It\u2019s like old times again for the New England Patriots, who are being pursued by everyone else in the AFC East.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a position the franchise knows all too well, having a nearly two-decade reign \u2014 17 division titles in 19 years \u2014 before Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills won five in a row. A playoff run all the way to the Super Bowl last season behind second-year quarterback Drake Maye has raised expectations for the Patriots and provided the Bills, New York Jets and Miami Dolphins a clear target.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are the team that\u2019s being hunted,\u201d Patriots cornerback Marcus Jones said. \u201cAnd we have to wear that chip on our shoulder every time that we get out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s not just about the AFC East for Mike Vrabel\u2019s Patriots, who look to be one of the favorites \u2014 along with the Bills \u2014 to again come out of the conference and get to the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n
That was the case for Allen and Buffalo the past six years, but they couldn\u2019t get over the playoff hump. The Bills fired Sean McDermott and promoted offensive coordinator Joe Brady, who\u2019s the NFL\u2019s youngest head coach at 36 and is immediately charged with a Super Bowl-or-bust task.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the simple thing is we don\u2019t want to hit the wall, we want to run through it,\u201d left tackle Dion Dawkins said. \u201cSo the mindset is run through the wall that we know is there instead of hitting it. You know, don\u2019t let the wall hit you. You hit the wall and go through the walls.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then the other side, as we know, is that Lombardi Trophy.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the Jets and Dolphins, though, a return to respectability is the simple but massive goal in what appears to be a top-heavy AFC East.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still turning that ship,\u201d New York coach Aaron Glenn said. \u201cWe\u2019re still turning it, but I like exactly where we are.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bills have several new faces, but the same big-time goal<\/p>\n
Allen is in his prime at 30, and he\u2019s got a new big-play playmaker after the Bills acquired DJ Moore from Chicago in March. While the offense, which includes defending NFL rushing leader James Cook, expects to be productive as usual, the defense is where the question marks are.<\/p>\n
And first-time coordinator Jim Leonhard will try to improve a unit that will have at least five new starters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that the standard here right now is winning,\u201d safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson said. \u201cChampionships and winning. Everybody understand what\u2019s going on. We\u2019re too good of a team to fall short. It\u2019s as simple as that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Patriots won\u2019t be sneaking up on anyone this season<\/p>\n
Maye took the next step of his rapid development, finishing second to the Los Angeles Rams\u2019 Matthew Stafford in AP NFL MVP voting during a season in which he threw for 4.394 yards with 31 touchdowns and completed 72% of his passes.<\/p>\n
He now has star wide receiver A.J. Brown to throw to after an offseason trade with Philadelphia. And the defense, one of the NFL\u2019s best all-around units last season, should again be a strength.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a brand new team,\u201d linebacker Robert Spillane said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re going to have to learn how to cook together as a team, as the 2026 Patriots. Nothing is guaranteed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jets looking to end their 15-year playoff drought<\/p>\n
Glenn revamped his coaching staff after a 3-14 first season and is now running the defense with first-time coordinator Brian Duker, while Frank Reich was hired as the offensive coordinator.<\/p>\n
The Jets brought in quarterback Geno Smith \u2014 a reunion with the team for which he began his career in 2013 \u2014 to spark what was a pitiful passing offense a year ago, teaming him with proven playmakers in wide receiver Garrett Wilson and running back Breece Hall. They also drafted edge rusher David Bailey with the No. 2 overall pick to jumpstart the pass rush.<\/p>\n
Many eyes are on the future for the Jets, who are trying to end the NFL\u2019s longest active postseason drought at 15 seasons. Glenn probably needs to double his win total to stick around.<\/p>\n
\u201cAG has done a great job of laying out the blueprint for this team and where he wants to take us,\u201d Smith said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s our job to bring that into manifestation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dolphins in reset mode after offseason makeover<\/p>\n
While the Dolphins insist it\u2019s not a rebuilding year, they\u2019re certainly in a full reset after moving on from general manager Chris Grier, coach Mike McDaniel and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Star receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle are also gone, along with most of the key pieces that shaped Miami\u2019s roster.<\/p>\n
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New GM Jon-Eric Sullivan and coach Jeff Hafley have begun revamping the roster, which outside of a few veterans, is made up of mostly first- and second-year players. Running back De\u2019Von Achane, linebacker Jordyn Brooks and center Aaron Brewer are foundation pieces after signing contract extensions.<\/p>\n
The Dolphins hope former Green Bay backup Malik Willis, along with a group of young receivers, can offer hope for the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery team has good players, it\u2019s just putting them in position to be successful,\u201d Willis said. \u201cAll the guys that have big names at one point didn\u2019t have a big name, and I think that\u2019s how it goes. You\u2019ve just got to prove it and that\u2019s where we\u2019re at right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Predicted order of finish<\/p>\n
Bills, Patriots, Jets, Dolphins<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s like old times again for the New England Patriots, who are being pursued by everyone else in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":992515,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2050],"tags":[7,1167,249,2326,2094,6,208],"class_list":["post-992514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-england-patriots","tag-football","tag-new-england","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-newengland","tag-newenglandpatriots","tag-nfl","tag-patriots"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117218633559843546","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/992514","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=992514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/992514\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/992515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=992514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=992514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=992514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}