The AFC East has been dominated by the New England Patriots since 2001 and most likely again going into Super Bowl 2018, with the team winning the division 14 of the last 16 years. The Patriots make wagering on the NFL less fun year after year. With the Miami Dolphins winning 10 games and making the playoffs last season, will New England’s dominance of the division end this year?
Here is a quick look at the projected finish of every AFC East team.
Las Vegas books have the Bills winning six games this season. Last year, the team finished 7-9, costing head coach Rex Ryan his job. With a lot of players that were on the roster coming back and a new coach in charge, the Bills should improve on last season’s record. I expect the Bills to win more than six games.
Despite winning 10 games last season, Vegas is expecting the Dolphins to regress, and have them winning only 7.5 games. Even though the Dolphins didn’t spend a lot in free agency, they were able to lock up their young players to long-term contracts. The Dolphins will win more than eight games this season.
The defending NFL Champions are obviously the team to beat in the AFC East. They are projected to win 12.5 games this season despite winning 14 games last year with Brady missing the first four games of the season. As champions, the Patriots will have a large target on their backs so I’m going under 12.5 wins for the season.
The Jets had another dysfunctional offseason, and got rid of most of their best players. They are projected to win 4.5 games this year, and that might be generous considering they are starting a quarterback that didn’t look good in offseason workouts, they have no experienced receivers, and alienated their best defender during the offseason. I expect the Jets to win less than 4 games this season.
The Patriots are once again going to win the AFC East, but they will get some competition from the Dolphins, who are trying to establish themselves as legitimate Super Bowl contenders.