NFL.Com Feature- AFC East (merged)

[MDFINFAN]

Vic Carucci thinks the Bills have picked up the most offseason talent..but we're not bad, nothing really bad to say about us.

AFC East: Pickups may give Bills an edge

[ckparrothead]

I was just gonna post a thread about it. Yeah he doesn't really say anything negative about the Phins but I still question a lot of things in his article.

Like, how in the heck does he get away with in his own head maximizing the loss of Laveraneous Coles to the Jets, while not even MENTIONING the loss of Peerless Price to the Bills? I mean, no offense Drew Bledsoe, but I consider Chad Pennington to be the better QB. No offense to Travis Henry, but I consider Curtis Martin to be the better RB. No offense to the Bills OL, they're good definitely but even with Nutten replacing Thomas, I think the Jets OL is pretty good. Not saying the Jets should outplay or outscore the Bills, not at all their WR weaknesses are glaring compared to the Bills, but considering the surrounding cast I'm just not sure why Vic can say "There is no minimizing the damage of the New York Jets' losing free-agent receiver Laveranues Coles, offensive guard Randy Thomas and kick returner Chad Morton to the Washington Redskins"

I mean, Thomas got replaced by Nutten, and of the lose-and-replace moves this season that one was probably the closest they came to getting a player of the caliber they lost. Then Morton...well no offense, but he's just a KR. Losing Coles is HUGE, but I mean one could easily say something like "There's no minimizing the damage of the Bills losing Peerless Price, Jay Riemersma, and Keith Newman"

Reading that article, you wouldn't even frickin realize that the Bills have changed the face of their entire offense. You wouldn't even know that Peerless Price, a 1200 yard receiver, took off for greener pastures.

Honestly I might think the Dolphins and Patriots had the best offseasons in the division. Neither lost anyone they didn't make a conscious effort to upgrade (ie Tebucky Jones for Rodney Harrison, Derrick Rodgers for Junior Seau, etc) and both had solid drafts that should pay dividends in 2003, not in some distant future like McGahee. The Patriots left a gaping hole at starting RB but I guess they are confident in Antowain. The Dolphins, depending on who you talk to, left gaping holes at starting WR and QB but we're confident in Derrius, Chambers, and Fiedler.

[Justasportsfan]

One could easily argue that the Miami Dolphins had no reason to tinker with one of the league's best defenses. But trading for linebacker Junior Seau and signing safety Sammy Knight are sound moves that will draw praise when they make the kind of game-changing plays that they made with San Diego and New Orleans, respectively

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/6469003

[Justasportsfan]

Here's another

http://covers.com/includes/article.aspx?theArt=7967

Somehow the league's No. 1 rushing offense and No. 3 total team defensive team found a way to miss out on the postseason in 2002. In 11 key categories used by the NFL to rank the 16 AFC teams, Miami was rated 1, 1, 5, 3, 3, 1, 2, 1, 3, 1 and 1. Pretty powerful numbers for a non-playoff team, wouldn’t you agree? This season they’ll return 21 of the 22 starters from last year’s unit as they plan on opening up the offense. The main beneficiary will be WR Chris Chambers. If Brian Griese comes aboard as anticipated, he’ll form a strong two-headed quarterback tandem with Jay Fiedler.


Thanks to billszone for finding the articles.

[SuperMarksBros.]

Originally posted by justafan
Somehow the league's No. 1 rushing offense and No. 3 total team defensive team found a way to miss out on the postseason in 2002. In 11 key categories used by the NFL to rank the 16 AFC teams, Miami was rated 1, 1, 5, 3, 3, 1, 2, 1, 3, 1 and 1.

probably the best team never to have made the playoffs...this season will be different.

[t2thejz]

Yea but what he doesnt know is we do have depth at WR

[Justasportsfan]

Oops!

[Justasportsfan]

http://www.allsports.com/cgi-bin/sho...story_id=42629

8. Miami Dolphins

LT-Mark Dixon, LG-Jamie Nails, C-Tim Ruddy, RG-Todd Perry, RT-Todd Wade

This is a group that does not get the credit it should for the amazing season churned out by Ricky Williams last season. A steady group of grizzled vets, the Dolphins have supplemented that group with the selections of four legitimate linemen in the past two college drafts. Last year’s Dolphins were 2nd only to the Vikings in rushing yards per game with 156.4, and averaged 4.7 yards per carry. They posted 24 rushing touchdowns and surrendered just twenty-five sacks all season. If Nails can stay healthy and Seth McKinney, last year’s 3rd round pick, can continue to develop, this group has a chance to be even better this season. Dixon was solid at left tackle last season, after playing guard most of his career. Perry and Wade are workmanlike steady performers over on the right side. Ruddy will be fighting McKinney off to keep his job. This past season, the Dolphins took offensive linemen with three of their first seven picks. 3rd rounder Wade Smith and 6th round steal Tim Provost will be groomed as the tackles of the future while their other 3rd round pick, guard Taylor Whitney, will be worked in as a backup at the guard and center spots.

[dolphan39]

CK the big difference between the Jets and Bills is Moulds. The Jets lost their Moulds in Coles, while the Bills lost a #2 WR who had only 1 great season. I would still say Bledsoe is better than Chad P only in that he has done longer. If Chad duplicates his effort last year this year, he will have to be considered the best QB in the AFC

[Billsfan]

Originally posted by dolphan39
CK the big difference between the Jets and Bills is Moulds. The Jets lost their Moulds in Coles, while the Bills lost a #2 WR who had only 1 great season. I would still say Bledsoe is better than Chad P only in that he has done longer. If Chad duplicates his effort last year this year, he will have to be considered the best QB in the AFC

Great post.

Jets lost a number 1

Bills lost a number 2

VERY BIG differance.

[zach13]

Don't write off Brady as the best in the AFC East.

He did have 3800 yards last year, 28 TDs and virtually the same QB rating as Bledose while throwing to far inferior receivers and having no running game.

[MDFINFAN]

Originally posted by justafan
Here's another

http://covers.com/includes/article.aspx?theArt=7967

Thanks to billszone for finding the articles.

Justa go back and look, I posted this thread on the Billszone..

[Justasportsfan]

Originally posted by MDFINFAN


Justa go back and look, I posted this thread on the Billszone..

I took the articles from the frontpage. I saw you started a thread but didn't know you contributed it. My bad and thanks.

[ckparrothead]

Sorry dude, but in this case Peerless Price does not get enough credit.

Go ahead and check out the career statistics of both players man. In Peerless' first year with the Bills he caught 52 balls for 762 yards (3 TDs). In his second year with the Bills he caught 55 balls for 895 yards (7 TDs). In this, his third year, he caught 94 balls for 1252 yards and 9 TDs. How can anyone call this anything but steady progress? Isn't this the same kind of progress we expected out of Chris Chambers?

Meanwhile in Coles first year he caught 22 for 370 yards, then 59 for 868, then 89 for 1264.

I mean, I'm not seeing the difference here. I'm not seeing how one is an excellent receiver while the other is just a "#2 with one good year under his belt" The bottom line is these are two players who are very alike, and losing Laveraneous means a lot to the Jets, just as losing Peerless means a lot to the Bills despite what Bills fans will tell you.

Losing a player of that caliber is like losing an arm or a leg to an offense. I don't care what else they've got. Ask our own Brian Griese what it was like to lose Ed McCaffrey in game 1 of the 2001 season, even though they still had Rod Smith. Sure the Bills may have Eric Moulds, but as I just got done pointing out, the Jets have the better QB, RB, and comparable (if not outright better) OL. There's no way it can be considered responsible to emphasize the loss of Laveraneous Coles to the Jets, while completely de-emphasizing the loss of Peerless Price to the Bills.

[M-REAL]

I got to be the black sheep here, because I think the Pats picked up the most offseason talent. Don't kill me too slow, ok?:chair: