NFL Predictions: 2014 Winners and losers
AFC East
1st Place- NEw England Patriots
2nd Place- New york Jets
3rd Place- Miami Dolphins
4th Place- Buffalo Bills
The Patriots are in the running to win the Super Bowl pretty much every single season. They haven’t accomplished the goal since 2004, but have made four conference title games and two Super Bowls during the eight-year stretch. New England is essentially two stops away from having another two titles. They’ve caught some bad breaks.
The offense continues to hum and this year head coach Bill Belichick hopes the defense has caught up. The Pats haven’t finished in the top ten of defensive DVOA since 2006. They signed the best cornerback in the NFL in Darrelle Revis this offseason. Revis is getting paired with free safety Devin McCourty in the secondary. The front seven features Chandler Jones, Vince Wilfork, Dont’a Hightower, Jerod Mayo and breakout candidate Jamie Collins.
We await to find out if the Jets found their franchise quarterback. That’s more important than what their record ends up being. If Geno Smith progresses in the right direction and New York goes 6-10 the season is a success. General manager John Idzik is taking an extremely patient approach to building the roster, which has been frustrating to the media/fans, and understandably so in some instances. Whether his vision works or not has not yet been decided, but he has plan to do what he is doing. The Jets had 12 selections in the 2014 NFL Draft, the first time they hit double-digit picks since 2006. The draft has a lot of randomness and the more shots you take the better opportunity you have to hit. Idzik has the right process, we wait to see if the organization evaluates and develops talent well enough under his watch to elevate the roster.
The Dolphins went into copy cat mode. Miami saw the success the Eagles had last year and hired Bill Lazor. Lazor was the quarterbacks coach under Chip Kelly in Philadelphia last season. It was the only year in his coaching career he’s ever worked under Kelly so it will be interesting to see what concepts he brings with him. Joe Philbin is the head coach and emphasizing playing with speed is nothing new. I remember during the Dolphins Hard Knocks season seeing how Philbin’s practices were run at a high tempo to limit wasted time, much like Kelly with the Eagles. The organization was a mess last year with the Jonathan Martin situation, but as they’ve been for many years the personnel has been the major issue. General manager Jeff Ireland is finally gone and Dennis Hickey is in charge.
Buffalo is a complete disaster. In his first year in complete control of the roster general manager Doug Whaley decided to all in. Whaley traded up from number-nine overall to number-four to draft wide receiver Sammy Watkins. In addition to number-nine, the Bills also sent their 2015 first-round and fourth-round picks. I love Watkins the player, but this move was asinine, no matter how good the Clemson product ends up being. The Bills quarterback position is so unsettled with E.J. Manuel they signed Kyle Orton in the past week. Then you realize head coach Doug Marrone hasn’t a clue how to use his best offensive weapon, running back C.J. Spiller, and it’s difficult to imagine the Bills offense resembling anything even close to average.