The AFC East had a surprisingly good Sunday as the division went 3-1 and the lone loss was shockingly not the Dolphins. It was a good week for the two teams in Wild Card contention and a bad week for the team that only cares about Super Bowls.
J-E-T-S vs Giants: The Battle for Snoopy
The Jets and Giants face every year in preseason but due to being in separate conferences, only play every four years in the regular season. The Jets have been a surprise as with a huge investment in the defense and receivers that can actually play, they are in the Wild Card hunt. The Giants are also in the playoff hunt as the NFC East has been horrible this year and Tom Coughlin is on the hot seat. It was going to be a tough game regardless for both sides with the Jets needing the win more.
The Jets threw the ball 50 times as they decided Chris Ivory was too good a back to get more than ten carries. They were lucky this was a Fitzmagic week as he was playing very well and not having his typical fitzturnovers. Brandon Marshall continues to show he was a steal as he is not washed up like many in Miami wish he was. Decker was solid as he is thriving in the #2 WR position. The only downside was the Jets continue to think Bilal Powell is any good when he’s not even serviceable. Thankfully the defense didn’t get shredded by ODB (at least compared to what he normally does) and only gave up 20 points. The Jets shut down the run and won by swapping Josh Brown with Scott Norwood. A solid win for the Jets who are in a good spot to clinch a Wild Card Spot.
Ravens vs Dolphins: Tanny HOF
The Dolphins are pretty much out of the playoff hunt and instead are playing for draft position and moral victories. They are playing a similar team in Baltimore who are missing their QB, their #1 WR and their “starting” RB. Just like many expected, this was a horrible game to watch as neither team really wanted to win with the lone bright spot is the awesomeness of Javorious “Buck” Allen.
The Dolphins made the switch at OC by firing Lazor and promoting QB Coach Zac Taylor who only got a coaching job through nepotism. The big deal made was now Tannehill will be able to audible and the offense should look like the greatest show on turf. Instead, the offense looked the worst it has ever did with Tannehill completing less than 50% passes and not even breaking 100 yards passing. The lone bright spot in the passing game was the touchdown to DeVante Parker who finally showed himself. Lamar Miller had a surprisingly good game as he tries to get a nice contract in free agency. It is looking more and more like Lazor was nothing more than a scapegoat and the issues are bigger than many expect.
The defense shockingly showed itself as they only gave up one touchdown and even got themselves a vintage Schaub pick six. The defense should’ve been playing like this each week and if they did, would have been able to finish 8-8.
Eagles vs Patriots: Everyone hates The Eagles
The Patriots are still reeling from the brutal loss to the Broncos and that they are missing 90% of their offense. They had to bounce back against an Eagles team that, like the Giants, are somehow still in the NFC East race. It was not a good game for the Patriots as special teams killed them and Brady looked like Geno Smith until the 4th quarter.
The Pats offense was extremely flat Sunday. Missing Gronk and Edelman hurt the offense as Brandon LaFell forgot how to catch and Scott Chandler is….Scott Chandler. Danny Amendola has a solid game as until his crucial drop on the final drive had a solid game. Brady was just off as he was missing easy passes and was unable to do much in the pass game. The good news is they found their Dion Lewis in James White who had a phenomenal game and should be playing over Bolden. Also, they found out Tom Brady is their best WR and might need to move him to WR next week as he is the only big play threat they have left.
What killed the Patriots were two big returns for TDs they gave up. A punt return by Darren Sproles and a pick six by Malcolm Jenkins in the redzone. The Eagles offense did absolutely nothing as Sam Bradford continued to show why he was a horrible trade and DeMarco Murray was a horrible signing. The Eagles offense didn’t even break 250 yards and somehow the Eagles scored 35 points. This might just be a bad week for the Patriots but if they want to still get a 1st round bye, they need to win out or else they will be losing to the Jets in the Wild Card round.
Overall it was a good week. The AFC East still has three teams with actual playoff aspirations and despite having a rough patch, the Patriots still look to be in good position to win the division and lose to the Giants in the Super Bowl. Overall this was a good week for the AFC East and many more like it would be great.
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