AFC EAST 2020 PREVIEW

BY ADAM GREENE

This was supposed to be the year everything changed for the AFC East, but Cam Newton joining the New England Patriots ruined that for good. The Pats have dominated this division for the last two decades, but for the first time in recent memory, they actually have a challenger in the Buffalo Bills.

Will it make a difference? Probably not.

Here’s how I predict the AFC East will play out in 2020.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (12-4, Division Champion)

Everything about the Patriots season rests on the health of Cam Newton. Teams were licking their chops at finally facing off against New England without Tom Brady in the fold. While Bill Belichick might have publicly backed Jarrett Stidham as his quarterback, this was going to be a 5-11 team until Newton signed on the dotted line.

If they get 16 games out of Cam, they’re a danger to go all the way to the AFC Championship and actually be better than they were last year.

BUFFALO BILLS (11-5, Wild Card)

While I’ve placed the Bills in second place, they could still manage to upend this division. They hold an overall talent advantage over the Patriots, quarterbacks aside, and are significantly better at running back and wide receiver. Their defense loaded with current and future stars including cornerback Tre’Davious White, who landed a 75.6 from Pro Football Focus after last season.

What will make the difference for the Bills is a significant leap from quarterback Josh Allen. With the truncated offseason thanks to the global COVID-19 pandemic, it’ll be especially tough. In his second year he did go 10-6 as a starter, but completed just 58.8 percent of his passes for 3,089 yards, 20 touchdowns and nine picks. Those aren’t NFL QB numbers. The Bills have loaded him up at receiver, trading from Stefon Diggs in the offseason, but if he’s still spraying it around this year they’ll be stuck as a Wild Card and an early playoff exit.

NEW YORK JETS (6-10)

The Jets simply do not have the roster to compete in this division or conference and are significantly behind everyone else. The reason I have the above the Dolphins is that Miami will (hopefully) start their rookie quarterback all season and take the lumps as he learns the position.

As for New York’s own QB, Sam Darnold, we might have seen all we’re going to get out of him. Even if he did improve significantly, this isn’t a team capable of posting double digit wins and I don’t see them going any better than 2-4 in the division.

MIAMI DOLPHINS (5-11)

Brian Flores put forth an incredible coaching performance last year for the Dolphins. With the team openly tanking and trading away talented players to amass future picks, he still managed to get them to five wins. He now has his QB of the future in Tua Tagovailoa and the only concern now, from my perspective, is that he’ll leave him on the bench even if he’s healthy to pick up a few extra garbage victories with Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Sure, with Fitz maybe they go 6-10 or 7-9, but it’ll be worth it to put Tua on the field and let him learn in real time. They also have some good trade bait with Josh Rosen at No. 3 on the depth chart and I don’t expect him to still be on the roster come Week 1. I think a team like the Pittsburgh Steelers should be working the phone line to get a trade done as soon as possible.

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