AFC East Moving Forward

[BigAl2526]

The Dolphins are still dangerous, but they have been neglectful of or just unable to fix their offensive line and they are running out of time with some of their skill players (Hill and Mostert).  I agree that the Jets are incurably dysfunctional.  I'm not sure the Patriots won't be able to right the ship in a couple years.  I don't think 2024 is the last year Buffalo wins the AFC East.

[GunnerBill]

I'd be surprised barring a Josh injury if the Bills didn't make it 6 in a row. Beyond that hard to predict what the others do. They are all at interesting points. The Jets need a re-set but do still have some talented younger players in Sauce, Q and Wilson. The Dolphins have some vet peices but a cap crunch coming. The Patriots have very few peices but a promising young QB. 

 

Two more draft and free agency periods it is conceivable that any one of them could with lots of good decisions be competitive. But the Bills aren't going anywhere for a while IMO and will be a tough out for any of them.

[eball]

The problem for the rest of the AFCE, as has been noted elsewhere, is that THIS was supposed to be the year for them to “catch” the Bills, and all three teams failed miserably.

 

Next year I see the Fish still finishing 2nd, and it’s possible the Pats*** overtake the Jests for 3rd.

 

As long as Beane/McD/Allen are in Orchard Park the Bills will be the class of the division.

 

[GETTOTHE50]

The only organization that has a shot with competing with the Bills are the cheats. And that won’t be for atleast another two years. They still have a lot of retooling to do on all sides of the ball. 
 

Building a consistent winning culture is no joke. 

[machine gun kelly]

10 hours ago, Billsfanatic8989 said:

NE is a mess. No weapons & bad coaching. Cold weather city. 

 

Miami has the warm weather advantage along with a good QB. The concerns are Hill aging, OL, & whether McDaniel can take the next leap as HC. 

 

Jets are the Jets. I just don't foresee them ever getting it together. 14 years of no postseason is almost impossible to accomplish these days. 

 

I'll say Miami is our closest competition. But I still think the Bills win the division next year for sure. 

 

What do yall think? Bills foreseeable future or some other team?

 

 

I’d agree with a couple of comments.  Miami’s defense is aging so they won’t be able to really compete, but can see 9 win seasons.  The only hope the Jests have is Bezos buys them with his gajillin $ as he wasn’t happy his bid didn’t get the Commanders.  Mr. Amazon ha more than enough $ to get the absolute best talent a front office, GM, and Coaching.  Mr. Amazon is worth over $260 mil amd would be second only to the Walton (Walmart) family.  Look what they did in Denver.

 

With that said, they are still two to three years away.  We’re I believe be safe for at least three years, and most of our coaching staff should be stable.  Brady might get a look at a HC job, but may not win one the first time around.  With the McBeane extensions, they are safe and that stability will be instrumental in a synergistic team.  We will be a top competitor for years to come.

 

It’s a great time to be a Bills fan.  You’ll be able to tell you’re kids and grandkids how special this time is for the next decade.

49 minutes ago, eball said:

The problem for the rest of the AFCE, as has been noted elsewhere, is that THIS was supposed to be the year for them to “catch” the Bills, and all three teams failed miserably.

 

Next year I see the Fish still finishing 2nd, and it’s possible the Pats*** overtake the Jests for 3rd.

 

As long as Beane/McD/Allen are in Orchard Park the Bills will be the class of the division.

 

I’ll agree Drake Maye looks promising for the Cheats, but they need so much to become competitive again around him including new coaching.

[Captain Hindsight]

10 hours ago, Success said:

Don't tell Patriots fans.

 

Maye will be the best QB in the league next year. As long as they get a good LT and WR, they'll be unstoppable.

 

I like Maye. I saw some writer saying he was better than Josh Allen at this stage and expected him to take a big jump next year. So watch out I guess 

[shane nelson]

Despite no SB, the Bills are dominating the division as NE did for years.  Let's hope this continues for as long as NE's rein. . 

Edited December 6 by shane nelson

[SoCal Deek]

11 hours ago, Ya Digg? said:

Well this is awkward…..

 

do you guys wanna tell him or should I??

Right?  There's absolutely no reason to take a cheap shot at the Sabres here.

[SoTier]

8 hours ago, dma0034 said:

If you told me about team outside the Bills won the division in the next three years I'd say it would be the Jets.

 

They have a good defense. So imagine they nail the Head Coach... like a Ben Johnson type. They draft a QB and start drafting O-Line you could see a rookie with the Wilson, Adams and Hall with a stellar defense. They obviously have to get a lot right.

 

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or truly believe this.  In any case, I disagree.  The Jests have missed on GM, on HC, and on QB every single  time they've sought to fill any of those positions since Woody Johnson purchased the team in 2000 -- and they've had a lot of chances to get something right.  The best they've done was drafting QB Chad Pennington in 2000 and then signing an aging Vinnie Testaverde.  The best of their HC hires was Rex Ryan.  None of their GMs went on to success on other teams.

 

As others have said, the Jests' best hope for success is new ownership.

 

2 hours ago, GETTOTHE50 said:

The only organization that has a shot with competing with the Bills are the cheats. And that won’t be for atleast another two years. They still have a lot of retooling to do on all sides of the ball. 
 

Building a consistent winning culture is no joke. 

 

I agree.  I think the Pats have hit on a good one in Maye.  Their HC Jerrod Maye seems to be improving as much as his QB this season.  He's got that team playing scrappy and far above their collective talent level, so they are competitve with a lot of their opponents right now.  Can they be competitive with the Bills next year?  Probably not, but I think they have the potential to challenge in the future.

 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

1 hour ago, Captain Hindsight said:

I like Maye. I saw some writer saying he was better than Josh Allen at this stage and expected him to take a big jump next year. So watch out I guess 

Josh stats his first year were terrible but you saw glimpses of what he could be. Maye has better stats but there is nothing to suggest he will be a star. His ceiling looks more like Kirk Cousins to me. 

Also remember Josh's jump was in year 3 and was unprecedented.  His degree of improvement is very very special and unlikely to be repeated. 

That said, New England has about as bad as skill position situational as Buffalo did in 2017 and 2018. If they add a true #1 Maye could blossom. 

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

12 hours ago, Ya Digg? said:

Well this is awkward…..

 

do you guys wanna tell him or should I??

It was probably much easier to perpetually miss the playoffs when there were only two wildcards to be fair 🤣. 

Edited December 6 by Generic_Bills_Fan

[TBBills Fan]

12 hours ago, Ya Digg? said:

Well this is awkward…..

 

do you guys wanna tell him or should I??

Go ahead 

[Charles Romes]

Allen has been more successful than Mahomes in terms of forcing the division opposition into desperate and dumb organization moves in an effort to keep up.  

[GASabresIUFan]

The Bills next year should be even better - 

On Offense - all the kids, Kincaid, Cook, Davis, Shakir, Colemen, Torrence will have another year of experience and hopefully a deep playoff run to to draw on.  The O line will likely be back and intact.  The only real questions here are whether Cooper, Knox and Hollins return.  Depending on how the next 5+ games go, I'd like to see all 3 back, but our cap may not stretch that far.

 

On Defense - starters - Rousseau, Oliver, Milano, D Jones, T Johnson, AJE, Rapp, Benford and Bernard are all under contract plus key depth Williams, Lewis, Vonn Miller, Bishop, Elam, Carter, Ingram, Spector, Solomon, Andreessen, Codrington and Ulofoshio.  Only FAs are Hamlin, Douglas, A Johnson, J Phillips, Jefferson and Smoot.

 

There is so much youth on this team that is contributing on a regular basis, that it's hard  to argue that the team would take a step back as long as Josh remains healthy.  The Bills probably have a 2 year window after this season to remain undisputed kings of the East.  Miami and the Jets will be going through transitions next year as the Jets move on from Rodgers and Miami cleans up their cap mess.  NE is in the cat bird seat to make a jump next year

 

As to the other teams, - this is the Bills division, but there is talent on the Jets and Fish in particular, that teams could build around.  Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson are game changers on offense, but they need a QB and until that happens, this team is at best an 8-8 team.  They need help on the OL and Depth at WR, and LBs.  The Jets have 32 mill in cap space.

 

The Fish have a good but fragile QB who could be lost at any moment. The have excellent skill players - Achane would be a huge star on a better team.  Are Hill and Mosert fading?  I hope so.  Their OL needs works as does more of the defense save their edge rushers.  When a team is player Poyer and Neal as much as they have, its clear the secondary needs help.  To make matters worse, the Fish have negative cap space according to Spotrac heading into next season.

 

The Pats may be years away from contending, but this could change rapidly if they utilize their 139 million in cap space for next season wisely. With only 37 players signed for next year, there is huge opportunity in NE for FAs.  Also Drake Maye has improved significantly this season.

Edited December 6 by GASabresIUFan

[Captain Hindsight]

55 minutes ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Josh stats his first year were terrible but you saw glimpses of what he could be. Maye has better stats but there is nothing to suggest he will be a star. His ceiling looks more like Kirk Cousins to me. 

Also remember Josh's jump was in year 3 and was unprecedented.  His degree of improvement is very very special and unlikely to be repeated. 

That said, New England has about as bad as skill position situational as Buffalo did in 2017 and 2018. If they add a true #1 Maye could blossom. 

Yeah I really like Maye. He’s doing well without much talent. He can play at this level. But I don’t see game breaking talent

[chongli]

12 hours ago, without a drought said:

Without a description of the Jets weather, I can't decide. 

 

Triple laughing out loud on this post! (Don't tell the OP we have the same weather, or worse, than NE.)

[Kelly to Allen]

34 minutes ago, Charles Romes said:

Allen has been more successful than Mahomes in terms of forcing the division opposition into desperate and dumb organization moves in an effort to keep up.  

Brett veach was incredibly shrewd, you gotta admit 

 

He totally ripped off the dolphins in the hill trade and simultaneously put pressure on the Bills by sending hill into the AFC East. Asymmetrical high level chess move.... 

 

Chris Grier got played

 

 

 

[Generic_Bills_Fan]

6 minutes ago, Kelly to Allen said:

Brett veach was incredibly shrewd, you gotta admit 

 

He totally ripped off the dolphins in the hill trade and simultaneously put pressure on the Bills by sending hill into the AFC East. Asymmetrical high level chess move.... 

 

Chris Grier got played

 

 

 

lol I’m pretty sure he did us a favor trading tyreek to the dolphins.  Straight up torpedoed that team in the long term. 

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Josh stats his first year were terrible but you saw glimpses of what he could be. Maye has better stats but there is nothing to suggest he will be a star. His ceiling looks more like Kirk Cousins to me. 

Also remember Josh's jump was in year 3 and was unprecedented.  His degree of improvement is very very special and unlikely to be repeated. 

That said, New England has about as bad as skill position situational as Buffalo did in 2017 and 2018. If they add a true #1 Maye could blossom. 

 

Think Kirk is a bad comparison. He is MUCH more threatening with his legs. I don't have a view on Maye's ceiling yet through his NFL play, but coming out I thought it was the highest in the class. I thought his floor was pretty low though, so I'm pretty impressed with how he has played so far on a bad team and in less than optimal circumstances. 

[jletha]

This exercise is fruitless. All it takes is getting a good QB. You mention that NE is a mess and a "cold weather city"...what does that even mean? They have Drake Maye and its being cold didnt stop them from winning 6 superbowls.