Buffalo Bills
Best Case Scenario: Riding high after a surprising 9-7 season in 2014, the Buffalo defense gets even nastier under the tutelage of a Rex Ryan scorned. The Bills offense is still barely serviceable, but it doesn’t matter because no one can score on Kyle/Mario Williams and friends. Buffalo finally breaks its league-longest playoff drought with a wild card appearance, even if it goes nowhere.Worst Case Scenario: Because only Rex Ryan would immediately claim a guy that broke his own quarterback’s jaw, Buffalo inherits a particularly harsh breed of bad karma for 2015. The Bills’ formerly stout defense is reduced to dust in the wind because this offense can barely stay on the field for more than three downs while somewhere out there Doug Marrone laughs from his armchair.
Prediction: I think the Bills are a lot of fun these days - I really do! But with Matt Cassel as their best option under center at the moment, I’m skeptical they can match their surprisingly good 2014 campaign. I see a slide back to 7 - 9.
Miami Dolphins
Best Case Scenario: Well, the Dolphins do have kind of a dream scenario to start 2015. The only teams they’ll face before Week 8 that had a winning record last year are the Bills and the Texans, who will have to get things done without Arian Foster. So this time, Miami doesn’t blow it against a bunch of bad teams and Brady sits out four full games, ultimately giving the Dolphins their first division title since 2008. Surrounded by a more complete offensive arsenal, Ryan Tannehill finally takes the leap we sort of thought he might.Worst Case Scenario: As they are want to do, the Dolphins blow it against the likes of the Redskinks, Jaguars, Jets and/or Titans while the Patriots go on another tear a la post-Spygate in 2007. Tannehill remains who we thought he was, and newly gilded ‘Fin Ndamukong Suh fails to single-handedly overhaul a porous Miami defense. On the bright side though, Joe Philbin gets the mid-season axe!
Prediction: It’s hard to find a rational way for the Dolphins to go less than 5 - 1 over their first six games although the AFC vise should tighten in the second half of the season. So my blindfold and dartboard puts Miami at 9 - 7.
New England Patriots
Best Case Scenario: Just as they did in their last post-cheating-scandal season, the Patriots burn their competition to the ground week after week on the MVP'ed arm of 100%-non-suspended Tom Brady. New England takes another shot at 19 - 0 with Brady and Belichick *perhaps* contemplating retiring at the top of their game and giving everyone else a stinking chance for once.Worst Case Scenario: Brady is forced to ride the pine for the first four games of the season, and the combination of Jimmy Garoppolo at QB and a totally rebuilt defense puts the Pats at risk for missing the playoffs for the first time in seven years. Gronk goes down with another season-ending injury and New England barely limps into a wild card spot while Bostonians panic themselves into Patriots doomsday prophecies for the entire next offseason. No matter what though, we’ll always have this.
Prediction: I’m going to take the angle that Tom Brady’s suspension gets overturned or held up in a web of legalese that goes well beyond this season. So with this angry hornet taking the field with a four-time Super Bowl winning franchise that still somehow has something to prove, I see the Patriots going 12 - 4 on Vengeance Tour 2.0.
New York Jets
Best Case Scenario: Is there a time machine the Jets can take to undraft Geno Smith or at least give him a hockey mask? To play devil’s advocate though, how much worse could Ryan Fitzpatrick be as a backup for Gang Green? He was part of that 9 - 7 Texans team last year after all. Okay, now I get it. Geno Smith getting punched in the face is somehow the best case scenario for the Jets! Woof.Worst Case Scenario: I legitimately want good things to happen for newest coach/latest victim Todd Bowles, but this roster has all the makings of a two- or three-win nightmare. With turmoil in the locker room, a pile of flaming tires at quarterback and the glaring spotlight of the New York media, there isn’t much that can’t go wrong for the Jets right now.
Prediction: I should have been more fair in saying that Todd Bowles has some fantastic defensive talent to work with in New York, and that always went pretty well for the guy when he was with the Cardinals. But somebody’s got to be this year’s Yertle the Turtle in the NFL, and the Jets seem like a perfect 3 - 13 candidate.
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