The Bills are the three-time reigning division champions and possess the NFL's second-best offense and sixth-best defense from a season ago. Criticisms of their ability to have success in the postseason aside, Buffalo still has one of the most loaded rosters in the league—and it remains the class of what is shaping up to be a brutal AFC East.
Jets fans still partying after Aaron Rodgers' arrival will see this as a conservative assessment, and on paper at least, the Jets have the offensive firepower to hang with the Bills in the AFC East. But Rodgers is a 39-year-old quarterback coming off a down year, and the Jets haven't had a winning season since 2015. Slow your roll, Jets fans.
The Dolphins are one of the hardest teams in the league to make a prediction like this for—depending on the health of Tua Tagovailoa and the play of the Miami defense, the Dolphins could win the division or lose 10 games. But injuries are already taking a toll on the defensive side, and the Dolphins have the toughest schedule in terms of opponent winning percentage from a year ago in the AFC.
This won't be well-received, and the hiring of Bill O'Brien should benefit Mac Jones and the Patriots offense. But the cold, hard reality is that New England is the least talented team in one of the most difficult divisions in the NFL. The defense is also getting older. Nothing good lasts forever—the days of the Patriots as contenders are over for now.
