Deranged Rhino Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 The only thing the Fins have going for them is continuity with Philbin. Unfortunately for LaCanfora's prediction, Philbin is milquetoast at his very best. His teams are soft and I have zero faith he'll be able to control Suh should the big man decide to check out. The Fins got worse on offense, and you could argue took a step back on defense -- at least how the roster stands today (they need to sign a lot of players). I think Grimes is underrated, Suh is a great player, Wake can be a terror, Starks is well above solid... but who else do they have? Who's going to play LB for them? Who's going to be their nickle and try to cover Harvin/Woods/Clay? Who's going to catch passes from Tanny? I see far more questions than I see answers when I look at the Fins' roster, the biggest one being their head coach who I still can't believe survived Black Monday. The Jets have a first time head coach who is coming from the NFC and will have to learn the division while installing brand new systems on both sides of the ball. Fitz won't start for them, and if he does he'll cost them 2 games they otherwise should have won. If they go with Mariota, it'll make the learning curve that much more steep. The Jets defense has talent (I'd argue more than the Fins), their biggest deficiency last year was the lack of NFL caliber CBs on the roster. That's no longer the case. I can see the Jets winning eight or nine games if things break right, but without a miracle they won't reach double digits as I see it now. The Bills have new systems to install and a brand new coaching staff same as the Jets. That could hamper things, there's no way to tell. The one edge they have over Bowles is Ryan's familiarity with the AFC East. There won't be much of a learning curve for Ryan but there might be for Roman. The Bills are deeper and more talented at nearly every position than either the Fins or Jets. There are plenty of questions about the QB position -- but the same could be said for the Jets and even the Fins though to a much lesser extent (can Tanny take the next step or have we seen his ceiling?). The Bills have 3 years of continuity on the DL, that's not something to be overlooked. Suh might be better than Dareus (I don't think he will be for long, if he is at all) but he's still going to be learning how to play with Wake and Starks whereas the Bills' line know what their teammates are going to do in virtually every situation on the field. Even with a new defense, that kind of chemistry along the trenches is invaluable. The *pats are the champs until someone beats them. LaCanfora's prediction of the Bills finishing last makes me seriously questioning his grip on reality. The Bills will win 10 games next year, 11 or 12 if one of the QBs steps up and proves more capable than the masses give him credit for. The Fins' ceiling for wins is between 10 and 12 if Philbin is better than I think (he isn't) or if Tanny takes that near mythical "next step". So, it could come down to the Bills and Fins for the AFC crown, but I doubt it. It'll come down to Buffalo and the Cheatriots in '15. There's very little chance the Bills crap out and finish last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Turk Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Starks was cut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deranged Rhino Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 Starks was cut Well, ****. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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