AFC East
The New York Jets and New England Patriots are tied atop the AFC East at 6-2. Neither team looked impressive in Week 9. The Jets beat the Lions in overtime on a game winning field goal by Nick Folk. The Patriots got blown out by Peyton Hillis and the Browns. The Jets own the tie breaker over the Patriots for now. The Dolphins are 4-4 and winless at home, but are an impressive 4-1 on the road. Chad Henne has been less than stellar this year. His best stat is his completion percentage which resides at 63.5, but he has thrown 10 picks compared to only 8 touchdowns. Head Coach Tony Sparano slated Chad Pennington in the starter role this weekend against the Titans. The Buffalo Bills are the best winless team around. They nearly beat three first place teams in the past month, and sooner or later they are going to book their first win of 2010. Here's a closer look at the division.
Rex Ryan has a lot to learn about head coaching, but for the most part has done a nice job in guiding the Jets. Mark Sanchez started the year on a tear, but of late has been very inconsistent. He has thrown five interceptions in the past three games, barely escaping the Broncos, being shutout by the Packers, and winning a nail biter in Detroit by way of a field goal in overtime.
Offense- Santonio Holmes is settling in nicely. Braylon Edwards is having a nice season. Dustin Keller was great early on, but has since quieted down. The real story from the offensive side of the ball has to be LaDainian Tomlinson. After two disappointing seasons, Tomlinson came to New York with hope of a rebirth of sorts. He found one. He found a good offensive line and big holes to punch through. Tomlinson is averaging nearly 5 yards per carry, with 5 runs of 20+ yards, and 5 TDs. Tomlinson is also still dangerous as a receiver. He has 30 receptions for 191 yards. Shonn Greene hasn't been used as much, but that should change soon. The Jets should start giving Greene some more touches to rest Tomlinson. You want Tomlinson healthy and rested if the Jets are going to make a playoff push. John Conner has been very impressive in his rookie season under the tutelage of Tony Richardson.
Defense- The Jets are kind of weak on the pass rush side, but their cornerbacks and rush stuffers make up for that. Kyle Wilson has been very disappointing, as has Drew Coleman and Brodney Poole. Antonio Cromartie has been the shutdown corner Revis was expected to be the whole year, but Revis struggled early with a few injuries. Darelle Revis looked like the Defensive Player of the Year last week, and that's a good sign that his injury is in the past. The line backers are a strong group, and perhaps the best part of this team. David Harris has been great stuffing the run and he has a great ability to get to the ball. Calvin Pace has only played in half the games but has more sacks than any other starting line backer.
Playoff Picture- I'd rank the Jets as the 3rd or 4th best team in the AFC, so the outlook of making the playoffs is looking up. Judging by their schedule they have a shot at a first round bye as well. If they make the playoffs, Mark Sanchez is going to have to play like he did in the first 4 games of the season. The safeties and 2nd string corners need to play like Cromartie has and how Revis will.
Brady and the bunch looked miserable on the field Sunday versus the Cleveland Browns. Peyton Hillis made New England's young defense look like amateurs, and Colt McCoy has already beaten two Super Bowl MVPs this year. But if there's one thing I know about the New England Patriots, it's this: Tom Brady gives his team the best shot at winning every Sunday. They will be there at the end of the year. The New England Patriots losing to the Cleveland Brown just proves my opening line of this article. It's not so much of a changing of the guard. It's that there is no guard anymore.
Offense- It seems like Wes Welker isn't the same receiver without Randy Moss on the field. BenJarvus Green-Ellis has put together a nice season, save for last Sunday. He has rushed for 385 yards on 94 carries. Danny Woodhead has been better, although in a smaller role. Woodhead has 232 yards on 45 carries, and he's a nice threat as a receiver out of the backfield. Aaron Hernandez is putting together a very productive rookie campaign leading the team in receiving yards with 436 on only 34 receptions. Deion Branch was a great acquisition from Seattle. He's not the tall, deep threat that Randy Moss was, but he's a great route runner, and he and Brady made magic before Moss came along.
Defense- The Patriots defense should make any Pats fan nervous. They are ranked 29th in pass defense and 21st in rush defense. In the past couple years, they either traded or released good veteran leaders on their defensive squad. Guys like Richard Seymour, Mike Vrabel, Junior Seau, and Asante Samuel are all figures of the past. Jerod Mayo is having a solid season, but there are few players helping out. Patrick Chung looks to be a promising young safety. Tom Brady can bail out the defense only so many times. The Browns offense made the New England defense look young and inexperienced. And they are.
Playoff Picture- New England has some problems, but in my estimation they are the the 4th or 5th best team in AFC. They have a shot at winning the divison, and an outside shot at a first round bye. They're neck and neck with the Jets, and need to win their last game against New York in Foxboro. Tom Brady makes this team a Super Bowl contender, although their defense needs to get better if that is the real goal.
Out of their last 8 games, 5 of those will be played at home in Miami. That would sound like a good thing for any team in the league, but the reality of the situation is that the Dolphins have not won at home in 2010. Miami is 4-1 on the road, a record most teams would salivate for. That lone loss came at Baltimore too. Their 4 wins on the road came at Buffalo, at Minnesota, at Green Bay, and at Cincinnati. Miami needs to get on track and win their first home game of the season to get in the hunt as a serious contender. A win against Tennessee would put them firmly in the wild card hunt.
Offense- This team is middle of the pack statistically on offense, but they have great weapons. Davone Bess is having a nice break out season. He is the replacement to Wes Welker that the Dolphins have been looking for. He's got 44 catches for 451 yards and 3 TDs. Chad Henne will be benched tomorrow in favor of Chad Pennington. I do not think that Pennington is the answer, but maybe Tony Sparano is sending a message to Henne, becuase he does need to be better than he has been. The real trouble for this offense is that the running game is not what is has been in the last couple of years. Maybe the Wildcat was more good scheming than trick play. Either way, Miami needs to get Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams going.....and soon if they want to make some noise in the second half of the season.
Defense- This team is middle of the pack statistically on defense. At cornerback, Jason Allen has been mediocre, even with his 3 picks. Now he's been released by the Dolphins and picked up by a desperate Texans team. Karlos Dansby has been great for the Dolphins. Dansby leads the team in tackles with 60, and he has two forced fumbles. He's very good at stuffing the run and passable in coverage. Cameron Wake is by far your defensive MVP for this team. He's racked up 31 tackles, but more importantly has 8.5 sacks to lead the AFC. Channing Crowder rounds out this strong line backer squad, and he's only played in parts of 4 games. Once he gets going, the LBs are a very scary group.
My Weekly Picks
Tennessee @ Miami: Dolphins
New York Jets @ Cleveland: Jets
New England @ Pittsburgh: Steelers
Detroit @ Buffalo: Bills
Minnesota @ Chicago: Vikings
Cincinnati @ Indianapolis: Colts
Carolina @ Tampa Bay: Buccaneers
Houston @ Jacksonville: Jaguars
Kansas City @ Denver: Chiefs
Dallas @ New York Giants: Giants
Seattle @ Arizona: Cardinals
St. Louis @ San Francisco: 49ers
Philadelphia @ Washington: Redskins
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