Over the course of the last two decades around the NFL, much has been said of the division that had come to be known as “The AFC Least.” While the rest of the division lagged behind, the Patriots won 17 AFC East Division titles in 19 years from 2001-2019. Remarkable.
“AFC Least” was mostly popularized by Patriots haters in a largely lame attempt to cast a little shade on the teams’ unprecedented 20 years of dominance. The haters weren’t all wrong though, as the division was lopsided for nearly all of that 20 year span but folks, as Bob Dylan once famously crooned, ‘times they are a changing.’
I’ve been following the Pats since the late '70’s and I can tell you with zero equivocation, that the AFC East division has never been as competitive as it is about to be. In my lifetime, the AFC East has rarely had three competitive teams, often struggled to feature two highly competitive teams and has literally never had four. Even as a five team division from 1970-2001 when the Baltimore then Indianapolis Colts were part of it, having more than two competitive teams was fleeting at best.
In the 70’s Miami was the top dog winning two Super Bowls in the '72 perfect season then repeating in 1973. The Colts were a factor during the early to mid-70’s, (with a young special assistant named Bill Belichick on the staff), but when they fall off later in the decade they were damn near gone for good. The Pats emerged from 1976-79 with some damn good teams, including a division winner of its own in '78, but always fell short.
As time has marched on, the teams changed up, down and around, but the result was always the same. The division was top heavy, with a mediocre middle and irrelevant at the bottom. In the' 80’s Miami was the best of a mediocre lot. The Pats were mediocre for most of it, short of their improbable run to their first Super Bowl appearance in 1985. They also had some real lows prior to 85’ and rapidly fell into the darkness in the years to follow their fleeing success. The Bills stunk and the Jets chased for most of the decade save for four competitive playoff years sprinkled throughout a 10 year span. The Colts were bottom feeders for most of the decade. Again, the division was never competitive top to bottom.
The '90’s? Wash rinse repeat. As Miami’s best was in the rearview mirror, Buffalo finally emerged and became a dominant AFC force. The Pats hit rock bottom until Kraft, Parcells and Bledsoe kicked off the prequel to the dynasty in 94’ when the organizational turnaround began. Once that happened though Buffalo began to decline. As for the Jets and the Colts? More of the same, which is to say, far more bad than good.
And so the story of the AFC East turns. Good at the top and gushy in the middle with a bottomless floor. Like a soggy taco.
You know what happened next; Belichick, Brady and the dynasty that ensued. During the dynastic years the Jets have been a pain in the rear a few times, particularly in the Rex Ryan/Chad Pennington years, but those seasons of legitimate competition feel like a distant memory.
Also a distant memory is the notion of an uncompetitive AFC East. As documented above, this is the first time where all four teams have the look and the structure of a potential winner. Yes, even the Jets.
The Jets have a long way to go but I think they finally have a real coach. Robert Saleh earned great praise as the Defensive Coordinator for the 49ers and has the demeanor of a winner. He’ll certainly be an upgrade over Adam Gase. If you hadn’t noticed, they are also drafting better as General Manager Joe Douglas is at minimum looking far more competent then some of his ghastly predecessors. A franchise quarterback is now in tow with Brigham Young star, Zach Wilson. Maybe it’s a year off but the Jets are up and coming and look to have stability at the two most important positions in the NFL, the coach and the quarterback. This is the worst team in the division, but my guess is they won’t be the same old Jets we’ve all had a good laugh at for far too long.
One thing I hate more than the Dolphins is the fact that they now have people I like. I love their coach. Brian Flores has control of his team and they keep adding guys I’d prefer to root for, like Boston College’s Hunter Long and Alabama playmaker Jaylen Waddle. Make it stop! I don’t want to like anyone on Miami but the reality is that they have gotten appreciably better. That’s what happens when you have a coach players want to play hard for and you have talent across the roster. Miami is always a tough division game, but now they are becoming a formidable NFL team. The Dolphins are a factor.
The passing of the torch in the AFC East started to happen in a game the Patriots actually won. It was Tom Brady’s final regular season game in a Patriots uniform, in December of 2019. I was there and watched a perfectly surgical Brady lead a team that wasn’t as good to a win in what would be his final regular season game on the home team sideline in Foxboro. If you remember that game, Brady was great but so was Josh Allen. His star was just starting to shine. Flanked by a great young coach in SeanMcDermott and a solid team around him, Allen is now amongst the most elite quarterbacks in the league and is poised to rule the AFC East division until one of the upstart young guns can push him off the hill.
Tua Tagovailoa? Zach Wilson? Or maybe our own Mac Jones? Who knows who it will be. That’s the point though, this division has changed. This division is now competitive.
As for our 7-9 Patriots? A return to winning sure feels well within grasp. This team finally has talent all over the field. So much so that even if Mac Jones doesn’t start, I can see 10-11 wins pretty clearly and that my friends would be competitive.
Welcome to the new AFC East.