Tag: AFC East

How do Dolphins legends stand up versus their AFC East rivals?

How do Dolphins legends stand up versus their AFC East rivals?

Debating with division rivals is a staple of fan-hood in the NFL, especially in today’s age of social media — when communication can be more immediate and direct than ever before. But for fans of the AFC East, the debate has been a difficult one to drum up — mostly because the New England Patriots have squashed the AFC East for the better part of two decades. The dominant stretch from New England is reminiscent of the Buffalo Bills of the 80s and 90s and the Miami Dolphins of the 70s and 80s.

But if we were to look at each team in the AFC East in the entirety of their franchise history, which team has got the best blend of personalities?

That’s the exact question CBS Sports looked to answer when they pieced together each franchise’s “Fab Five” — the absolute best of the best over the history of each team. The conditions were simple: one coach, one quarterback and then the three best players in team history.

Miami’s representation is strong — Don Shula, Dan Marino, Larry Csonka, Jason Taylor and Dwight Stephenson. Shula is the winningest coach in NFL history. Marino was the first quarterback to pass for over 5,000 yards in a season (by more than two decades), was a trailblazer who helped shape the game into what it is today and was the NFL’s first passer with 400 touchdowns and 60,000 passing yards. Csonka was the face of the legendary 1972 undefeated team. Taylor was a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee and Dwight Stephenson may be the best center to ever play the game — and his career was tragically short due to a cheap shot by the Jets.

Belichick and the Patriots have the hardware. But do they have the depth to take this debate? The fan vote from CBS Sports saw the Bills win the polling — but the certainties in life are death, taxes and Bills fans overcompensating in fan voting on the internet. This exercise is a fun one but it isn’t because the Bills or Jets have a firm say. The question is does Miami’s depth trump the Patriots’ top-heavy hardware.

We’ll let you be the judge.

Miami Dolphins playoff odds and predicted total wins: NFL futures picks and best bets

Assessing the betting odds of the Miami Dolphins making the 2020 NFL playoffs and predicting their exact win total.

Will the Miami Dolphins make the 2020 NFL playoffs? Below, we look at the BetMGM betting odds and make our pick. We also predict their exact win total for the upcoming season.

Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Odds last updated Wednesday, June 3 at 7 p.m. ET.

Will the Miami Dolphins make the 2020 NFL playoffs?

Yes: +500 | No: -715

The Dolphins were the laughingstock of the NFL in the first few weeks of the 2019 season, not only losing, but getting blown out by giant margins. It prompted the books to set huge, double-digit lines, including one which saw Miami as an underdog as high as 22 points. Some books even offered a prop of “Will the Dolphins finish 0-16?”

However, as the season went along, the Dolphins started to pull themselves together a bit. They become more competitive, and eventually were able to tick off a few wins. They appeared to be headed for a winless season after an 0-7 start, but in the final nine games they actually had a winning record at 5-4, including one loss by just one point. That finish, along with a bevy of free agents and draft selections has the Miami fanbase thinking big heading into 2020. While the division rival New England Patriots are expected to be much weaker, the Buffalo Bills are the favorites in the AFC East. Miami still has a ways to go before taking that next step to the postseason, but it’s not as far as some think.

The pick here, however, is NO (-715), but there is no way to justify eating that kind of chalk. A $10 winning bet only returns a profit of $1.40.

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How many games will the Miami Dolphins win in 2020? Bands

BAND ODDS
0-4 Wins +300
5-8 Wins -304
9-12 Wins +800
13-16 Wins +50000

The BetMGM book has the sweet spot for the Dolphins in the 5-8 WINS (-304), and rightly so. First off, that’s where they landed last season after their slow start. A jump into the 9-12 (+800) wins area seems unlikely given their schedule.

While the Patriots are expected to be a little worse during the post-Tom Brady era, a Week 1 road assignment in New England is a tough road to hoe for the Fins. A visit from the division favorite Bills will be a tall order for the home opener in Week 2, also. While a trip to Jacksonville to face the Jaguars in Week 3 looks like Miami’s best bet for a first win, it’s a quick turnaround with it being Thursday night, and that could be an unexpected challenge, albeit a short hop from Miami via the air. After that, it’s a pair of NFC West foes with the Seattle Seahawks visiting, and a trip to meet the NFC champion San Francisco 49ers. As you can see, the early schedule is daunting, and a bet of YES (+500): TEAM TO START 0-4 might be worth a small-unit wager.

There are some midseason opportunities for wins, but late-season home games vs. the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and Patriots, as well as a total of four road games to either the Mountain or Pacific Time Zones will be rough. A January game in Buffalo looks unwinnable, too.

A $10 bet on 5-8 WINS (-304) fetches a profit of only $3.29.

How many games will the Miami Dolphins win in 2020? Exact number

The Dolphins have improved their overall personnel. They drafted the quarterback of the future in QB Tua Tagovailoa, and they have a capable veteran in QB Ryan Fitzpatrick to show him the ropes until he is ready. Miami also has plenty of skill position depth and some decent defensive pieces. However, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Dolphins win the same amount of games as they did in 2019, only because the schedule is so tough from top to bottom.

Target 5 WINS (+300) as the play on exact victories, as you can triple up on your initial investment, and maybe hedge with exactly 6 WINS (+265) in case they overachieve a little. Still, they won’t win many more than that.

Want action on NFL futures betting lines? Sign up and place your legal sports wagers online at BetMGM. For more sports betting tips, visit SportsbookWire.com.

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Joe Flacco has dominated the AFC East

Joe Flacco’s best winning percentage against a divison happens to be against the AFC East.

Joe Flacco has fared rather favorably against the AFC East over his 12-year career.

The Jets’ newly-signed backup quarterback has a owns regular season record of 13-6 against the division. Flacco is a combined 6-2 against the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets, 6-0 against the Miami Dolphins and 1-4 against the New England Patriots. In those 19 games, Flacco has completed over 63 percent of his passes for 5,056 yards while throwing 29 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.

Those stats don’t include Flacco’s playoff resume, which includes two wins over the Patriots in Foxborough. Fortunately for Flacco, this isn’t the same AFC East and he won’t have to worry about facing Tom Brady again. Of course, he’ll only start against these potential opponents if Sam Darnold suffers from an injury/illness, but the Jets can take solace in Flacco’s winning pedigree within the division.

As mentioned by NBC’s Peter King, Flacco’s best winning percentage against a division comes at the expense of the AFC East. With Darnold already missing six games in his first two seasons due to a foot injury and a bout with mononucleosis, it’s always possible that he could miss time again. That’s where Flacco comes into play.

Even though Flacco acknowledged that he probably won’t be ready for the start of the 2020 season due to offseason neck surgery, he is still the perfect backup for Darnold. While he may be in unchartered territory as a potential mentor and backup, he still brings with him an extensive list of accolades as a former starter, including a Super Bowl MVP.

If the time comes and Flacco needs to enter the starting lineup for Gang Green, he is perfectly capable of moving the chains and being a successful replacement under center. His record against the AFC East only confirms that.

How good is Dolphins’ secondary relative to the AFC East?

How good is Dolphins’ secondary relative to the AFC East?

The Miami Dolphins were hard at work this week to discover the right blend of talent to upgrade their defense and position the team to play competitive football in 2020.

With the AFC East division suddenly wide open, Miami aligning themselves to at least perform well within the division was a critical motive — one that could see an overachieving Dolphins team compete for a division title in Year 2 under Brian Flores. With Flores at the helm, the team’s defense has quickly become the identity of the roster — most notably in the secondary.

How does the Dolphins’ secondary stack up versus the rest of the AFC East? Here’s a look at each team’s projected defensive backfield.

Buffalo Bills 

Cornerback: Tre’Davious White
Nickel: Taron Johnson
Free Safety: Micah Hyde
Strong Safety: Jordan Poyer
Cornerback: Josh Norman

Miami Dolphins

Cornerback: Byron Jones
Nickel: Noah Igbinoghene
Free Safety: Bobby McCain
Strong Safety: Eric Rowe
Cornerback: Xavien Howard

New England Patriots

Cornerback: Stephon Gilmore
Nickel: JC Jackson
Free Safety: Devin McCourty
Strong Safety: Patrick Chung
Cornerback: Jason McCourty

New York Jets

Cornerback: Pierre Desir
Nickel: Brian Poole
Free Safety: Marcus Maye
Strong Safety: Jamal Adams
Cornerback: Arthur Maulet

If you stacked the best overall talents in the division, the Patriots have the best individual cornerback in Stephon Gilmore and the Jets have the division’s best safety in Jamal Adams. Miami missing the top marks for individuals in both spots isn’t necessarily a surprise and it certainly isn’t an indictment of their secondary group. Specifically at cornerback, the Dolphins boast the best 1-2 punch in the division. Tacking on a 1st-round pick to play the nickel adds a significant boost, too — Igbinoghene’s development should afford the Dolphins the best cornerback group from top to bottom in the entire division.

If the Dolphins get healthy play from both safeties for 16 games, they’ll have a chance to field an average safety tandem. The Dolphins certainly don’t have the best safety tandem in the division — that honor still likely belongs to the Patriots with Patrick Chung, Devin McCourty and 2020 rookie Kyle Dugger. The Bills have good playmakers with the ball in the air but Hyde & Poyer are charged with 17 touchdowns allowed in coverage over the last two seasons according to Pro Football Reference — Poyer allowed an opposing QB rating of 117.8 in coverage last season.

If you pool the entire secondary together for each team, the Dolphins are likely the second best secondary unit from top to bottom in the division — and if Father Time causes more Patriots regression from key pieces, the Dolphins may well actually be the cream of the crop in the AFC East secondary race.

ESPN Power Index ‘barely’ pegs Bills as AFC East favorite

Buffalo Bills and their AFC East outlook in ESPN’s FPI.

Plenty of optimism is surrounding the Buffalo Bills heading into the 2020 season.

The Bills have had a stout defensive unit for several seasons and the front office hopes their offseason additions help the offense close the gap a bit. Putting two and two together, the Bills could be sitting pretty next season. Or at least many hope so.

ESPN released their Football Power Index on Tuesday and the Bills are the AFC East’s favorite according to their formula. However, the Bills just squeak in as the favorite, according to the world-wide leader’s explanation:

Here’s how close the margin is: Buffalo has a 41.0% chance to win the division while the Patriots are all the way down at … 40.9%. This division is a toss-up for the first time since we discovered fire.

The Bills rank one spot behind the Patriots in FPI’s rankings but have a slightly easier schedule. For their non-common opponents, the Patriots play the Ravens and Houston Texans, while the Bills play the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans.

Buffalo is one of four divisional favorites that did not win its division in 2019. The others are the Cowboys in the NFC East (48%), Indianapolis Colts in the AFC South (40%) and Minnesota Vikings in the NFC North (38%).

For reference, ESPN’s FPI formula takes several factors into consideration. Those include team’s over/ under in Las Vegas sportsbooks, last season’s rankings on offense, defense and special teams, returning starters, coaching staff changes and quarterback situations.

Looking at those through a Bills lens, Buffalo is hoping for a much better output on offense next season, as opposed to their output a year ago. The addition of Stefon Diggs along should have a massive influence on that. Plus, the Bills are returning a lot of starters on both offense and defense.

But considering the Patriots’ losses this offseason via Tom Brady and others, their still landing pretty high in ESPN’s rankings, clearly. So close to the Bills that the two teams currently share a 60 percent chance to make the playoffs and their both squads land at an estimation of 8.6 wins via ESPN’s FPI.

Those two regularly scheduled meetings with the Pats could turn out to be huge for the Bills next year.

Fortunately, the Patriots are the lone team in the division given much hope. The Jets land at a projected win total of 6.8 wins and a 24 percent shot at the playoffs while the Dolphins numbers, respectively, are 6.2 and 14 percent. Additionally, in terms of the AFC as a whole, the Bills and Patriots are tied for the third-best FPI ranking in the entire conference. The Chiefs and Ravens are one and two, respectively, while the six teams from three to eight are all in the NFC.

 

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AFC East offseason: Jets sign QB Joe Flacco

AFC East New York Jets sign one-year deal with QB Joe Flacco.

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott often mentions his desire to have a veteran behind his starting quarterback, Josh Allen. That’s Matt Barkley.

For now, at least.

But the New York Jets appear to be following suit with that idea. The Jets signed veteran quarterback Joe Flacco to backup Jets’ starter Sam Darnold.

According to Jets Wire, the former Super Bowl MVP landed a one-year deal worth $1.5 million, but could be worth up to $4.5 million with incentives.

The Jets also have rookie James Morgan and David Fales in their QB room. Flacco played for the Broncos in 2019. He went 2-6 as a starter and threw for only 1,822 yards, six touchdowns and five interceptions. He finished the season on injured reserve after suffering a neck injury in Week 8.

Darnold and Allen are both entering their third pro seasons.

 

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B/R ranks Bills skill positions as best in AFC East

Bleacher Report says the Buffalo Bills have the best skill position in the AFC East.

The Patriots lost a lot on offense. The Dolphins are young. The Jets are… the Jets.

Meanwhile, the Buffalo Bills added a top-tier wide receiver to their roster during the 2020 offseason, a group the club added to mightily a year ago. It comes as little surprise that the Bills’ offensive skill positions are ranked the best in the AFC East by Bleacher Report recently.

B/R breaks down the Bills’ playermakers here:

At least part of Josh Allen’s success a year ago is attributable to the improvements the Bills made at wide receiver in 2019 free agency. John Brown tallied career highs in both catches (72) and yardage (1,060) during his first year in Buffalo, while slot maven Cole Beasley pitched in a 67/778/6 stat line.

The Bills took those improvements further in 2020, dealing their first-round pick in this year’s draft to the Minnesota Vikings for wide receiver Stefon Diggs, who piled up a career-best 1,130 receiving yards while averaging almost 18 yards per catch last season.

Finally, while the Bills are young and a tad unproven at running back, there’s quite a bit of talent there. Devin Singletary averaged 5.1 yards per carry and came just shy of 1,000 yards from scrimmage as a rookie, while third-round pick Zack Moss offers depth and a physical between-the-tackles presence.

Of course, this whole breakdown comes to one player mostly: Allen. The QB improved following his rookie season, but everyone between Buffalo and Rochester and beyond wants to see the signal caller have an even better year in 2020. Allen’s stat that’s treated most critically is his completion percentage. With all these additions in mind around him, Allen should see his completion rate jump above the 58.8 percent mark next season. Diggs is among the best at making contested catches in the entire NFL, while Brown and Beasley already have a year’s worth of chemistry with the QB.

 

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Bills are Trey Wingo’s top team in AFC East

ESPN’s Trey Wingo calls Buffalo Bills top team in AFC East.

Another one joins the Buffalo Bills bandwagon.

The AFC East was a top of discussion for ESPN’s morning show Golic and Wingo on Wednesday. Host Trey Wingo ranked the teams in the AFC East.

The Bills are his top dog:

 

 

Tough pill to swallow for Jets fans, who rank in the bottom of this ranking. The Dolphins did see a big haul at the recent draft, though. But the Bills still haven’t won a thing and will have to dethrone the Patriots, even if Tom Brady skipped town.

 

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Bills, not Jets, are best positioned to dethrone Patriots in AFC East

Jets Wire breaks down why the Buffalo Bills have the best chance of any AFC East team to take the division crown from the Patriots in 2020.

It looks like there is going to be a new sheriff in town in the AFC East in 2020.

With Tom Brady leaving the Patriots to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the division is wide open for the first time in what feels like forever. Despite Bill Belichick still roaming the sidelines and an upper-echelon defense still intact, New England no longer has an invincible feeling to it without the greatest quarterback of all-time under center.

The Patriots are now in a transition phase, which leaves the door open for another team in the division to claim the crown. Could 2020 be the year the Jets get over the hump and rise to the top?

Not so fast.

Expectations surrounding the Bills entering this upcoming season are as high as they were when Buffalo was a frequent participant in the Super Bowl. Led by second-year quarterback Josh Allen and one of the best defenses in football, the Bills reached the postseason a year ago and nearly defeated the Houston Texans to reach the divisional round.

Buffalo returns almost all of its starters from last season and also added some fresh faces in the offseason that are primed to make an instant impact in Orchard Park. The Bills traded their first-round pick to land Stefon Diggs, giving Allen a potential star at wide receiver to work with. Pairing Diggs with John Brown, who finished with over 1,000 yards last season, and Cole Beasley, who caught 67 passes out of the slot in 2019, could be exactly what Allen needs to take Buffalo’s passing attack to new heights.

“If they don’t [win the AFC East], then something’s wrong,” former Bills and Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly said on CBS Sports Radio over the weekend. “Tom Brady is not there to block you anymore. That to me is huge. Now that Brady’s out, I do believe the Bills are the team to beat even though the Jets are getting better, Miami with Tua (Tagovailoa) coming in — I think they’ll be better. Belichick will have New England ready to play.

“We’ll see what happens at the quarterback position in New England, but right now there’s no doubt the Bills are probably favored to win the AFC East. And if they don’t, then they must have some serious injuries because they have all the ingredients to move on in the playoffs.”

Kelly is right. The Bills don’t just have the talent to win the division. They have enough pieces to make a deep playoff run. There is a reason why Buffalo registered its first 10-win season since 1999 last year.

Allen is not a world-beater, but he has shown he is good enough to put enough points on the board with an elite defense backing him. Now that his supporting cast has improved, it would not be much of a shock to see the Bills turn into one of the AFC’s better teams.

The Jets’ time is coming. This offseason has certainly been a step in the right direction when it comes to inching back toward the postseason. As long as Sam Darnold develops as expected, Joe Douglas can continue to build the foundation of the organization around him.

Until then, the AFC East seems like Buffalo’s to lose. That might not be music to Jets’ fans ears, but it is a reality that must be faced until New York can establish itself as a consistent winner.

2020 AFC East Division Predictions: Best bets for who will win and exact standings

Looking at the NFL betting odds to win the AFC East Division in 2020 and predicting the exact order of the standings.

The New England Patriots won the AFC East Division in 2019 but will they be able to repeat? Below, we look at the BetMGM betting odds for the AFC East Division in 2020 and make our best bets for who’ll win the division title and predict the exact order of the division standings.

Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Odds last updated Monday, May 18 at 2:30 p.m. ET.

2020 AFC East Division bets: Who will win?

Here are the odds for each team to win the division:

  • New England Patriots +115
  • Buffalo Bills +135
  • New York Jets +700
  • Miami Dolphins +800

The Patriots still being the favorites is very surprising, considering they lost QB Tom Brady, DT Danny Shelton, LB Kyle Van Noy and LB Jamie Collins. It appears Jarrett Stidham will start at quarterback.

The Bills won 10 games last year and gave QB Josh Allen more weapons, including WR Stefon Diggs.

The Dolphins and Jets just aren’t there yet. The best bet is to take the BILLS (+135).

New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Bills to win the AFC East will return a profit of $13.50.

Place your legal NFL bets in CO, IN, NJ and WV at BetMGM. Bet now!

2020 AFC East Division bets: Who will finish second?

  • Buffalo Bills +145
  • New England Patriots +150
  • New York Jets +450
  • Miami Dolphins +650

This is where things get interesting. Having picked the Bills to win the division, the Pats seem like the logical choice, but between losing three key pieces to one of the best defenses in football and losing Brady, it is uncertain how good they will be. The Dolphins have the next best quarterback in the division in Ryan Fitzpatrick, and they spent a lot of money in free agency on defense. Their defense should be better and the offensive line is better as well.

Taking the Patriots at +150 might look like the best bet, but here I like the Dolphins to be surprisingly okay and give a payout. I’m taking the DOLPHINS (+650).

2020 AFC East Division bets: Who will finish third?

  • New York Jets +155
  • Miami Dolphins +225
  • Buffalo Bills +350
  • New England Patriots +400

I’ve already got the Bills and Dolphins finishing 1-2 in the division. Now, it is about the Jets and Pats. The Jets are the favorites for third place and were sneaky okay a year ago. However, if there is anything we can take from head coach Adam Gase‘s time in Miami, he suppresses talent.

Too many players have left the Dolphins and flourished. If you have to pick between the Pats and the Jets to be the better team, even with Stidham at quarterback, you trust the coaching of Bill Belichick over Gase. The winning bet here is to take the PATRIOTS (+400). That makes two big potential payouts for these picks.

2020 AFC East Division bets: Who will finish fourth?

  • Miami Dolphins -145
  • New York Jets +140
  • Buffalo Bills +1400
  • New England Patriots +1800

The Pats are a team to watch at +1800 because they could be in a tank season with salary cap problems and the potential to select Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence in the 2021 NFL Draft. Since I already have the Pats finishing third, the JETS (+140) are the best to finish last.

2020 AFC East Division bets: Exact order of standings

Based on the best bets for each place in the division, you can go all in and a big payout for a Bills-Dolphins-Pats-Jets finish at +1800. Anything that puts the Bills at the top is the best start to the combination.

Want action on NFL futures betting lines? Sign up and place your legal sports wagers online at BetMGM. For more sports betting tips, visit SportsbookWire.com.

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Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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