The interdivision play of the AFC East in week one resulted in no surprises. The Bills and Patriots who many expect to battle for the AFC East crown this season came away with wins. The Jets and Dolphins who come into this season with questions and concerns were on the losing end. Here’s where the division stands after the NFL’s season opening week, how it went down and what’s up next.
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1. Buffalo Bills: 1-0 (Division 1-0) (Conference 1-0)
-Last Game: Won at home against the New York Jets 27-17.
-Stand Outs: In the season opener Josh Allen threw for over 300 yards for the first time in his career and tossed 2 touchdowns against no interceptions. He also ran for 57 yards and a score. He quieted the noise about his inaccuracy at least for a week by completing a head turning 71.7 percent of his passes and had a quarterback rating of 104.6.
-Biggest Reason for Concern: As impressive as the Bills victory was there were a few notable miscues that need to be cleaned up. The one that’s most concerning after just one game is the injuries. We learned from Wednesday’s practice that wide receiver John Brown did not practice because of a foot injury. A trio of linebackers were out as well. Two starters, Tremaine Edmunds and Matt Milano, the young budding stars and Del’Shawn Phillips. Yet another linebacker, Tyrel Dodson, was limited. The Bills are deep at the wide receiver position but if Edmunds and/or Milano have to sit for an extended period of time, that’s a hardship for the defense.
-Up Next: The Bills travel but stay in the division as they take on Miami Sunday. A familiar bearded face in Ryan Fitzpatrick is reported to make his second start of the season. Buffalo is 4-3 overall against Fitzpatrick with 6 interceptions in the victories. Josh Allen has proved successful against the Dolphins. He’s won the last 3 in a row and has 8 touchdown passes and 3 running touchdowns in those contests.
2. New England Patriots: 1-0 (Division 1-0) (Conference 1-0)
-Last Game: Won at home against the Miami Dolphins 21-11.
-Stand Outs: Cam Newton gave notice there’s a different style of football in New England with him at the helm. While his passing numbers don’t jump out, completing 15 balls on just 19 attempts with no touchdowns, he showed he still has juice in his legs. He ran the ball 15 times for a team high 75 yards and got into the end zone twice.
-Biggest Reason for Concern: New England’s receiving corps looks to be the weakest part of the team that has dominated the AFC East since they were bouncing to 50 Cent’s “In Da Club”, well, in the club. As a team against the Dolphins they had only 15 receptions for 155 yards. Julian Edelman is their go to guy. The oft injured 34-year-old has missed 40 games in his career including the entire 2017 season with a torn ACL. The Pats number two wide receiver is second year former Arizona State standout N’Keal Harry who spent nine games his rookie year on IR with an ankle injury.
-Up Next: The Pats get their first real challenge of the season to see how they match up against power teams in the post Tom Brady era. They go on the road to Seattle to clash with the Seahawks in the Sunday night game. They get a bit of reprieve with no 12th man allowed in CenturyLink Field but they will have enough to worry about trying to manage Russell Wilson.
3. Miami Dolphins: 0-1 (Division 0-1) (Conference 0-1)
-Last Game: Lost on the road against the New England Patriots 21-11.
-Stand Outs: Linebacker Jerome Baker put together an impressive game in one that didn’t have much excitement to offer for the Dolphins. He totaled 16 tackles to lead both teams and added a sack, forced fumble and a tackle for loss.
-Biggest Reason for Concern: The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type of play from journeyman quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Bills fans are all too familiar with what Fitzpatrick can do and what he does. The well earned nicknamed “Fitzmagic” isn’t afraid to attempt throws that he shouldn’t. These make for some exciting moments which are followed with either stunned elation or frustrated dejection. Fitzpatrick had no magic against the stingy New England defense, throwing 3 interceptions with no touchdown passes.
-Up Next: Buffalo comes to South Beach for another divisional Sunday matchup. The Dolphins made some big moves in the offseason and will be fighting to avoid being a quick 0-2 in the division.
4. New York Jets: 0-1 (Division 0-1) (Conference 0-1)
-Last Game: Lost on the road against the Buffalo Bills 27-17.
-Stand Outs: Speedy wide receiver Jamison Crowder started the season fast with 7 catches for 115 yards. The majority coming on a 69- yard touchdown run down the right sideline. Safety Marcus Maye put in an even better performance on the defensive side of the ball causing trouble for the Bills with 10 tackles, 2 sacks, a forced fumble and 2 passes defended.
-Biggest Reason for Concern: Head coach Adam Gase. Gase seems to be in over his head as a head coach in the NFL and there’s speculation that he won’t last the full season with the Jets. Since starting off his head coaching career with Miami after being promoted from being an offensive coordinator in the NFL for 3 seasons, his team’s offenses have been dismal. Over his four full years as a head coach they have a league average ranking of 28th in yards and 26th in points.
-Up Next: The Jets get no time to lick their wounds as they host the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers were on the wrong end of a surprise upset at the hands of Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals last week. Expect them to come out hard and fast to avoid going 0-2 in the tough and only getting tougher NFC West.
