One of the longest and most successful partnerships finished last season. Tom Brady, widely regarded as the GOAT, or Greatest of All Time, ended his twenty-season long relationship with the New England Patriots after winning a record six Super Bowl championships, along with the three NFL MVP awards highlighted on biography.com.
It’s not only the Patriots that are wondering how they’ll fare without Brady – the AFC East is interested too. After all, the Bills, Jets, and Dolphins have had to play second fiddle since 2000. Will Brady’s departure leave a gap the other franchises can exploit?
Let’s find out.
The Newton factor
Should we ever question Bill Belichick? Cam Newton probably wasn’t the quarterback that Patriot fans thought they would recruit after Brady left, and plenty was skeptical to say the least. However, his performance against the Miami Dolphins certainly exorcised a few of the demons that supporters may have believed were in the closet.
In his first game, Newton added a different dimension to New England that hasn’t been around for decades. Thanks to his athleticism, the QB rushed for two crucial touchdowns, while his arm secured him stats of 155 yards according to ESPN. The season is long, yet coaches, players, and fans will be happy with their first start post-Brady.
The best of the rest
Those looking for a decent bet on sites like hpcasino.com will be interested in the potential rivals for the Patriots going forward. Unfortunately, the AFC East doesn’t appear to be hugely competitive on the face of it. To look over the past seasons, the Jets and Dolphins have been teams that the other AFC sides have taken to the cleaners. Thankfully, the Buffalo Bills are in the AFC East and bring a level of quality the other franchises don’t.
Aside from comfortably beating the Jets 27-17 in week 1, Buffalo has a history of pushing the Patriots to the division title. In 2017/18, the Bills finished 9-7 and improved in 2019/20 to 10-6 to make it to the post-season (only a close overtime defeat to the Texans prevented a match against New England). With Josh Allen, fan’s optimism is high, and if Milano and Edmunds stay healthy, it’s not against the odds for Buffalo to usurp the Patriots at the top of the AFC East.
NFL Fixture Formula
The NFL has a different way of determining the matches for each new season. Business Insider highlights how the formula works:
- There are six games against the other three teams in the division
- There are four more versus each team in one of the other three divisions in the conference
- There are four games against each team in one of the four divisions in the NFC conference
- Two games are played against teams that finished in the same place in the respective divisions
This year, it means there are tough fixtures for the Patriots and Bills. For example, both must play the Chiefs, who got off to a fast start against the Houston Texans last Thursday. It’s impossible to say which side has the best shot right now, considering the season is only one game old. What is obvious is that the like of Kansas, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and Seattle will play a part, as will the penultimate game – the Bills host the Patriots in a potential decider.
