AFC East Dances to the Same Old Tune

Dan Mohrmann

If there’s one thing the AFC East has been over the last few years, it’s consistent. The Patriots dominate, the Dolphins do not meet expectations and Bills and Jets are a joke.

The 2006 season will follow a similar pattern for each of those teams as the AFC East has turned into one of the more predictable divisions in the entire NFL. For the last few seasons, no division has had higher expectations than the AFC East, and no division has fallen so short of the set standards. Without the three Super Bowl wins by the Patriots, the entire division would be a mockery with one team being the best of the worst and making the playoffs.

With Bill Belichick and Tom Brady anchoring the Pats, they will cruise to yet another division title. With those two working on the same page, the Patriots will always be not only an AFC threat, but a Super Bowl threat as well. The early exit in the 2005-06 playoffs was so unnatural to Pat fans, that the team used the 2006 NFL draft to add depth to the offensive side of the ball. With multiple match-ups against AFC East opponents, look for Brady to lead his team to at least 12 wins, which should give the Pats a playoff birth and a potential first round bye. Don’t count out a Super Bowl appearance as long as Belichick and Brady are breathing. Neither one know how to lose as a habit, and that trait will show itself in the 2006 season.

The Miami Dolphins might be the most improved team in the AFC East. The addition of quarterback Dante Culpepper has certainly boosted interest in Miami. Picking up a new receiving target in Arizona State’s Derek Hagan has certainly helped out Culpepper, who seemed lost in Minnesota without a main receiving target in Randy Moss. The Dolphins will prove to be too young of a team, however, and should hover around their 2005 mark of 9-7.

The Buffalo Bills seem to have no direction in the NFL. They spent most of the off-season building the offensive and defensive lines with young talent. Quarterback JP Losman has shown that he does not have the experience to compete in the NFL at this time. The only real impact player in Buffalo is running back Willis McGahee, but with no support the Bills will finish far below the .500 mark.

It’s hard to have a team finishing higher than last place when few positions are filled going into training camp. Chad Pennington hasn’t been healthy enough to be classified as the starting quarterback and the Jets have looked into free agency and the draft to find a suitable replacement. Curtis Martin is in the same position as McGahee and the result for the team will be similar. It’s going to be a while before Jets fans have something to cheer about.

Filling out a prediction sheet for the AFC East is as easy as looking at last year’s standings. The Dolphins made the biggest acquisition in the off-season, but the youth of the team is going to limit any progress that can be made. Look for the Patriots to runaway with the division title and perhaps win some respect for the division by winning the Super Bowl. The other three teams would be all for that scenario, as long as it made them look better in the process.