2005 AFC East football preview

In the AFC East, I expect to see the Patriots drop a little, but not much, the reason for the projected drop is mainly due to the fact that the Patriots will be without the services of offensive coordinator Charlie Weis and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel. , both went on to head coaching jobs, Weis with Notre Dame and Crennel with the Cleveland Browns. Eric Mangini is the new defensive coordinator, while Bill Belichick will run the offensive plays himself.

The Patriots play seven games this season against 2004 playoff teams and four of those matters will take place on the road, the Patriots also lost a lot of talent like WR David Patton, OG Joe Andruzzi and CB Ty Law through free agency and very could well be without their leading defensive LB Tedy Bruschi, whose status is uncertain following an off-season stroke, then there’s the matter of the Patriots winning three of the last four Super Bowls, which means the Patriots have played nine postseason games above and beyond the normal sixteen regular season game schedule for the last four years and I’ve had to deal with all the off-season commitments and hoopla that comes with winning the big game, plus don’t forget that the team that wins the Super Bowl is in the least-best position in the draft, meaning the Patriots’ “Fresh Blood” talent pool has been depleted due to to your success.

The saving grace for the Patriots in the AFC East comes from the fact that the Jets didn’t help each other much in the draft other than taking kicker Mike Nugent out of Ohio State with their top pick, just like the Patriots the Jets also lost . plenty of talent via free agency with the departure of starters WR Santana Moss, TE Anthony Becht, RT Kareem McKenzie and DT Jason Ferguson, however the biggest loss in free agency for the Jets may turn out to be RB Lamont Jordan, who could have stepped in nicely if 32-year-old RB Cutis Martin gets hurt.

However, the Jets were smart enough to pick former Dolphin QB Jay Fiedler to back up starting QB Chad Pennington, who has been injury-prone of late. Jet HC Herm Edwards replaced his offensive coordinator Paul Hackett with former Titan offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger, which will be interesting because Heimerdinger likes to throw the ball deep, meanwhile Pennington just had shoulder surgery and is more suited to the style of short passes from the west coast.

Buffalo finished the 2004 season strong down the stretch by winning 8 of 9 games before losing their final game of the season at home to the Steelers, however the season ending loss to Pittsburgh was costly as it proved to be a decisive factor in deciding who. went to the playoffs and stayed home the Bills are indeed a team on the rise with a very good defense and great special teams however they probably ran quarterback Drew Bledsoe out of town a year early and will start last years. No. 1 draft pick JP Losman in his place, which of course means some growing pains this season for the young quarterback.

Miami finished the 2004 season with a shoddy 4-12 record, but with Buffalo looking to be a team on the rise in the AFC East, I won’t be foolhardy enough to predict a playoff spot after a four-win season. , but I see big improvement for the Dolphins this season and I think a seven or eight win season is not out of the realm of possibility considering the Dolphins now have Nick Saban at the helm as their new HC.

Unlike Steve Spurrier when he made his NFL debut with the Skins, Nick Saban was smart enough to go out and get experienced NFL assistants, Saban hired former Vikings offensive coordinator Scott Linehan to run the offense. and former Chargers coach Hudson Houck to run the defense. Saban also crafted one of the best drafts of any team in the league, looking to form Auburn RB Ronnie Brown to make an immediate impact.

In closing, the Patriots finished 2004 with an impressive 13-5-1 ATS record after posting a 14-4-1 ATS record in 2003, can New England once again dominate the spread wars in 2005? Probably so, but not to the extent of the last two seasons, my friend, “Joe Public” type bettors will probably see the Patriots as a “Go Against” team in 2005 due to the loss of Weis and Crennel, however, Belichick is still the HC and Tom Brady is still the QB under center.

That said, I would recommend making a play with the Patriots whenever they get points in a doggy role, he won’t have much value this season with the Jets, meanwhile, both Buffalo and Miami will be unpredictable for the first eight weeks of the season due to the fact that both teams will have new starting quarterbacks under center and both teams have weaknesses up front on the offensive line, in Miami’s case, their players have to learn new schemes on both sides of the ball due to new personal training .

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