sides of the ball although usually the big spenders don't perform too well once it actually comes to game time. Brian Hartline signed a new deal with Miami after coming of his best career season whilst the Dolphins added an explosive weapon to their offense when they signed former Pittsburgh Steelers wideout Mike Wallace. Despite his talents Wallace will need time to make an impact as this team gels together and the same can be said for the defense as despite some very good acquisitions such as linebackers Dannell Ellerbe and Phillip Wheeler they will need time to adjust and grow as a unit. Cornerback Brent Grimes was also a good signing for the Dolphins who joined on a one year contract.

So in 2013 the Dolphins have a chance to end their losing season woes but it will come down to if they can come out victorious in the close games a 2012 saw them lose narrowly against the Cardinals, Jets, Bills and Colts. If they can improve on their divisional matchups they would like to think they have a shot at being a wildcard team but record wise I personally feel they are set to finish at 8-8 and 2nd in the AFC East for the second year running.

Season prediction: 8-8. 2nd in AFC East.


New England Patriots

Tom Brady heads in to 2013 season without key members of a prolific offense from last year which broke the record for first downs in a season with 444 and finished third all-time in scoring, 557 points, just behind the 2011 Green Bay Packers and their own 2007 record setting season. Wes Welker, Aaron Hernandez, Danny Woodhead and Brandon Lloyd have all departed while Rob Gronkowski underwent a 3rd and 4th forearm surgery this off-season as well as back surgery so his return to the field could take up until week 6 and he looks doubtful for the season opener against the Bills tomorrow.

Can Brady and Belichick guide the Pats to their 4th ring?

The Patriots offense now features many new additions with most of them being rookies but preseason alone showed that Brady seems to be making it work with the likes of Kenbrell Thompkins, Aaron Dobson, Josh Boyce and Zach Sudfeld. 2nd round pick Dobson has lots of potential are notably during his senior season at college he did no record a single drop from the 92 times he was targeted. Josh Boyce and Thompkins put up impressive numbers during preseason so they could be valuable assets whilst undrafted rookie Zach Sudfield who stands at 6'7 has the ability to be a Gronk 2.0. Speaking of 2.0's Danny Amendola was signed in favour of retaining Wes Welker's services and the Patriots will be hoping for similar results out of Amendola with both resilient along with being quick and mobile. Amendola is also a fellow Texas Tech product and after building up a good rapport with Tom Brady it is safe to say he should fit in to the Patriots' offensive system quickly. Brady has a knack for bringing the best out of his receivers which is a skill not many quarterbacks have and if he manages to produce great results out of this unknown group and win a 4th Super Bowl ring too he may certainly cement his place as the greatest QB to ever play the game. This is backed up by the fact that he holds the league record for most touchdown passes in the regular season with 50, has the most playoff wins in NFL history with 17, has the third highest career passer rating of all-time (96.6) and after breaking Joe Montana's playoff wins record also became the first NFL quarterback in history to guide his team to 10 divisional titles; With Joe Montana he's one of only two quarterbacks in history to win the regular season MVP and Super Bowl MVP as well as being one of only two QB's to lead their teams to 5 Super Bowls (3 wins) along with John Elway.

When you take the fact that this offense is led by head coach Bill Belichick, offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and Tom Brady even when you throw an unknown group of players in with them if anything it is scarier for their opponents as without the players who departed they won't know what to expect which is what still makes the Patriots a genuine Super Bowl contender. Their running game is dangerous and will improve whereas New England's defense doesn't get enough credit for the fact that they have finished in the top 10 in points allowed for six of the past seven years. After drafting the likes of linebacker Jamie Collins in the second round from the 2013 draft and adding him to a young talented group of players that include the likes of Chandler Jones, Dont'a Hightower as well as defensive leaders Vince Wilfork, Jerod Mayo and Brandon Spikes this could be one of the Patriots' most talented defensive groups in years. With Aqib Talib signing a new contract he will be a real asset in the secondary and help this underrated defense improve in an area where they have been pretty vulnerable for the past two seasons. MetLife stadium is the aim for many teams for the 2013 season but when you assess the New England Patriots it is clear to see that they are one of the frontrunners to represent the AFC at Super Bowl and clinch a fifth consecutive AFC East title.

Season prediction: 12-4. 1st in AFC East.


New York Jets

Despite a defense that ranked 8th overall in the league the New York Jets failed considerably on offense and fell from an 8-8 team in 2011 to 6-10 in 2012. Their 281 points scored was the third worst total in the league ranking them 30th and despite not improving adding any real game changers to the offense they did draft Geno Smith who entered the 2013 draft out of West Virginia hoping to go in the first round before falling to the Jets in 2nd. With a chip on his shoulder and a point to prove Smith will want to hold on to the starting job that he has gained after Mark Sanchez got hurt during preseason. For many Jets fans they would consider this a blessing in disguise, something Tim Tebow wasn't fortunate enough to receive, as now Smith will lead the team in their week one opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Although Rex Ryan may not be the best head coach he is a good defensive coordinator so the Jets know they can rely on good defense especially when Ryan can be more aggressive with his play-calling considering that their offense is usually so abysmal. Smith has nothing to lose as he takes over a low scoring offense which was being led by a guy who will probably be remembered for the 'butt fumble' wherever he goes for the rest of his life.

But that was in the past and Jets followers will feel their defense gives them a chance in 2013 which it does providing the likes of Quiton Coples, DeMario Davis and Sheldon Richardson step up to the plate. Everyone on that side of the ball must come up big especially after Darelle Revis left for Tampa Bay. Unfortunately for the Jets there isn't too much you can say without sounding harsh so to finish I shall say that providing Geno Smith stays on the field who knows what could happen but realistically Rex Ryan will need an 8-8 season to hold on to his job and that is what they'll achieve at best but in all honesty after owner Woody Johnson sacked their former general manager Mike Tannenbaum after the 2012 campaign he should have done the same to Ryan because only when you start from absolute scratch can you hope to rebuild towards a better future.

FUMBLE!

Season prediction: 6-10. 3rd in AFC East.

NFL Thanksgiving

Houston Texans (10-1-0) 34-31 Detroit Lions (4-7-0)

Stafford tried his best the this young Lions team need to learn how to go from good to great.

A feast of Thanksgiving Day football began at Ford Field in Detroit where the Lions narrowly missed out against the Texans who won the game in overtime and moved on to 10-1 as they look to seal the number one seed in the AFC for the playoffs.

The game started well for the Lions when Mikel Leshoure scored on a 2 yard touchdown run just over five minutes in to the first quarter to put Detroit 7-0 up.

The Texans score on a running play of their own when the explosive Arian Foster ran in to the end zone from 6 yards out to tie the game up. Foster rushed for 102 yards on the day from 20 carries and with his two scores on the day he now has 12 rushing touchdowns on the season.

The rest of the second quarter was a passing battle between Matt Schaub and Matthew Stafford with Stafford putting the Lions 14-7 ahead with six minutes to go until halftime when he found Mike Thomas at the back of the end zone on 3rd & goal.

Houston levelled it up again on a third down of their own when Schaub threw to Owen Daniels on a 9 yard touchdown play which made it 14 each but Detroit went in to half time ahead by seven when Stafford found the uncoverable Calvin Johnson giving Megatron the touchdown reception from his quarterbacks 22 yard pass.

A 46 yard field goal from Jason Handson made it a two possession game but then Justin Forsett scored an 81 yard rushing touchdown although he appeared to be down but with the whistle not being blown he was allowed to run down the field and score.

Nevertheless the touchdown stood and with Shayne Graham making a 45 yard field goal for the Texans the 10 point deficit was wiped out meaning that the teams went in to the fourth quarter tied at 24 apiece.

This young talented Lions team looked like they were going to pull off an upset by fighting hard all day and when it took until 1.55 remaining for Arian Foster to cancel out Joique Bell's touchdown for Detroit earlier in the fourth. Stafford and co had a shot to get down the field and win it but couldn't convert on third down meaning that this one did indeed go to overtime.

Overtime was just as exciting as the fourth quarters of regulation with both kickers missing an opportunity to win the game for their teams and with the extra period nearing a two minute warning it looked like it could end up finishing as a tie but it was Houston who ended up with a win on the road and their second overtime win in less than a week when Shayne Graham kicked the winning 32 yard field goal.

Young Stafford edged the quarterback battle on the day but sadly it was his opposite numbers team who got the win which effectively ended any chances of Detroit reaching the post-season. Stafford threw for 441 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions on the day whereas Matt Schaub threw for 315 yards, 1 touchdown and one interception for Houston.

The Texans are sitting pretty at the top of the AFC South as they look to hold on to the number one seed in the AFC ahead of the playoffs and seek home-field advantage, they play divisional rivals the Tennessee Titans (4-6-0) in week 13. Meanwhile the Lions are bottom of the NFC North after 11 games with a 4-7 record and will still hope to finish the season strongly starting with a week 13 match up against Andrew Luck and the Colts (6-4-0).

Washington Redskins (5-6-0) 38-31 Dallas Cowboys (5-6-0)

RGIII aired it out for long periods as the Redskins look to reach the post-season.

A few weeks ago with the Redskins at 3-6 head coach Mike Shanahan said he was disappointed and gave off the impression that his team's season was over in regards to a shot at the playoffs. Washington's bye week came after their sixth defeat and when they returned to the field they battered NFC East rivals the Eagles 31-6.

This week they took on another NFC East rival when they went on the road to Texas to take on Dallas where rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III threw for 311 yards and four touchdowns in his first Thanksgiving Day game to lead the Redskins to a 38-31 victory over the Cowboys. With the four touchdown passes Griffin became the first Washington quarterback to throw four TD passes in successive games.

The game started off quietly with the Cowboys leading 3-0 at the end of the first but then the start of the RG3 show began when the QB fired a 68 yard touchdown pass to Aldrick Robinson giving the game its first touchdown.

That touchdown send the Washington offense in to overdrive as they then put up another three touchdowns in the quarter with the first coming midway through the period when Alfred Morris rushed in to the end zone from a yard out to put the Redskins up by 11 following a Dallas turnover leading to this resulting scoring drive.

With just over two minutes to go until halftime Griffin threw a perfect pass to Pierre Garcon who outpaced the trailing defenders as he sprinted down the field for the 59 yard score. Then Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo threw an interception, his first in three games, to DeAngelo Hall whose return set up great field position for Washington and lead to their fourth touchdown of the quarter when Griffin threw another perfectly accurate pass; this time to Santana Moss to put the Redskins 28-3 up at the break.

In recent weeks it looked like Romo and co had saved Dallas' season and they didn't give up as they rallied back in the third quarter with a Dan Bailey field goal and a great pass out of the pocket by Romo late in the quarter which found Dez Bryant who made his way in to the end zone for the 85 yard touchdown.

So going in to the fourth the Cowboys trailed 28-13. RG3 looked to kill off any hopes of a comeback when he found tight end Niles Paul on a 3rd & inches play for a 29 yard score on which Paul was so uncovered he had time to fall over and pretty much roll in to the end zone.

But as usual Dallas wouldn't die and despite throwing two picks in the game in the fourth he almost helped his team pull of the unlikely as he threw two touchdown passes to Felix Jones and Dez Bryant midway through the quarter with Bryant's reception coming on a crucial 4th & 4 play in the red zone. That left the Cowboys down by a touchdown with the score 35-28 to Washington.

Following a field goal by the Redskins they lead by 10 and Dallas went down the field but had to settle for a field goal of their own as Dez Bryant catch was broken up in the end zone as the Cowboys looked to cut the lead further. Following kicker Dan Bailey's 51 yard field goal they went for the onside kick but were unsuccessful meaning that Mike Shannahan's Redskins picked up the win on the road.

The win leaves both teams at 5-6 in their division as they both cross their fingers in hope of Green Bay doing a job over NFC East leaders the Giants who with a defeat on Sunday Night would be only a game ahead of the two teams at 6-5.

Tony Romo and the Cowboys shot themselves in the foot once again early on and despite some second half heroics they couldn't pull out the win. They'll now look ahead to week 13 where they take on the division's bottom placed side, the Philadelphia Eagles who are 3-7 but will still want to put one over their rivals. A win for Dallas will put them back on track as they hope to sneak in to the post-season.

The Redskins will play a third successive divisional matchup in week 13 when they host the Giants at FedExField. If, as mentioned previously, the Giants lose to the Packers then a win for Washington over New York would leave both teams at 6-6 with 4 games to play as the intensity heats up in the NFC East.

Even more mouth-watering is that if Dallas defeats the Eagles then all three teams will hold a 6-6 record and with more divisional games to come the end of the regular season looks very interesting for the Redskins, Giants and the Cowboys as they all dream of reaching the post-season.

New England Patriots (8-3-0) 49-19 New York Jets (4-7-0)

Tom Brady was all smiles after feasting on the Jets defense in the Patriots huge Thanksgiving Day win.

Gone in 60 seconds, 53 to be exact, is the only way to describe this one as the New York Jets crumbled in the second quarter giving up 35 points and three touchdowns in less than a minute. Tom Brady and the New England Patriots pounded the sloppy Jets who watched any glimmer of hope for their season vanish in front of their own eyes leaving them with not much to celebrate on Thanksgiving.

The Patriots will be giving thanks to Rex Ryan's team for performing so badly as New England won convincingly in this 30 point blowout. Despite losing superstar Tight End Rob Gronkowski to a broken forearm only a few days prior to the game in their Sunday night win over the Colts the Patriots offense was on fire.

The embarrassment on the Jets was perfectly orchestrated by Tom Brady who threw three touchdown passes and ran for a score in the teams win. The first score of the game came six seconds in to the second quarter when Brady found Wes Welker in the corner of the end zone on a 3 yard touchdown play.

On 4th & 1 the Jets fumbled the football leaving Patriots safety Steve Gregory to recover the ball; he also picked off Jets QB Mark Sanchez in the first quarter. On the next play New England got their second touchdown when Brady found Shane Vereen on a quick slant and with room to run the running back sprinted past the New York secondary for the 83 yard touchdown.

So 14-0 down the Jets looked to come out and cut the lead but Mark Sanchez was floored by his own lineman as Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork helped cause the chaos leading to the QB dropping the football which fell to Steve Gregory to pick up and return the fumble for a 32 yard touchdown.

Things got even better for the Patriots when on the resulting kick off Devin McCourty hit Joe McKnight hard leading to another Jets turnover and the football fell out of McKnight's hands in to those of Julian Edelman who returned the fumble for New England's third touchdown in 53 seconds.

The Jets did manage to get on the scoreboard just before halftime when Nick Folk converted a 32 yard field goal but that was minutes after another Patriots touchdown when Tom Brady aired it out for Edelman for a 56 yard touchdown on 3rd & 5.

Brady completed 18/28 passes for 323 yards and three scores on Thursday night's game meaning that he now has 27 touchdown passes on the season, has thrown for 3299 yards with a passer rating of 105.0 and has only thrown three interceptions in the team's 11 games.

The Patriots were scoreless in the third as the Jets cut the deficit to 23 following a safety midway through the quarter and a 4 yard touchdown run by Bilal Powell but the defense put up a brilliant goal-line stand on 4 plays by New York leaving them scoreless on that particular drive.

So going in to the fourth the Patriots were up by a score of 35-12 and within minutes of the final quarter beginning Brady's 1 yard touchdown run rubbed salt in to the wounds of the wounded Jets. A minute later Stevan Ridley rushed in to the end zone from 9 yards out making it 49-12.

Sanchez eventually got his touchdown pass late in the quarter when he found Dustin Keller but it was meaningless with the defeat leaving the Jets bottom of the division at 4-7. Tim Tebow was being called for by the home fans but it was revealed he had broken his ribs. Nevertheless Sanchez should have been replaced weeks ago but Rex Ryan refuses to admit when he is wrong which now leaves the Jets looking ahead to next season.

As for the Patriots well offensively they got it going nearly every time they were on the field and a particular highlight was Aaron Hernandez returning to help ease the pain of losing Gronk for the foreseeable future. New England's defense continues to improve with another impressive performance and they lead the AFC in turnovers as they look to step up to the standards set by those on offense and those expected by head coach Bill Belichick.

The big win for the Patriots moves them on to 8-3 and effectively wraps up the AFC East for them. New England is now looking to rack up the wins in hope of securing a bye week when the playoffs come around. If history is anything to go by then that looks indeed possible as Bill Belichick is 8-0 in the second half of the season over the last two years. Their week 13 opponents are divisional rivals the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium.

New England Patriots 45-3 New York Jets - Tom Brady and the Patriots demolish and embarres the Jets!

Last Monday was a great night to be a Patriots fan, Tom Brady and co demolished the Jets in a 45-3 win to move to 10-2 and leave the Jets trailing by a game at 9-3 in the AFC East. It was the biggest game of both teams seasons to date as the playoffs get closer.

Throughout the game I was tweeting away about how great we was playing and how happy I was after every touchdown, for Green-Ellis' final TD I stood up and just shouted 'woo, fucking yes!'. Iv really grown to love the NFL and I almost consider my love for the Patriots as highly as that of my beloved Manchester United so Mondays night victory left me feeling very happy when I woke up after just 4 hours sleep seeing as the game finished at 5-6am over here in the UK.

Here are some key points and stats from the game: Tom Brady threw for four touchdowns and 326 yards as he surpassed Brett Favre's record for consecutive wins at a home stadium. It was Brady's 26th straight regular season home victory and after another amazing perfromance Brady moves into 13th place on the all-time records with 252 TD passes. He is one of the front runners for this years league MVP award as he aims to win it for the second time.

As well as Brady looking good generally the Pats on the whole look fantastic, Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez was picked off 3 times on Monday which shows that the Patriots pash defense is getting a lot better and is moving forward with its good rush defense. If both offense and defense can continue playing well I firmly believe the Patriots are on the way to the Superbowl. At this moment in time they are the leaders in the AFC with their 10-2 record and have gained wins over the Steelers, Ravens and Jets. The Falcons are the other team level with the Patriots who are 10-2 in the NFC.

To finish I'm going to predict that come February 6, 2011 in Texas it will be a New England Patriots vs Atlanta Falcons Superbowl. I said this weeks ago and as they are both sitting top of their respective conferences I'm feeling good about my prediction. A quick look at tonight's game where the Patriots play the Chicago Bears, it shapes up to be a good game but again I think the Pats will win. I heard that its snowing and in the Belichick era the Patriots are 9-0 in snow games so lets hope that they make it 10-0 tonight. I'll go with a 31-20 with to the Pats.

'This is a quarterback league and Tom Brady is the man!' I couldn't have put it better myself

thanks for reading. 

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