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the Patriots could finally be supplanted as the
class of the division. Miami won six straight
games to close 2005 and finished a game behind
the Pats, while Buffalo and New York played well
enough last season (as their decent records against
the spread attest) to keep games close. Let's
take a closer look:
New
England Patriots - 2005 Record: 10-6 SU; 8-8 ATS
Odds
to win 2007 AFC East Championship: 1/3
Was last year an abberation,
or the start of a changing of the guard? That's
the big question in New England - after going
28-4 in 2003-4 combined, the Pats barely finished
a game ahead of upstarts Miami and self-destructed
in the playoffs versus Denver.
Concerns loom in the New
England backfield, and for good reason. Corey
Dillon struggled through an injury-riddled 2005
with a career-low 3.5 yards-per-carry average.
While Laurence Maroney was drafted as the back
of the future, the team will still lean heavily
on Dillon for ground production. Can the 10-year
veteran hold up?
Others will point to a massive
roster turnover as the sign of the Pats' impending
downfall. The offseason saw veterans Tom Ashworth,
David Givens, Christian Fauria, Willie McGinest
and Adam Vinatieri all change addresses. For the
second straight year, the Pats lost their defensive
coordinator as Eric Mangini left to become the
head coach of the New York Jets.
But don't start making funeral
arrangements just yet. All-world QB Tom Brady
is still behind center, while Richard Seymour
continues to anchor one of the best defensive
lines in football. Until someone steps up to snatch
it, the AFC East crown still rests in New England.
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"Since
I've been here, guys come and go,
but you do you're job and you play
your role. That's really all you can
worry about and you try to get everybody
else to do that too."
- Tom Brady to Patriots.com (July
28, 2006)
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Miami Dolphins - 2005 Record: 9-7 SU; 7-9 ATS
Odds
to win 2007 AFC East Championship: 2/1
A six-game win streak to
finish 2005 has spirits soaring as training camp
kicks off in Davie, Fla. Coach Nick Saban wasn't
comfortable resting on the laurels of his highly
successful rookie season - he addressed the QB
issues that dogged his team last year by replacing
Gus Frerotte and Sage Rosenfels with Daunte Culpepper
and Joey Harrington.
Culpepper heads into camp
looking to erase the memories of a disastrous
2005. Embroiled in the Minnesota Vikings' Love
Boat scandal, Pep played miserably before blowing
out his ACL. If he can sufficiently recover from
major knee surgery, he'll find himself surrounded
by weapons.
WR Chris Chambers made the
leap to Pro Bowl status last season, recording
career highs in catches (83), receiving yards
(1118) and TDs (11). Add TE Randy McMichael (582
yards, five TDs) and sophomore running back Ronnie
Brown (907 yards in his rookie year), and the
Fish should have a dynamic offense.
Questions arise on the defensive
side of the football. While still gifted playmakers,
aging stars like Zach Thomas, 33, and Jason Taylor,
32, will need to stay healthy to mask the lack
of depth up front. The secondary is talented but
young - keep an eye on rookie safety Jason Allen,
whose contract talks have stalled. Miami will
need him on the field sooner than later, because
he's expected to vie for a starting spot.
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"I
made a decision to go out and be smart
about it, but at the same time, not
worry about my leg. I'm just going
to play the way I play and let myself
be a natural quarterback. I'm not
really concerned about it. There's
really no pain."
- Daunte Culepper to the Palm Beach
Post (July 30, 2006)
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Buffalo Bills - 2005 Record: 5-11 SU; 7-9 ATS
Odds
to win 2007 AFC East Championship: 10/1
Pretty much everything went
wrong for Buffalo in 2005, so the plan for 2006?
Change it all.
Marv Levy takes the reins
in the front office, while former Bears coach
Dick Jauron will handle sideline duties. JP Losman's
starting job is now up for grabs with veteran
QBs Kelly Holcomb and Craig Nall; long-serving
WR Eric Moulds is out while Peerless Price and
Andre' Davis are in.
In the backfield, however,
things stay the same. This will be Willis McGahee's
third year as Buffalo's feature back - after consecutive
1,000-yard seasons, it has become clear that McGahee
will once again be relied on to carry most of
the offensive load. The Bills' passing game finished
29th in the league last year, and with Moulds
jumping ship to Houston, things don't promise
to get any better through the air.
The defense will be sparked
by the additions of former Colt Larry Tripplett
and draft picks Donte Whitner and John McCargo.
A healthy return by Pro Bowl LB Takeo Spikes would
be a massive help, but he has yet to compete in
full-team drills.
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"One
of the best things about football
is it doesn't matter what happened
last year. Our focus is on this year
and what we can do this year. That's
all that matters."
- Nate Clements to the Buffalo News
(Aug. 2, 2006)
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New York
Jets - 2005 Record: 4-12 SU; 6-10 ATS
Odds
to win 2007 AFC East Championship: 11/1
Brian Schottenheimer has
his hands full.
As the new offensive coordinator
of the New York Jets, his first order of business
will be to add some puch to the worst overall
offense of 2005. It might be a tall order - Schottenheimer
is calling plays for the first time in his career,
and his choices at QB are dodgy at best. Chad
Pennington must prove he's fully recovered from
his second major shoulder surgery; Patrick Ramsey
and Brooks Bollinger have shown little to suggest
they're reading for a NFL starting job; rookie
Kellen Clemens simply isn't ready for the big
time.
Ironman Curtis Martin returns,
again, to be the dominant ball carrier in the
backfield. But at 33, he's going to need some
help. This position is one where New York has
a fair bit of depth - Derrick Blaylock, Cedric
Houston and rookie Leon Washington are all primed
to get their touches. That means the Jets should
improve on their average of 83.0 rushing yards
per game - the worst in the NFL last season.
On defense, Jonathan Vilma
has now firmly established himself as one of the
best young linebackers in the league. Under new
coach Eric Mangini - who has installed a 3-4 defensive
scheme - Vilma has moved to inside linebacker,
slightly away from the middle where he dominated
a year ago. Teamed with key offseason acquisitions
Kimo von Oelhoffen and Andre Dyson, Vilma will
need to produce if the Jets hope to improve upon
last season's four wins.
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"Jon
[Vilma] has got very good instincts,
a very good sense of where the ball
is going and how plays are going to
unfold. That would apply to whatever
system he was playing in ."
- Coach Eric Mangini to the Asbury
Park Press (August 1, 2006)
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TOP PHOTO: Tom Brady leads
the Patriots' march toward a fourth consecutive
AFC East crown. (AI Wire photo)
Note: All
NFL lines subject to change.
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