AFC and NFC East predictions

Today, I'll be looking at the two East divisions and what their seasons may have in store for them. First, I'll start off with the AFC East and how each team will break down and how I feel their records will be.

AFC EAST

1. New England Patriots. Yes, I'm not going out on a limb here, with last season's Super Bowl loser, they are still the class of this division. Also, take into account they have somehow managed to have one of the easiest schedules this year (a meaningless stat to me, cause it is based off the previous season's record, teams change each year) and the Brady/Belichick gang should auto-pilot into another division crown. They did address some needs on Defense through the draft, although they are still a little suspect, especially in the secondary, but they do a good job disguising coverages and find ways to scheme a their opponents into making mistakes. The offense got a little better with the loss of OchoJohnson and replacing him with Brandon Llyod. Llyod is a versitale playmaker who will benefit from having Welker, Gronk and Hernandez gathering attention through the middle. Brady is Brady, he will rarely make mistakes to cost his team a game and will put his team in position to win each week. My prediction for New England is 13-3 and AFC East champs.

2. New York Jets. This team is either going to be very scary or a beautiful disaster. It all comes down to how Rex Ryan handles #15. If Rex keeps his faith in Mark Sanchez, then I feel the team will be good and compete but will hover around the .500 mark. If Rex goes to Timmy Tebow, then it's a whole new ball game. Love him or hate him, Tebow plays the game with an unbridled passion and is a true leader that his teammates will follow. Sanchez is heading for an ambush, with the way the Jets plan on utilizing Tebow early in the season, it's going to appear that Tebow is more successful, because he's going to be put in position to succeed. He's going to score touchdowns in the red zone. He's going to convert short yardage plays. I liken the scenario to the Willie Parker/Jerome Bettis situation the Steelers had in the mid 2000's. Willie did all the grunt work and Jerome got the glory for finishing drives down inside the 5. This will happen with Sanchez/Tebow and I believe Sanchez will eventually fold under the pressure and Rex will be forced to go to Tebow, who will have won over his teammates by then. If this happens before mid-season I believe the Jets will be a serious wild-card contender, because their defense is strong enough to keep them in every game and somehow, against all odds Tebow will find ways to win games. So, I will have 2 records here predicted for the Jets. If Sanchez is the starter all season, then the Jets will be 8-8. If Tebow takes over at some point, then the Jets will finish 10-6, but just miss the playoffs (more on the reason why on Tuesday).

3. Buffalo Bills. On paper, this is perhaps the most improved team in the division. Injuries last season, prevented the Bills from making a playoff run. The question this year is whether or not the offensive line will hold up. The interior is strong, but I have reservations about the 2 tackles, which will cause problems keeping Ryan Fitzpatrick upright and healthy all year. Fitzpatrick is a quality starter who makes the right choices the majority of the time and is a leader of the team. Fred Jackson, who is coming off a broken leg last season, is easily the most underappriciated back in the league. All he does is produce positive plays in the running and the passing game. the Bills have a bonus in C.J. Spiller, who showed he can carry the load when Jackson got hurt, so this is a nice 1-2 punch in the backfield. The big issue is Steve Johnson. He is a talented receiver, however, he has a tendency to want to be a diva, and cost his team more then help. If he can get his head on straight and just play football, then he could turn into a great young receiver, but that's a big if. The defense got better with the addition of Mario Williams and Mark Anderson; these are two guys who will put pressure on the quarterback. If they can consistentally put pressure on quarterbacks, then the young playmaking secondary will make a lot of big plays and they will win some games. However, there are still some holes on this team and I doubt they will be able to do better than 7-9.

4. Miami Dolphins.  It appears that the future is now for Ryan Tannehill. He will be one of 4!! Rokie quarterbacks to start this season. He has the potential to be a very good quarterback in this league, but he is going to need help around him. I know the Dolphins haven't officially named him the guy, but if you take a quarterback with the #8 pick in the draft and haven't sniffed the postseason in years and aren't expected to make a run this year; you throw the rookie in there especially under the circumstance that he has the best grasp of the offense since he played in it in college. His problem will be there are no playmakers for him. Trading away Brandon Marshall and then not going out and finding an adequate replacement for his talent is just a bad move by the front office. When Davone Bess is your #1 WR, you have a severe playmaking problem. maybe some young guys might step up for a game or two, but this team will lack the offensive consistency to be a threat to anyone in this division. The running game is solid. Reggie Bush was a nice surprise last year as he seemed to finally learn how to run between the tackles, but that's not hard because the one thing Miami does have is a very good offensive line, especially as run blockers (Jake Long is a monster!). The defense will help keep them in games, the front 7 is very good and Cameron Wake can get after the quarterback and Dansby is a very underappriciated MIKE linebacker. The back 4, however, is inconsistent at best. They can make some plays one game and turn around the following week and get completely smoked. They are solid players, but just can't handle elite receiving corps on a consistent basis for this team to be successful over the course of a season. With Tannehill starting and the lack of playmaking ability, it will be a long season for the Dolphins fans as I feel they will finish the season 4-12.

NFC EAST

1. New York Giants. Unlike so many people out there, I am not going to disrespect the defending Super Bowl champions. Eli Manning has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is an elite quarterback in this league. Yes, sometimes he has an off game, but when the stakes are at the highest Eli finds a way to win the big game (unlike his older brother). Two Super Bowl championships says it all. The team posts 2 elite WR's in Hakeem Nicks and Victor "Salsaman" Cruz and they added nice depth drafting a burner in Rueben Randle and picking up Martellius Bennett to strengthen the Tight End position. The Giants will continue to try and run the ball (even though last year, they were one of the worst running teams in the league) behind a veteran offensive line because Coach Coughlin believes in ball control. The defense is very good. They got guys who can get after the quarterback, especially Jason Pierre-Paul, who is living up to his potential quicker than the Giants believed he would. Throw in Tuck and Umenyiora and they can cry havoc and let slip the gods of war upon any opposing quarterback. This allows the secondary to play aggressive and go for interceptions because there will be a lot of bad passes thrown because the quarterback is under so much pressure. They are one of the few teams who do not have to blitz to get maximum pressure on a quarterback. The Giants do have a difficult schedule, no denying that, part of the spoils of winning the Super Bowl. Road games in Atlanta, San Francisco, and Baltimore will challenge this team, but they are a team of veterans and leaders and will not shoot themselves in the leg, while trying to defend their crown. With a record of 10-6, they will win the NFC East once again.

2. Philadelphia Eagles. The dream deferred team will once again try and make a run at the playoffs. However, this team is not as good as people want it to be. They are the trendy pick to be this awesome team, but I don't see it. They have a hard schedule, for one, and they have problems on the offensive line, which is bad news for a fragile quarterback like Michael Vick. I don't forsee Vick playing all 16 games, which of course is not a very brave prediction, becuase once again he will take a lot of hits with the Giants and Cowboys twice on the schedule, as well as the Steelers, Ravens, Bengals and Lions on their schedule, that's half of the season against teams who can and will hit the quarterback. Shady McCoy has proven to be a great replacement for Brian Westbrook and will have a great season this year as well because he is a dual-threat. The question is whether or not DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin can make big plays for the Eagles like they did 2 seasons ago. The defensive unit is very good. If Cole and Babin continue their pass rushing dominance, then they will get a couple extra wins this year because they can force turnovers and put the team on a short field. The drafting of Fletcher Cox will give the Eagles a monster prescence in the interior line and the addition of DeMeco Ryans gives the Eagles a great MLB to run the defense and help shore up a weak run defense. The secondary can be very good as long as the Eagles let the corners play man-to-man defense instead of zone. Having two shutdown man-to-man guys is a huge benefit to this team and allows the defense to blitz more to add pressure that Cole and Babin can produce on their own. However, in the end the Eagles will be hampered by a quarterback injury at some point that will cost them the post-season. They will finish 9-7 but that will not be enough to earn the wild-card.

3. Dallas Cowboys. America's team is not what it once was and still has a ways to go to return to greatness. No one can argue that the team does not have the talent to be a dominant team, however, they just can't seem to piece it all together. Tony Romo will continue to put up great numbers, just not in the win column. He does have the benefit of a good, young running back in DeMarco Murray, who should be healthy from last year's season ending injury. The receiving corps is as good as anyone's, the question will be if Dez Bryant can keep his head on straight. Jason Witten did get injured in the preseason, but he will play in the rgular season, he's a tough guy and always produces. The O-Line is young and underestimated and will do a good job, but they may give up a few extra sacks because they will miss some assignments. The defensive front 7 is as good as any in the league and the linebacking corps could arguably be the best as long as Sean Lee continues his development from last year. No one has had more sacks in the past 5 years as DeMarcus Ware and he will continue to be a double-digit sack guy this year. The problem with this team is the secondary. They were bad last year (23rd in pass defense last year) and they dont have much to look forward to this year. Morris Claiborne will be a very good corner one day, but not this year, he will be limited because of the injury that will limit his role in the preseason and camp. Expect the Cowboys to get burned deep a lot this year and just won't be able to outscore everyone and finish the season with a 7-9 mark and once again miss the playoffs.

4. Washington Redskins. Let the RG3 era begin. RG3 has gotten a whole lot of hype and press off his Heisman Trophy winning season last year at Baylor and is expected to turn this franchise around and lead it back to glory. He may do so, but that will not happen this year. He is going to have growing pains and one will have to question if he will make it through the season, with the pass rushers he faces in his division as well as the Steelers, Ravens, and Bengals. The Redskins did do a good job getting talent around him signing Pierre Garcon and have an adequate running attack with Roy Helu and Evan Royster. Fred Davis and Chris Cooley are underappriciated TE's but both are coming back from injuries, so one has to wait and see their effectiveness. The Defensive side of the ball is good enough to keep the Redskins in ball games. They are solid players who won't make many mistakes and are led by London Fletcher who just keeps getting better as he gets older. He is playing at a high level because of his intelligence and film study, more than his athletic ability at this point, but his football IQ is high and his instincts are sound. He will captain the defense and put players like Orakpo and Kerrigan in position to make plays. However, the team has a rough schedule and an over-hyped quarterback who will take a beating this year, he may pull of some exciting plays and wins, which will make the future look bright, but just not this season. They will finish the season 5-11, but there will be hope for the future.

That's it for the predictions today, I'll be back tomorrow with the 2 strongest divisions in the NFL, the AFC and NFC North divisions will be under review.