The 106th NFL season will kick off Thursday night with a prime-time battle, and our SAN division previews celebrate with the final installment. Many league pundits would agree that the AFC East race is a foregone conclusion.
The Buffalo Bills are overwhelming favorites to win the East division title for the 6th consecutive season, mainly because their roster is loaded, but also because the rest of the division is rebuilding in some fashion.
What’s left for the Bills to accomplish?
An elusive Super Bowl trip is the only goal remaining for the Bills. Four of the last five seasons, they have been knocked out of the playoffs by the AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs; the other season, they fell to the AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals. With reigning league MVP Josh Allen in the prime of his career, the Bills say the time is now.
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“It’s fun as a quarterback to drop back and know that anybody, any one of my receivers could get the opportunity to catch this ball right here,” Allen said. “It makes my job easy when guys are giving their all for each other. They love what they do and they care about what they do.”
That chemistry has been there almost since the day Allen joined the Bills in 2018. The playoff stumbles could become a thing of the past if they can earn home-field advantage in 2025.
The rest of the division isn’t ready to throw in the towel, but only the Dolphins at 8-9 a year ago seem to be ready for the campaign. That said, they have not fared well in the head-to-head battle with the Bills, having lost 9 of the last 10 games in the series.
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The Buffalo Bills have won five consecutive AFC East division titles, but lost in the playoffs every one of those seasons, with four losses to Kansas City and one to Cincinnati.
Can the other division teams challenge Buffalo?
The impact new head coaches Aaron Glenn in New York and Mike Vrabel in New England will have on their respective rebuilds is the biggest unknown in the division. Glenn, who was the defensive coordinator in Detroit last season, believes he and his staff have already changed the culture in the Meadowlands. Vrabel, the former Tennessee Titans head coach, is more realistic when discussing his team’s chances.
“The one thing you don’t want to be is too cute, certainly in week one or at any time, and think, well, they think we’re going to do this, so that we’re going to do this,” Vrabel said. “I think we have to be really sound and use our rules. And if we see something that’s new, we have to keep our composure and keep our poise.”
Patriots second-year quarterback Drake Maye gives his new head coach some promising potential to work with, and he could be one of the breakout stars in the division in 2025. He threw for 2,276 yards, 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 13 games last season.
Who are some breakout candidates in the AFC East?
The Bills don’t really need any new blood, but 22-year-old Keon Coleman could have a breakout season. In his rookie year, Coleman averaged 7.7 yards after the catch, with 21 of his 29 catches going for first downs.
The Jets have a lot of veteran pieces on the roster, but they just haven’t been able to bring it together. Rookie tackle Armand Membou hopes to fit in quickly as the only addition on the offensive line.
The Dolphins need some help in the defensive backfield, and Storm Duck, already on the all-name team, could be just the fit.
Will Miami have enough defensively?
If that defense doesn’t hold up, it’ll be on Tua Tagovailoa and the explosive Dolphins offense to outscore opponents. Tyreek Hill said all they need to do is protect the quarterback.
“I feel like we got all the weapons to do it,” Hill said. “We can do it all across the board. We can even put [De’Von] Achane out there and run some vertical routes. So, obviously, the key thing is keeping No. 1 upright and just allowing him to throw the ball, and the rest will take care of the rest, because we all can catch and we all are playmakers.”
History says those playmakers will not be enough to challenge Buffalo, but there’s a reason they play the games. The AFC East and the rest of the NFL will start the journey this weekend.
