The New England Patriots have been the class of the AFC East for years and years. They've won the division title eight years in a row and have ultimately finished first 14 times in Tom Brady's 16 career seasons. Is there really any reason to believe this season will be any different, even with Brady coming up to the final years of his Hall of Fame career?
AFC East Odds at BookMaker.eu
New England Patriots -1200
Miami Dolphins +800
Buffalo Bills +1500
New York Jets +7500
Why the New England Patriots Will Win the AFC East
All good things must come to an end. Surely, the Patriots' dynasty will end at some point. It's just hard to know when that's going to be.
Let's remember that the one year in the last decade and a half in which New England didn't win the AFC East, Brady was on the sidelines for basically the entire season with a torn ACL, and the club still went 11-5. It's hard to argue with seven straight seasons with 12+ wins, and it's clear that 12 victories in this division will easily put the rest of the weak contenders away.
Brady didn't play the first four games of last season, but when he was under center, he was practically perfect. He guided an offense that finished the year ranked No. 4 in the NFL in total yards and No. 3 in scoring, and if you just look at the games Brady started, the Pats were either No. 1 or No. 2 in all of the major categories outside of rushing yards per game.
Though Brady will lose this fight with Father Time eventually, he's coming off of a year in which he threw for 3,554 yards and 28 touchdowns against just two interceptions. If you can post a 112.3 quarterback rating at 39-years old, there's no telling when things are going to slow down.
Don't forget, too, that the Patriots don't have any major rookies to break in. There aren't many question marks that have to be filled on this roster, and trading first and second round draft picks for Brandin Cooks and Kona Ealy respectively will only make this team stronger in the here and now.
The best part for New England? The Dolphins, Bills and Jets are all cupcakes. It's hard to envision any of these three teams even sniffing double-digits in wins.
Why the New England Patriots Won't Win the AFC East
At some point, every quarterback falls off the cliff. It happened to Peyton Manning in an instant right around this age. Brady looked like he was starting to become a little more dependent upon the rest of the team around him three or four years ago. Sure, he rebounded from that to put up two of the best seasons someone approaching 40 has ever had in the NFL, but if this is the year that Brady starts to fall apart, we aren't sure this defense is quite good enough to pick up the pieces.
The best reason to fade the Patriots to win the AFC East is merely the price. This is still the NFL, and the Pats still play a ridiculously tough schedule out of division. One injury to Brady, and all of a sudden, the whole house could start to crumble. Would you really want to be backing any team at -1200 to win a division?
Sure, the AFC East is weak, but the Dolphins did win 10 games last year, and the Bills have been downright reasonable through the Rex Ryan era. Perhaps an influx of new ownership, new management and new coaching can start to turn that ship in the right direction. It wouldn't be completely unbelievable to see the Patriots turn in a modest 4-2 record in the AFC East, and if that's what happens, the door will at least be slightly ajar for Buffalo or Miami to kick it in.
Don't worry, we'll spare you any good words about the Jets.
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