After a thrilling season, the NFL is officially over for another year. So, the team at SportsTips thought it would be a good idea to go through every team in the AFC East, and have a look at the year that was!
Buffalo Bills
In the preseason, the Buffalo Bills were picked by many to make the Super Bowl after they fell just short in 2020, losing in the AFC Championship to the Kansas City Chiefs. In 2021, the team once again had a phenomenal defense, leading the league in opponent points per game, yards per game, and more.
On offense, they were powered by Josh Allen, who continued his road to stardom throwing 36 touchdowns, over 4,400 yards, and rushing for six more. It was also another Pro Bowl year for Stefon Diggs, who brought in over 1200 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns.
https://t.co/WMBvOMJmuY pic.twitter.com/sYsArth1QI
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) February 18, 2022
Still, the Bills’ 11-6 record seemed like a bit of a disappointment after they went 13-3 a year prior. They were even behind the New England Patriots in the AFC East standings after a week 13 loss in Western New York.
Luckily the team went on to win their final four games and take the division crown. After plummeting the Patriots in the first round of the playoffs, the team once again fell to the Kansas City Chiefs in a wild Divisional game, where the team battled back and forth in the final minutes—only for the Chiefs to need 13 seconds to tie the game and eventually win in overtime.
The Bills season once again fell short and they lost offensive mastermind Brian Daboll to the New York Giants. So while all the talent is there, this team will look to a new coordinator on offense (Ken Dorsey) and try to forget an underachieving 2021.
Miami Dolphins
For the second consecutive season, the Miami Dolphins just missed their chance at the postseason. After going 10-6 in 2020, the team went 9-8 in 2021, but by missing the playoffs again, the team controversially fired Brian Flores as the head coach.
While quarterback Tua Tagovailoa showed some improvement this season, the jury is still out on if he’s the man for Miami’s future. Additionally, the team’s rushing was not as convincing this year, after running back Myles Gaskin couldn’t match his breakout 2020 campaign.
In 2021, @FOETYY played in all 17 games, had a career-high 5️⃣9️⃣ tackles, and had his first pick six! #FinsUp pic.twitter.com/LddcPgVK3g
— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) February 20, 2022
While the Dolphins’ defense didn’t awe anyone, they were pretty much toward the middle of the pack in most defensive categories, so it shouldn’t take too much to push them to the next level next season.
The big focus will be on the offense, especially after the team hired offensive guru Mike McDaniel as their new coach. They’ll have another year of Tua to see if this Miami core can succeed; based on the last two seasons they’re very close and hoping to challenge the likes of Buffalo and New England soon.
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots were bad for all about one season, before returning to the playoffs and being a threat in the AFC. Even without Tom Brady at quarterback, this team was able to show that as long as they have Bill Belichick coaching, they’ll always be a threat.
While rookie quarterback Mac Jones didn’t stun with stats, he looked the part of a starting quarterback right away and was able to put together a Pro Bowl season despite having a less-than-satisfactory receiving core.
Which teammate tweeted this?
Twitterless Matthew Slater takes his best guesses 😂 pic.twitter.com/F3iMElEtCb
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) February 16, 2022
The Patriots really shined on defense: they were number two in interceptions, top five in total takeaways, and second in opposing points per game. For a team that’s looking for a new identity after the days of Tom Brady and Co., the Patriots are well on their way.
They were battling with the Buffalo Bills for the AFC East crown until the final week of the season, finishing 10-7 on the year. Even though the Bills blew them out in the playoffs, this team has to be thrilled with the direction they’re headed as they look ahead to another decade of dominance.
New York Jets
The New York Jets were once again a laughing stock, finishing 4-13 under new head coach Robert Salah. That was two more wins than 2020, so they had some improvements, including a week 8 victory over eventual AFC Champions the Cincinnati Bengals in which quarterback Mike White had 15 minutes of fame, throwing for over 400 yards and 3 touchdowns.
For most of the season, the team was led by quarterback Zach Wilson, 2021’s second overall pick in the NFL Draft. Wilson was pretty poor for most of the season but started looking more comfortable at the end of the year.
“Around the league…there’s a lot of optimism of what he’s going to be.” pic.twitter.com/VIGAvEX1pz
— New York Jets (@nyjets) February 18, 2022
With two draft picks in the top ten this year, the Jets will look to continue to put together a young core. Still, they might want to use some of that on defense, as they were dead last in opponent yards per game and points per game.
This will be particularly essential to address because Salah was a defensive guru at the San Francisco 49ers. It was a big reason he was hired on as head coach so as much as they’ll want to provide more weapons for Wilson, it’s believed Salah will want to get his own defensive youngsters in as well.
Don’t expect much improvement next season for the Jets—yet. But, after a couple of drafts, this team could very well be on its way. Who knows, maybe next season they’ll be able to snag five wins instead of four.
Even though the season has finished, we’ve got you covered with all the latest information on the NFL! We keep you as up to date as possible, so you don’t miss any of the action this off-season.
