AFC East Weekly Buzz for Week 17: Bills-Patriots, Jets-Dolphins

Buffalo Bills

A disastrous 26-24 road loss to the Oakland Raiders on Sunday eliminated Buffalo from playoff contention, which hurts especially because New England has clinched home field with Denver’s loss, and a potential second-string Patriots squad, while no guaranteed win, would have made the chance to claim a playoff berth much higher had the Bills entered Week 17 with new

That being said, the Bills can get their first winning season since 2004 and end New England’s 16-game winning streak at home, but they will need a much better Kyle Orton to do it. While the stats for his eleven starts (2,842 yards, 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions on 63.9% completions) do not look bad, he has only been better than Derek Carr and Blake Bortles for his performance this season on Pro Football Focus’ cumulative quarterback scores (via Matthew Fairburn of Syracuse.com), and is ranked 27th in QBR (via ESPN) with a 40.3 on a scale of 100, above only Austin Davis, Josh McCown, Geno Smith, and Blake Bortles.

Even if the Patriots were to rest their starters, they still have excellent defensive depth, as secondary players like Kyle Arrington, Alfonzo Dennard, Logan Ryan, Malcolm Butler, and Tavon Wilson have proven capable of making plays at different points this season. A victory for Buffalo would be great, but it would come with the asterisk that New England was not at full strength.

Miami Dolphins

A 37-35 win over the Minnesota Vikings gives the Dolphins a chance to get their first winning season since 2008 on Sunday versus the Jets, which is enough for owner Stephen Ross to allow head coach Joe Philbin to return for a fourth season (via ESPN’s Adam Schefter), and though their record will improve very little, if at all from last year’s 8-8, there are a lot of positive signs coming from this season.

Ryan Tannehill has shown great improvement under first-year offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, throwing for 3,786 yards on the season with 26 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions, and also ran for 317 yards and four touchdowns on 5.8 yards per carry, ranking 14th in QBR (via ESPN) with a 60.5 rating. The offensive line, with free-agent addition Branden Albert (before he tore his ACL in week 10) and rookie first-round pick Jawuan James starring at the tackle positions, have reduced the amount of sacks taken from a league-high 58 last season to 40 this year, which is still 12th-most in the NFL, but strides were still made.

A victory against New York would also give Miami a 4-2 record in the AFC East after going just 2-4 last season, showing that the team has figured out divisional opponents like the Bills and Jets, and has a chance against the Patriots any time New England comes to Miami, as the Dolphins have won both games at Sun Life Stadium. A win on Sunday will show for sure that Miami has taken steps forward in 2014, and is on the precipice of playoff contention next year.

New York Jets

In the final game at Metlife Stadium this season and maybe Rex Ryan’s tenure in New York, it was a familiar result for the Jets against Tom Brady since Ryan has been there, losing 17-16, with defense playing great but the offense, especially the quarterback, not producing enough for a victory.

After going 3-2 in the first five match-ups between his New York squad and Bill Belichick’s New England teams in his first two years as coach, Ryan is 1-7 versus the Patriots, with a 1-4 record in games decided by three points or less in the past four years. A 3-12 record doesn’t appear to be enough for both Ryan and second-year general manager John Idzik to keep their positions next season, and the Jets are currently fourth in the NFL draft order in a weak quarterback class, so being able to find their future signal caller with Geno Smith ranking second-to-last in QBR (via ESPN) will be a challenge no matter who is in charge.

A lot of players for New York will be fighting for their jobs in this week’s game at Miami, so you can’t summarily dismiss their chance to pull off an upset as they did last season, but a win will not make up for a mostly disappointing season overall.

New England Patriots

With everything all wrapped up and the road to the Super Bowl in the AFC going through New England, the Patriots could rest all their top guys on Sunday, but they could also try to make sure they enter the postseason with four straight victories, an 11-1 record in their final 12 games, and a 17 game home-winning streak.

Plus, a sloppy game against the Jets that only resulted in a one-point victory may indicate to Bill Belichick that the team needs to get some rhythm and confidence, especially with an opportunity to play against a stingy Bills defense that has stopped Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning recently, and ranks 5th in scoring defense (18.7 points per game). A decision has yet to be made on who is or isn’t playing, but it will be something to watch, as Belichick once went for an undefeated regular season with everything wrapped as well.

Happy Holidays to you all!