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Predicting The AFC-bEast in 2015, With a Look Back to 2013 and 2014

It's a Mock Season Time!

Let's start with the Buffalo Bills. Just for the sake of alphabetical order. For years I and many others have laughed at their wishes to rise beyond the bottom of the vastly underrated AFC East. This last year they seem to have done that in spite of what I said last year. While it is obviously way too early but what else are we going to do we can certainly appreciate what they've accomplished. They finished 2014 with a 9 and 7 record and played some real physical football and they did it without a QB and with inconsistent play at RB. Though before I start praising them too much, let's not forget that the difference between 9 and 7 and 2nd in the division and 8 and 8 and tied at 2nd with Miami was a game in which they faced New England was not exactly trying to win. Still, that's a lot better than end of the division. Their defense performed better than I imagined it would. They may very well have the best 40-front in the league. Their secondary did better than I expected. Though they lost their best linebacker from last year and the best linebacker from the year before that. They may have added some consistency to RB, but might Lesean McCoy be declining? Oh, and they still don't have a QB. They got Charles Clay, but not QB or LB. That's a problem.

Buffalo's home and season opener is against the Indianapolis Colts. The NFL has given the Colts a hand by having suspended Marcel Dareus for this game. Still, that DL with Rex Ryan behind the controls will bring the heat. I won't be surprised if the Buffalo Bills win.. They also face daunting home games versus the Dallas Cowboys and the Super Bowl World Champion New England Patriots. I figure they can win 1 of these games, I just wonder how they'll do on the road. Besides for the death march to New England there is Philadelphia, Kansas City, and the rest of the divisional rivals. I see them maybe winning 2 in Jacksonville, Tennessee, or Washington. I really don't see this team being significantly better in any way from last year's team.

9-7 at best. Certainly not bad but not anything to write home about.

Then comes the Miami Dolphins who, like for the past two seasons, should be considered the favorite to be the #2 in the division. Even though I just said Buffalo would finish around 8-8 or 9-7.

You want a soft schedule? How about this. Week 1 at the Washington Redskins. Let's give that to Miami. Week 2, at the Jacksonville Jaguars. Let's give that to Miami. Buffalo Bills for the home opener, let's give that to Miami too. New York Jets, also in Miami? Okay maybe Miami wins in New York and New York wins in Miami, those two have a really weird relationship, but still, they should be able to win that one. Then away at Tennessee, and home for Houston? I can easily see the Miami Dolphins cruising to an undefeated record and being led, by Joe Philbin, on a short week in prime time up to New England where the Miami is reminded of their place. They then go on a brutal stretch @ Buffalo and then @ Philadelphia before getting to relax by hosting the Cowboys. I can see them starting off 6-0 and ending up 6-4 just like that, and what's up next? An away trip to divisional rival the Jets? A home game against the Baltimore Ravens? An away game across the country in San Diego? Two of those three are losers, 7-6. Three of their last four games are home games, when the temperature is not doing them any favors, against the New York Giants, the New England Patriots, and the Indianapolis Colts. I feel more comfortable putting them at 9-7 than Buffalo but it isn't much. I think, once again, the Phins start off hot and taper off into obscurity. Though how Brandon Albert comes back from injury is a huge question with them, as I wrote two years ago and remains so true today it is cliche;

I think protecting Tannehill is going to be the story for their O and their team overall.



New England may once again end up deciding who #2 is in the division as they did last year by not bothering to beat the Buffalo Bills.

They might potentially challenge the Patriots but they need a lot to come together for that.

So the New York Jets are last?

Let's see on what I had to say about that....

Richardson, Coples, and Wilkerson may make for some mean 3-man fronts on passing downs but they did absolutely nothing to improve the talent at OLB.

As much as I agree with the idea of going after a talent like Leonard Williams as they did, this is still largely true. Their linebackers, like Miami's and Buffalo's, have none that can really hold a candle to Dont'a Hightower or Jamie Collins or even a healthy Jerod Mayo. On the other side of the ball their blocking is not getting any better and probably not their QB, not yet anyway with how raw that rook is. They to me overcompensated in FA on last year's most skill-deprived positions at CB and WR and quadrupled down on that thirty-front. I dunno.

They do get to open at home against Cleveland but then they got to go to Indianapolis. I could see them winning both of those games but it won't be easy, I think they just barely lose versus Indy. 1-1. Home versus the Eagles? Away at Miami(or rather, the southernmost borough of NYC)? I think they enter their Bye week 2-2, a huge improvement from last year. They get the bye-week to prepare for Washington at home, 3-2, and then got to New England. 3-3. Their remaining road-games are against Oakland, Houston, Dallas, and Buffalo, and I think they'll at least get Oakland and the "away" game at the New York Giants. Their remaining home games are against Jacksonville, Buffalo. Miami, Tennessee, and New England. 9-7. What?!

Yeah, I dunno. I think it could be a 3-way tie for 2nd. I think we could field a division without losers.

We do know there will be a champion. Last year, shocking the world, I predicted that the New England Patriots would win 13 games. I had them losing their away games at Kansas City, at Green Bay, and at San Diego. Instead they lost to Miami Week 1 and let the Buffalo Bills have a meaningless win as scrapes while we marched to glory.

We of course open our season against the Pittsburgh Steelers and their weak-as-a-curtain secondary commanded by a rookie defensive coordinator in his first start against our Slippin' Jimmy in his first start but as a sophomore. S'all good, man! The trip to Buffalo won't be fun but we can do it if only because there isn't really much of a passing game to threaten our secondary. The home game against Jacksonville? Mhm. Then we get a week to get ready to go to Dallas for what might be a showdown between Eastern Illinois Panthers? I can see us pulling that off. We got the dude that broke all of Tony Romo's records there. Ha! Then Indianapolis Colts. It's ironic that the Colts cannot keep with the run. Also, revenge. I can see us emerging from that 5-0. Our toughest home game might be Philadelphia which doesn't impress me a whole lot. Actually our toughest home games will probably come from our divisional opponents with their ferocious DLines. Away? Our divisional opponents... At Denver, that might be tough, at New York versus the Giants, that might not be a picnic at all. The game in Houston might scare me the most if Jadevon Clowney is playing and balling with Watt and Wilfork. Belichick is also usually good for losing away games to ex-pupils. Then again we've probably never seen as much of a New England Lite team as these 2015 Houston Texans. Towards the end of the season are two winnable road games though I think the one in New York versus the Jets won't be easy. Still, let's face it, facing Miami in January is awesome. We'll probably win that one.

The away games at Denver, Houston, and the Jets are to me the most difficult. The away game against the Bills would be on the list, being early in the season, if not for the slightly extra bit of motivation brought on by Defakegate and Buffalo's meaningless Week 17 "victory". Dallas would be I think very tough if not for one that D and for two that byeweek. Indianapolis Colts are a horde of paper colts and the Phins won't get to host New England in that summer heat. The stars do seem aligned for the Giants to rise but I don't think we'll have an issue with them. I don't see this Patriots team being worse than 12-4 and I could totally see them repeating their attempt at perfection except this time the third time against a familiar foe is the charm in closing up the final two minutes. I think 13-3 is very realistic.


I think it'll be close, might come down to some funky strength of schedule or tie breaker, but after New England I'm going to go with Miami(their QB is at least average) and then New York just barely edging out Buffalo who returns to their role as the baby bro of the most underrated division in the league.

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