JUDGE: The East is a beast, and the best

[Pride]

http://foxsports.lycos.com/content/view?contentId=659004

JUDGE: The East is a beast, and the best
BY CLARK JUDGE
FOXSports.com
Sep. 10, 2002 9:32 p.m.

I don’t know which is the best team out there, but I know which is the best division.

Make way for the AFC East.

It has the defending Super Bowl champion. It has one of the league’s top young quarterbacks. And it has a club that just shredded Pittsburgh, a powerhouse that lost only three times last year could — maybe should — wind up numero uno when this thing is over.

But enough about the New England Patriots.

I want to talk about the division, and this one’s loaded from top to bottom. The Patriots scored 30 points on Monday, more than in all but four of their games last season but fewer than anyone in the AFC East last weekend. Buffalo had 31; the Jets 37; Miami 49.

That’s an average of 36.75 points, folks, and there’s no division that was better.

“From top to bottom there’s no one better,” said an AFC personnel director. “The teams in the AFC East aren’t just better overall, but they’re competitive within the division.”

Compare that to, say, the NFC East, where you go from Philadelphia at one end to Quincy Carter at the other. Competitive within the division? The Dallas Cowboys aren’t competitive within their state.


Ricky Williams and the Dolphins rolled over the Lions in Week 1.
Luis Alvarez /Associated Press

Yes, the AFC East is a beast. There are good quarterbacks. Tom Brady was the Super Bowl MVP, while Vinny Testaverde and Drew Bledsoe have been to the Pro Bowl. There are good running backs, too. Antowain Smith, Curtis Martin and Ricky Williams each ran for over 1,000 yards last season.

OK, so maybe the receivers don’t light your candle, but New England’s Troy Brown had more receptions (101) than all but three pass catchers within the conference, and Buffalo fullback Larry Centers had more (80) than any back anywhere.

But why stop there? The division’s quarterbacks last weekend were nearly perfect, throwing nine touchdowns and two interceptions — with Bledsoe responsible for the turnovers. That means Jay Fiedler, Testaverde and Brady had none.

Travis Henry ran for 149 yards and scored three times. Williams ran for 111 yards and scored twice. Eric Moulds had 112 yards in receptions. Chad Morton returned two kickoffs for touchdowns. Terrell Buckley had two interceptions. Miami’s defense scored.

And everyone won except Buffalo, but the Bills didn’t need a written excuse: They played the Jets and went to overtime before fizzling.

Close calls aren’t unusual here. The Jets split with Buffalo last year. They split with New England, too. Miami split with the Patriots. And while New England won its last 11, its nearest misses during that stretch were with the Jets (17-16) and Bills (12-9).

I think you get the idea. What I like about the AFC East is that everyone has a chance to make something happen — and that’s not an opinion; it’s a matter of record. A year ago, the division sent three teams to the playoffs for the second time in three seasons. Only the NFC Central equaled that performance.

Granted, Buffalo probably is one draft away from being a winner again, but the Bills will cause people trouble this season. I think they can beat Chicago in three weeks. I think they can beat the Raiders the next weekend, too. What I don’t think is that they can make the playoffs. Not yet, anyway.

Once the NFC West looked as formidable as the AFC East; then I watched Arizona and Seattle last weekend. The AFC West is jammed — with all four clubs winning last weekend, including Denver’s 23-17 defeat of St. Louis — but, tell me, which club would you take: Buffalo or Kansas City? And how about that Denver-San Diego exacta? Like it better than the Jets-Dolphins? I don’t. Then there’s Oakland and New England. I don’t care if they play on a dry field, move the game to Arizona and give every fumble to Oakland; the Patriots are superior.

“I like our division, and I think anyone can win it,” said an AFC West executive, “but their four are better than our four.”

Get used to it. Their four are better than everyone’s four.

Clark Judge can be reached at his e-mail address: cjudge@foxsports.com.

[Pride]

Wow... Buffalo is all of a sudden getting mad props! I LOVE IT!!!

[casdhf]

Good find. I really like your chances to at least get 500 this year.

[Patrick76777]

I like it

[Gunzlingr]

Great Article! I have said for years that the AFC E was the toughest division in football.

[casdhf]

At least the Colts are gone. Having them hang around would be even worse

[TigerJ]

I think it is significant that it is not just sports writers saying the AFC East is tough, it is team executives from other divisions.

“I like our division, and I think anyone can win it,” said an AFC West executive, “but their four are better than our four.”

Really though, I wouldn't object if the other three teams in our division were wusses.

[Shiny Chicken]

I like having such a tough division... it means we've got to try even harder to get a decent recors... which means, theoretically that whoever comes out on top has a god chance of being superior to most of the rest of the league.

[venis2k1]

Yea, AFCE rules!!!

[TigerJ]

The other school of thought:

In a division with quality top to bottom, the teams in the division will beat each other up so badly that the playoff teams coming out of them won't have anything left for the playoffs.

Really, I don't mind a tough division except that it may conceal to the rest of the country the progress that the team makes toward winning again. We can have a better team and it may not show in the team record that much because of our division.

[casdhf]

THats fine. Next year the Jets and Fins will have pretty big cap problems. Leaving us, when the smoke clears

[Halbert]

I don't think they beat each other up physically any more than playing against any NFL team. They beat each other up in the standings meaning it's harder to make the playoffs and to get a high seeding when/if you get there. Teams from other inferior divisions might make the playoffs at 11-5 when they may not have done any better than 8-8 if they were in our division.

[ublinkwescore]

I think they should change the way the playoff seeding goes. The year that the Bills went to the playoffs and got beat by the refs against the titans, The Titans should have hosted either the Seahawks, or the Dolphins, and the Bills should have hosted the other (team that the Titans didn't host) the Bills and Titans both had better records then the Seahawks (9-7) and the Dolphins (9-7 also). The Titans should have gotten to choose who they wanted to host - excluding Buffalo - since Buffalo had a better record then the seahawks and fins (11-5 just like Tenessee was).
Even though that year, both of those teams (the Dolphins, and Seahawks really had no business being in the playoffs that year - they both just fell apart towards the end of the year - an 8-8 team in their places would have done better (a la Denver or K.C. for the West, and another 8-8 team for the fins if there weren't any more 9-7 teams).

[ublinkwescore]

I'm already salivating over the foreseen cap problems by the Jets and Fins. The pats won't challenge us either - they're still over-rated as far as I'm concerned - the Steelers like losing their openers. Tom Brady will prove to be nothing more then a 1 year wonder.