Its official Tom Brady is no longer with the New England Patriots. The reign is over. The Patriots dynasty is over. Now the question becomes who is going to take over the reins in the AFC East? Most experts are already crowning the Buffalo Bills division champs. As Lee Corso would say not so fast my friend.

Look I get why everybody is high on the Bills, they are coming off a 10-6 season in which they made the playoffs and have a good defense with a potential up and coming quarterback. The expectations are very high this year, but the reality is what have the Bills done to earn this talk it’s their division to lose? Just like the Patriots they won most of their games because they had a soft schedule. The Bills only beat 1 team that made the playoffs last year and that was the Tennessee Titans before they made the switch at quarterback. The Miami Dolphins beat 2 playoff teams last year and oh by the way they were the team that beat the Patriots in New England in December not the Bills.  The Bills have a very good defense. Notice I didn’t say great because great defenses don’t give up 16-0 leads in the playoffs. Yes, they also made strides with Josh Allen, but he hasn’t had that game where he has made a big throw to carry his team or has had a 300-yard passing game in his career yet in two years. Allen right now is a game manager and isn’t being asked to do a whole lot, but in the NFL, you must do more than manage a game. You must step up and be a difference maker in the clutch and make big throws. Allen hasn’t done that, and a lot of people are anointing him the next big-time quarterback in Buffalo when the reality is, he hasn’t done anything yet. The pressure will be on this year especially after the Bills acquired Stefon Diggs so people can’t coddle Allen. He has to step up and make big throws and he hasn’t done that.

The Patriots while they lost the great one in Brady still have some talent on this team. The Patriots lose players year after year and find ways to reload especially on defense. The Patriots still have their secondary intact with Stephon Gilmore, Devin McCourty, and others. The secondary is a main reason Allen hasn’t done well against the Patriots and ultimately hasn’t beaten them. They also have Dont’a Hightower leading the defense and Bill Belichick comes up with schemes to attack opposing offenses. The Patriots have all their offensive line returning minus Ted Karras. Yes, they don’t have Brady, but it’s still early in the off season so they could still find someone just not as good as Brady. The Patriots went without Brady in 2008 and they finished 11-5 with an unproven quarterback in Matt Cassel. Yes, the Dolphins won the division and the Patriots missed the playoffs, but they were still competitive. I’m not saying the Patriots will prove everyone wrong, but like I said it’s still early in the off season.

The Dolphins are in their second year of their rebuilding process and they are the only team in the division to beat the Patriots the last 3 years. Why? I don’t know they seem to have the Patriots number, but they have never been able to gain any momentum from that. The Dolphins had no talent on their roster and won 5 games last but have been busy so far in free agency. They have upgraded their defense big time. With Byron Jones and Xavien Howard, the Dolphins match up well with the Bills receivers Diggs and Josh Brown. With the additions of Shaq Lawson, Kyle Van Noy, and Emmanuel Ogbah, they added guys who can not only rush the passer but set the edge on run defense. Yes, they have plenty of holes to fill to improve their offensive line, running back and of course finding a young quarterback, but they have plenty of draft picks to upgrade those positions.

Then of course there’s the New York Jets, who finished the season winning 6 of their last 8 games. The Jets disappointed last year after spending a lot on free agents Le’Veon Bell, CJ Mosley, and others, but they got hit by injuries and lack of production. They lost quarterback Sam Darnold for a month and a half with mono. Mosley was hurt all year and Bell didn’t produce up to his standards. The Jets have been quiet so far this off season but have signed a couple of offensive linemen to upgrade the group and could add another with the 11th pick overall. Darnold made strides when he came back, but it was too late to save their season. If the Jets stay healthy and make the necessary moves to upgrade their team, they could make a run as well.

The AFC East is wide open, and nobody should be crowned as the team’s division to lose. There’s no question based on last year’s results the Bills are considered the favorite, but in the NFL, teams can go from good too bad within a year. Teams can go from worst to first in a year. The Bills aren’t sneaking up on anyone this year and expectations are high, and the question is can they play up to those expectations and a tougher schedule. The AFC East as a division had a soft schedule playing the NFC East and AFC North last year. This year they will play the NFC West and AFC West both divisions much tougher including playing 2 teams that were in the Super Bowl last year. If the Bills can survive that over everyone in the division, they will earn it, but let’s see them do it and not hand them the division. Everyone in the division will have a play for the division.

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