For 20 years, the AFC East belonged to the New England Patriots. For the last four years, it has belonged to the Buffalo Bills. Mike McDaniel, head coach of the Miami Dolphins, is well aware that the AFC East is currently the division that the Bills can only lose.
“There’s a team that has won the division several years in a row. They de facto own the division until someone takes it away from them.”
It’s interesting that McDaniel doesn’t outright say it’s the Bills, but we all know who he’s talking about. After Tom Brady dropped out of the AFC East following the 2019 season, Buffalo’s only hope was to lose the division and they’ve dominated ever since, winning four straight AFC East titles.
The Dolphins had many opportunities to win the AFC East last season, and until the very end, they seemed to be doing it. They were several games ahead of the Bills, who were 6-6 at one point this year, but the Bills reeled off five straight wins to close the regular season. They won their fourth division title by beating the Dolphins in the final week of the season.
Miami hasn’t won the AFC East since the 2008 season, when Brady missed the entire year and Chad Pennington ran the offense.
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Last year the Dolphins struggled against teams with winning records, and that’s something they need to work on this season. If they want to be taken seriously and be a real contender for the AFC East crown, they can’t just beat bad teams and then let good teams beat them.
Add to that the fact that the New York Jets will be more competitive this season with Aaron Rodgers now healthy and the division even more competitive. However, if there is a chance to catch up to the Bills, it is this year. They lost a lot of talent in the offseason and that should reflect on the field.
However, McDaniel says exactly the right thing. Unless the Bills win the division, they can only lose it. Let’s hope that changes this year and the Dolphins can finish the season atop the division.
