AFC East preview in 2022
By: Jake Rajala
The AFC East will be more intense than the movie “Rush” this season. The Buffalo Bills are riding high after they massacred the reigning Super Bowl Champions (Los Angeles Rams), the Miami Dolphins have an ambitious head coach (Mike McDaniel) & an utterly explosive wide receiver (Tyreek Hill), the New England Patriots have an ageless legend in Bill Belichick, and the New York Jets have a plethora of talent on offense and a very desperate head coach named Robert Saleh. Each team feels that they have the ability to at least oust a winning season and make their fans delighted.
AFC East results in 2021:
- Buffalo Bills
- New England Patriots
- Miami Dolphins
- New York Jets
AFC East results in 2020:
- Buffalo Bills
- Miami Dolphins
- New England Patriots
- New York Jets
With that enunciated, I’m going to untwine an optimistic preview for each AFC East squad. Let’s begin.
Buffalo Bills
In an early moment of the Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, the pirates ransacked the city and took anything they wanted with ease. That scene could be reminiscent of the performance by the Buffalo Bills defense against the Los Angeles Rams offense on Thursday night. Von Miller impressively ousted two sacks & the Bills D were also able to snag three interceptions on Matthew Stafford. Besides the Leslie Frazier-orchestrated unit having a high-end performance against the Rams, Josh Allen showed his laser-arm strength with three passing touchdowns (including a 53-yard passing TD to Stefon Diggs – who was guarded by Jalen Ramsey). I anticipate James Cook to begin to look like the next gifted ball-carrier with the last name, Cook, soon. The Bills were picked as a Super Bowl favorite by countless analysts entering their Week 1 match-up and it’s safe to say their talent and energy on Thurs. night portrays a team that is on a mission to win the Lombardi. In Week 2, the Bills will battle the Tennessee Titans at home on Monday Night.
Miami Dolphins
“I am speed” – Lightning McQueen
The Miami Dolphins signal-caller Tua Tagovailoa is ready to defy expectations in his junior season. Tagovailoa is coming off a sophomore season that was slightly more impressive than his rookie campaign (which featured him getting benched numerous times). He may not be Tom Brady, Russell Wilson or Kyler Murray, but he can absolutely reach his first Pro Bowl berth with his weaponry this season. The Phins WR duo (Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle) will bring headaches to the Patriots HC and the Pats 35-year-old safety Devin McCourty. The x-factor on the Phins offense is unequivocally the explosive Chase Edmonds — who had a modest 903 all-purpose yards as an Arizona Cardinal last season. Let’s not forget about the fearsome faces on the Dolphins defense —- such as Xavien Howard (15 ints in the past two seasons combined), Jerome Baker (12.5 sacks in the prior two campaigns combined), and Emmanuel Ogbah (18 sacks in past two seasons combined). The Dolphins have a very talented roster and a creative, very motivated HC that can make the roster more successful than expected —- in a similar way that Zac Taylor brought the Cincinnati Bengals all the way to the Super Bowl. The Phins battle none other than the Pats at home tomorrow.
New England Patriots
“Death by a thousand cuts”
The INTJ head coach for the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick, brought back former New York Giants head coach Joe Judge to his lab this off-season (after bringing back former Detroit Lions ring leader Matt Patricia the off-season before). The boys are back in town in NE & they also acquired fresh, illustrious profiles for their team this summer. BB traded for DeVante Parker from his enemy, Miami, and Parker should look to return to being a 1,000+ yd WR as the Pats WR1. Belichick will still anticipate his defense with Matthew Judon (12.5 sacks in 2021), Jalen Mills (who is entering his second season in NE), the versatile McCourty (who has a twin brother named Jason), and the former Michigan Wolverine (because that’s Belichick’s favorite college) Josh Uche. The Pats recorded the second-fewest passing yards allowed last season. The Patriots didn’t have the sexiest off-season, but I still expect Mac Jones (who caught fame for his 2021 performance and a giddy at the latest Pro Bowl) to take positive steps forward and the Patriots to return to the postseason. As previously noted, the Pats will square off against the Phins tomorrow.
The Dolphins have famously beaten the Patriots four times in their last five showdowns.
New York Jets
The New York Jets have crafted a beautiful crew of toys, but they have an iffy QB situation. The Jets possess WR Corey Davis, WR Garrett Wilson (tenth overall pick in the 2022 draft), WR Elijah Moore, and RB Breece Hall (second overall pick in the 2022 draft). Sadly, they will miss the second-overall pick (Zach Wilson) in the 2021 draft until Week 4. It’s quite scary if the former BYU QB can consistently keep his knee healthy – as he also missed games last season due to his knee. The Jets have a couple of special faces on defense (Ahmad ‘Sauce’ Gardner & Quinnen Williams). Sauce will undeniably help Jets fans forget about their 30th ranked pass defense a season ago. I absolutely foresee Gardner being one of the Top 3 candidates for DROY this season. Robert Saleh needs to make sure the blood is boiling for his team — especially if he wants to stay away from the hot seat in 2022. Perhaps he can even exceed the energy that a first three-quarters version of Gregg Williams brought to the team in the Big Apple. The Jets will clash with the Lamar Jackson-led Baltimore Ravens tomorrow.
