Steve's NFL Preview: AFC East

The overriding story here is the Patriots, who finished 16-0 but lost the Super Bowl. But the acquisition of Brett Favre has really been the story of this preseason, even though he is 38 years old and the Jets were 4-12 last year. Meanwhile, former Jets QB Chad Pennington went to the Dolphins (poor guy). On to the picks:

1. New England Patriots - I understand that a Super Bowl loss in recent years has usually meant not making the playoffs the following year, but I don't see that happening here. What I am surprised about is I hardly hear anyone picking them to make it back to the Super Bowl, even though they have the EASIEST schedule in the NFL and are returning a lot of their team from last year. Sure the defense is getting older, and I think that could be a big concern for them, but they only have a few serious road blocks in the way from another 16-0 year.

2. New York Jets - I'd hate to jump on the Jets bandwagon, but I think they have a legit shot at a 7-9 or 8-8 season this year, but probably not the playoffs. It's pretty interesting if you look at the points scored and allowed compared to the 7-9 Bills from last year. The Jets scored 268 and allowed 355 while Buffalo scored 252 and allowed 354. It really shows that both teams got killed a lot but Buffalo got some breaks while the Jets didn't. Will the Jets get those breaks this year? Maybe, with Favre, but he could also lose some games with bad interceptions. The Jets did make some nice improvements on defense though, enough to sneak past the mediocre Bills.

3. Buffalo Bills - In a league where mediocrity is king, the Bills fall into that category, but like I said in the Jets post, I think their record last year was a bit inflated. Fortunately for them, they might not sink too far because the AFC East gets to play the two weak western divisions. The Bills will need to get something going with the passing game and have Marshawn Lynch continue to impress if they want to compete this year.

4. Miami Dolphins - After finishing 1-15, you'd have to think all they can do is go up this year. They'll still be pretty horrible, getting a QB that was benched by the Jets and relying on the injury/pot-smoking-prone RBs Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. At least this year with games against Baltimore, Kansas City, Oakland, San Francisco, and St. Louis, they can prove, without question, that they are the worst team in the NFL.