nick in* england Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 Fox Sports AFC East round up I read this article and realised that with JP and Gandy being the only *real* question marks over the upcoming season we have a lot to be upbeat about. Compare those problems to the Pats lack of an OC and all those other FO and personnel changes, the whole Ricky deal and that fact that the Dolphins suck anyway, the fact that Noodle Arm Pennington has probably been soaking that noodle in warm water for the last coupla season to make it evenmore limp and it adds up that we are looking pretty strong to have a runat the table this season. Or am I being a homer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richNjoisy Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 Yeh, a bit of a homer. The Fish certainly have big problems and are likely to end the season at the bottom of the AFCE. The Jets have the Pennington issue, one of these days Martin will actually get old, and their defensive line took a hit plus Abraham is holding out. But New England is nowhere near "in trouble". They are huge favorites to win the division and go deep in the playoffs. They are practically everyone's SB pick. The Bills season hangs on how well JP plays. The rest of the pieces except for placekicker and TE are set. The o-line is suspect but serviceable IMO. This puts the Bills way behind in expectations to the Patriots and at or just behind the Jets. I THINK we all will actually know a lot more by the end of August. Can Pennington throw? will be answered. Can JP run a "competent" offense? may also be known by then. Preseason injuries amongst NE, NYJ, and BUF will also give us a clue to what may transpire in 2005. -RnJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurman's Helmet Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 You're a homer. Whats a bigger question mark, having a young inexperienced QB or having "new" coordinators step in? (Eric Mangini has been with the Pats organization forever so nothing is new to him) I'm not saying you cant be upbeat, you never know what will happen and Losman could be the next Brady for all we know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick in* england Posted June 27, 2005 Author Share Posted June 27, 2005 OK OK I am a homer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Realist Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 You're being a bit of a homer, but I like the way you think. 1st place is pretty much the Pats this year unless they take a major turn for the worst. I don't think the loss of the coordinators is going to hurt them that much. Although, I will be rooting for a 2-14 season for them. 2nd place is up for grabs by the Bills or Jets, both teams have question marks, but I think both are pretty solid. Whoever gets second will probably be one of the Wild Cards too. Dolphins will be in last place again, but don't think teams will just roll over them like last year. They'll be much better and a lot more competitive, but still finish behind Buffalo and NY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidbuff Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 Intresting article...........thanks for the post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jad1 Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 You're a homer. Whats a bigger question mark, having a young inexperienced QB or having "new" coordinators step in? (Eric Mangini has been with the Pats organization forever so nothing is new to him) I'm not saying you cant be upbeat, you never know what will happen and Losman could be the next Brady for all we know. 368578[/snapback] Having a young QB is a legitimate concern, and the Bills acknowledged it by bring in Holcomb. They've also improved the run blocking on the oline and drafted a big back, which shows that they are planning on building the offense around the run. And the Pats handling of their coordinators is also a concern. Crennel had good control over the defense, which allowed Belichick to do things like mentor Brady in 2001. Will Mangini be able to seemlessly take over? There are dozens of examples of NFL coaches who struggle to take the next step up, from asst. coach to coordinator, from coodinator to HC. And since Belichick is assuming the role of the OC, Mangini is going to be on his own if he struggles. Any time that Belichick has to spend on the defense could hurt the offense, because of his reluctance to hire an OC. Most coaches who hold dual responsiblity of HC and coordinator see a falloff in production of the unit they aren't coaching. Martz, Holmgrem, Shannahan, Vermeil, and even Sherman focus on their offenses to the detriment of their defenses. So there are pitfalls that the Pats will have to avoid with their new coaching arrangement. I know all the Pats homers will say that this is different, this is Belichick. But consider that Chuck Noll, Bill Parcells, and Mike Shannahan were all considered geniuses after they won their last super bowl, and haven't been back to it since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadBuffaloDisease Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 You're a homer. Whats a bigger question mark, having a young inexperienced QB or having "new" coordinators step in? (Eric Mangini has been with the Pats organization forever so nothing is new to him) I'm not saying you cant be upbeat, you never know what will happen and Losman could be the next Brady for all we know. I look for the Bills to handle JP the way the Pats handled Brady. That is, rely mostly on great defense, ST's, and a heavy dose of the running game. I think that adding speed in Parrish in the slot will help spread the field and provide for a better running game, and more outlets for JP. If one of the top 2 TE's can comeback to close to 100%, the Bills will have a really good offense around JP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
col_forbin Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 I'm not as worried about JP as most people tend to be around here. Holcombe can come in and be a very productive QB in my mind. I worry more about our TE situtation than anything else, we simply have to be more effective from that position this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark VI Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 OK OK I am a homer... 368589[/snapback] Remind me what's wrong with being a homer ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drnykterstein Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 It just makes me feel good that we can actually debate this whole pats/bills thing this year. Last year I don't thank anyone expected us to beat the stupid patsy's. So at minimum the pats cannot take our Bills for granted and must really look over their shoulder this year. At most, well, they shall be dethroned in an utterly embarrassing manner. I'll stand by my pats prediction of a 7-9 record this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick in* england Posted June 27, 2005 Author Share Posted June 27, 2005 Remind me what's wrong with being a homer ? 368647[/snapback] Absoluetly nothing! Go Bills! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thurman's Helmet Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 Remind me what's wrong with being a homer ? 368647[/snapback] good point. who wants to go into each and every season saying "WE'RE DOOMED" and not bothering to get excited? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadBuffaloDisease Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 good point. who wants to go into each and every season saying "WE'RE DOOMED" and not bothering to get excited? Rudy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts