With preseason kicking off next weekend, it's about time for this thread.

After a 11-5 season last year that shocked the world, we had a disappointing post season, losing in the wild card round to Baltimore. But this year will be different. This is our year.

Key off season moves include drafting Pat White, bringing center Jake Grove and the return of Jason Taylor. The schedule is rough. AFC South and NFC South are both very tough. But I'm still excited for the season.

LETS GO BOYS! HOME SUPER BOWL 1 TIME!

backawwwww!!!!



Edit: First team vultured in the '09 season FTW

no action huh? where are all the regulars from this thread last year?

Gogogogogo Phins, being from the UK I am not particularly up to date with the offseason news so not sure how we are shaping up.

I do know our schedule has gone from easiest to hardest and i will take 11-5 again now.

What are you guys expecting out of Ronnie Brown this year?

in

injury??

you're forgetting possibly the most important acquisition. Pat Turner's beard. USC Football Baby!! With a beard like that you know he's going to be nasty

this is gonna be such a sick year for the afc east. every team got significantly better this offseason

Hmm, I don't think any team got significantly better other than NE. Why do you say this?

jets - 1. im a homer 2. rex ryan will greatly improve the defense. vernon gholston isnt a bust yet, hes essentially just a rookie. he didnt hit the field at all last year. again this is why im happy we got rex ryan who seems to mold defensive players to their fits, rather than mangini who had his own very complex scheme. this scheme will finally unleash kerry rhodes who will get his recognition this year on par with the polamalus and adrian wilsons 3. this all assuming kellen clemens starts, who is much better than people think imo. if sanchez gets the nod then i have no expectations

dolphins - i think the readdition of j. taylor isnt getting enough love. joey porter was raking last year for quite some time, now taylor lines up at the other OLB spot in 3-4. ive really started to value continuity/player fits, so taylor coming back to his old defensive scheme bodes pretty well imo. also i might be way off on this part, but i think pat white will be a very nice addition to the offense, and pennington is obv the sht.

bills - they had a solid draft, and then obviously, picking up T.O. ya i know people love to hate on his catch rate and drops, but theres no denying the effect he has on defensive gameplans. hes still double teamed pretty often, pulling them off lee evans who has been seeing these double teams very often and as a result "disappearing late in games" according to many writers. evans will see more single coverage. schobel will be healthy, and the defense should be solid as usual. the loss of jason peters could negate alot of this though, we will see.

pats - brady obv, looked like a good draft. same old same old.

jets - meh, they won 9 games last year and overachieved, changing coaching staffs and adding a rookie qb is not a short term positive. did not improve at all.

fins - won 11 games, 11!!!!!!! yeah, enough said.

bills - lol, top 5 pick

yes, fantastic counter analysis

counter analysis: the afc east has a much more difficult schedule this season, the patriots are getting brady back which should improve them a ton, and the jets and the dolphins were two of the least injured teams in football last season.

even if they are improved it seems likely the dolphins, jets and bills will all win less games this season.

I don't think no one (besides blind fans) is saying that the Pats won't win the East this season. But I think you are a blind fan of the NFL if you don't think that the AFC East is one of the most upgraded divisions this offseason. The Jets can legitimately have a top 5 defense this year. The Dolphins offense got better, while the defense is just another year developed. The Bills scored TO and had a good draft.


All the teams are building towards the future, and in a year or two, could (will?) be the most aggressive/competitive divisions in the NFL

i guess it could happen but they were 14th by dvoa last season.

i know all you jets fans are super hyped over rex ryan but the baltimore defensive coordinator position is a glamor job that hasn't exactly produced head coaches that are running dominant defenses. i think the position may be a little overrated because of the level of talent baltimore has on their defense. it's not like mike nolan and marvin lewis are known for their stingy defenses as head coaches.
because they drafted a qb in the second round? i'll wait and see, thanks.

every other defense in the league is another year developed too.
well they did land a 35 year old receiver on the downside of his career but i think i'll wait at least a year or two before declaring the bills draft good.

If all of these teams improved I'd love to see an example of teams that got worse, other than Denver. Saying any of these improved significantly is nuts. Every team got new players in the draft, we don't know which teams had good drafts or bad yet; especially for this coming season alone. The only possible impact signing in the division among the Jets, Fins and Bills was Terrell Owens but at his age and history a major decline is as likely as him helping the offense. Either way the offensive line was almost entirely changed, this rarely works in the short term.

The Fins are not going to win 11+ games this year. It's just not happening.

Here is a list of teams that probably improved quite a bit either by picking up free agents or getting players back from injury imo: Patriots, Bears, Jaguars, Bengals, Eagles, Redskins(?).

Each one of the Jets, Fins and Bills exceeded expectation last year. And, yeah, you can improve and win less games ldo. Not saying any of them regressed. All of these teams are looking more towards building a contender down the road. Does anybody know the average age of these versus the league average? I'm guessing the Bills are among the youngest. Fins are a big mix of young and old. Jets mostly young. Patriots have to be one of the oldest.

Last year nobody thought we would win 7 games...

honestly. are any of you geniuses really betting against parcells?

Off the top of my head, not really looking at anything, I would say..

Browns, Raiders, Colts...I'm sure there are more I'm forgetting. And I would put the 9ers there if Crabtree doesn't sign.


On topic of age, If I'm not mistaken the Dolphins were one of the top 5 teams in terms of youth. I could be wrong, I might be mixing them up though, so don't quote me on it.


How can TO be the only impact? The Jets got Scott, Leonhard, Sheppard for that defense, all of them will be starting and two our familiar with Ryans system already, which would make the transition easier for the team. All reports are Sheppard is back to pro-bowl form, teaming up with Revis who is (IMO) a top 3 CB in the league. That defense is being built to be intimidating.


No one (ok, some people might) in this thread is saying that all the teams will be in it to the last week, all having 9+ wins, etc etc. But what division in football as a whole, do you think improved more then the AFCE.

In the long-term, no. For this year, yes. The '94 Pats went from laughing stock to the playoffs immediately only to go 6-10 the following year. Same with Dallas after he worked miracles with Quincy Carter in his first year and took advantage of a week schedule. I expect similar results for Miami this year. Can Penny have 2 good years in a row? Will the insanely low turnover rate continue? Does Taylor have anything left? What will the secondary be like after losing their best player and not being that good to begin with?

I am a little envious that them & the Jets seem to know how to build a football team more than the Bills (starting in the trenches) but these teams have too many other questions to be really good right away imo. If Henne develops into a good starting QB which I think is possible they could be rock solid in a couple years.

I think the most interesting part of the Dolphins this year is Jake Long. He did a very solid job in front of a good sack avoiding QB giving up only 2.5 sacks. But his rush blocking left a lot to be desired which was the exact opposite which I thought his first season would be like. I pegged Jake as the legit overall #1 pick but being an above average LT but elite RT meaning he was worth the risk of the first pick. I'd like to see what he can do this season against some of the leagues elite pass rushers on a consistent basis(Colts, Chargers, Panthers, Texans, Steelers all on the schedule).

i think i need to clarify that when i said it would be a sick year for the afc east, i meant in terms of competitiveness. i dont expect any of the non patriot teams to win more than 10 games. however i dont expect any of them to win less than 6. each of them is capable of making the playoffs

if you want to argue with that, then ill go into more detail

Just bought my season tickets. Sec 443 Row 12

Probably going to be a regression this year. I would be happy with 8-8 or 9-7 tbh.

Have you guys been reading up on the number of players leaving camp voluntarily? Like, not having been cut, just leaving?

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