ESPN reporters believe AFC East will belong to Bills, Dolphins in coming years
For the first time since 2008, the New England Patriots lost the AFC East division. The Patriots’ 2020 season was without Tom Brady, and Bill Belichick only walked away with seven wins.
Meanwhile, the Buffalo Bills won the division with a 13-3 record and the Miami Dolphins followed up with a 10-6 record. Both the Bills and Dolphins have young franchise quarterbacks at the helm and superb coaching staffs to guide the talented teams.
Belichick isn’t ready to hand the torch over just yet though. New England entirely revamped its roster with an offseason that brought in an enormous amount of talent. The biggest unknown for the team is the production that either Cam Newton or Mac Jones will bring as signal-callers.
Regarding the next three years for the division — ESPN reporters gave their idea of who’ll be the most dominant team. Here’s small excerpts from Marcel Louis-Jacques (Bills), Cameron Wolfe (Dolphins), Mike Reiss (Patriots) and Rich Cimini (Jets).
Louis-Jacques: The AFC East belongs to Buffalo. Josh Allen became the quarterback he had shown flashes of during his first two seasons, and the offense dominated to a point that the defense’s drop from elite to mediocre nearly went unpunished. With the same key pieces in place on both sides of the ball, and a rare fourth straight season with the same coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, there’s little on paper to suggest Buffalo won’t win its second straight division title in 2021.
Wolfe: It’s still the Bills’ division to lose. The Bills finished three games ahead of the Dolphins, the second-place team in the AFC East, and there was little done by any teams this offseason that should convince us they have closed the gap. The Bills have the best quarterback (Allen) in the division, the best offensive skill player (wide receiver Stefon Diggs) and are the most complete team.
Reiss: I do think the gap will close a bit this season in the division — the Bills (13-3) were three games better than the Dolphins (10-6), and significantly better than the Patriots (7-9) and Jets (2-14) — but Buffalo is still a game or two better than the next team.
Cimini: I’m a big believer in the coach-quarterback dynamic, and no tandem in the division does it better than McDermott and Allen. The Dolphins are due for a market correction, so to speak. They capitalized on an easy schedule last season — only one victory against a team that finished with a winning record. I can see a drop-off, especially as they ride out Tagavailoa’s growing pains.
Talent-wise, the Patriots are equipped to get right back into the mix and maybe even win the division this year.
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Patriots’ 90-man roster by jersey number, from Cam Newton to Byron Cowart
