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| Photo courtesy of Dynasty Nerds |
I've been hearing a lot of chatter recently about how bad this division is outside of the New England Patriots, and I must say that I disagree. Outside of the fact that I'm a New York Jets fan, I think that the team will be rather frisky this year, as will the Miami Dolphins. The Bills have a lot of issues, and probably will not have many wins, but are by no means a team that should be clearly at the bottom of the NFL.
I'll be previewing each team in the order of last season's standings, so let's kick it off with last year's winner, and the team that's most likely to repeat as the division champion.
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| Photo courtesy of Zimbio |
New England Patriots
2013 Record: 12-4
Yards Per Game: 384.5 (7th in the NFL)
Points Per Game: 27.8 (tied-2nd in the NFL)
Yards Per Game Allowed: 373.1 (26th in the NFL)
Points Per Game Allowed: 21.1 (10th in the NFL)
After losing in the AFC Championship Game in 2013, the Patriots stood pat (no pun intended) this offseason, outside of two major defensive acquisitions. They lost cornerback Aqib Talib which would have been a huge blow, granted they didn't replace him with the best corner in the NFL, Darrelle Revis.
And he wasn't the only major corner that they signed this offseason, as the Pats reeled in former Seahawk Brandon Browner. While he'll be missing the first four games of the season due to a suspension, he'll be a major boon to an already very good secondary upon his suspension.
The defense was almost the definition of "bend but don't break" last season, as you can see by looking at the above stats. With those two guys now covering the outside, they won't bend nearly as much.
The offense hasn't changed much from last season, when the skill position players were generally average. Rookies Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins were not very impressive, while Danny Amendola and Rob Gronkowski only played in 12 and 7 games, respectively. Stevan Ridley looked good for most of the season, until he was infected by the fumble bug, and he fell out of favor with Bill Belichick, whose official position with the team according to Pro-Football-Reference is "Head Coach/de facto General Manager."
Somehow, even with what was the worst supporting cast that Tom Brady has had to work with in many years, New England's offense was among the best in the league. Obviously most of the credit for that can be given to Brady for making the most of his situation.
The two bright spots on the offense were slot receiver Julian Edelman, and running back Shane Vereen, who were important parts of the team's passing game. The Pats ran the third most passing plays in the league that were short and over the middle. Edelman's 105 receptions while working almost primarily out of the slot and Vereen's ability to catch the ball out of the backfield allowed for the short passing game to become New England's bread and butter.
The fact that they liked working over the middle more than most teams means that should Gronk be available for most of the regular season, and throughout the playoffs, the Patriots offense can be unstoppable. He gives them a huge target over the middle, just the way they like it.
Another player to keep your eye on is tight end Tim Wright, who was just acquired by New England in the trade that sent Logan Mankins to the Buccaneers. He's young and athletic, and in an offense that is built around the tight end, he has the chance to become the replacement for Aaron Hernandez that the Pats were missing last season.
Combine the offensive improvements that are inevitable even without Gronkowski, as Thompkins and Dobson get better in their second season and Brandon LaFell adds another decent target, with the fact that the defense will be better, the Patriots could win the Super Bowl this season.
