big american NFL preview: AFC East

So. Brett Favre is a Jet. Yep. J-E-T a Jet, Jet, Jet. There are some things to keep in mind as Favre begins his career in New York. The first one is that, while he had an admittedly tremendous season in '07, he was starting to show some age and decline in '05 and '06. The second, which should be thought of in conjunction with the first, is that Favre won't be dealing with a Wisconsin-based media that adores him. He'll be dealing with a New York media who will throw anyone and everyone under the bus unless they're just shy of perfect. So it takes him a while to learn the offense with the Jets, or he starts to slip back into that 2005-2006 form, will he be able to handle the trash that will come from the NY media and the NY fanbase that feels they're entitled to annual championships with all of their teams? My money is that they make him cry. He does that a lot.

Now that we know where the Favre has landed, we can start looking ahead to the 2008 NFL season. Why not start with his new division, because it will be the only way for Favre to be first in anything this year.*

AFC East

4. Miami - The Dolphins had a tremendous draft and made some quality moves, but there was more wrong with that team than can be solved over one off-season. That's pretty much what there is to that.

3. New York - The Jets have, in theory, just received a quarterback upgrade. But this is still a 4-12 team from '07. It's going to take more than that to bring them to the next level. They beefed up their O-line a little, and Thomas Jones is still a more than capable runner, but I just don't see it coming together for a playoff run. As a matter of fact, I think they won't even get a sniff at a spot.

2. Buffalo - They showed flashes of brilliance last season behind Trent Edwards at the QB spot. The offense may get hot and cold, but there is a chance they will be more than solid. Defensively, the Bills have a pretty solid-looking defensive line with Marcus Stroud and Aaron Schobel there to cause all kinds of headaches for opposing offenses. Unfortunately for Buffalo, there isn't much going on for them once you get past that strong front. Don't expect much from the Bills, but an 8-8 finish will probably be good enough for second place in this division.

1. New England - I wanted to say that the weight of blowing a run at 17-0 would cripple the team for this season. I wanted to say that the chinks in the armor that started to show towards the end of last season would be exploited this season. The fact, though, is that they're bringing back every piece of that offense that did nothing but set records last season. The fact of the matter is that they've addressed a lot of the problems in their secondary. There will still be parts of their defense that will succumb to injury and/or age but, like last season, that will affect them in the later stages of the season, when they'll have already locked up the AFC East. So I can't predict anything but more success for this squad in the immediate future.

* Except interceptions