By Kenny Burgess Contributor
Updated 7/18/23 12:20pm ET
The AFC East was an extremely competitive division last year and it should be tougher this 2023 NFL season. The Buffalo Bills have won this division each of the last three seasons and are favored to do it again. However, the Miami Dolphins proved to be dangerous last season and have one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL. It would be criminal to count out the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick — they have proved to be competitive in every year Belichick has been at the helm. Finally, the New York Jets made the biggest splash of the offseason by acquiring Aaron Rodgers, who seems to be a real threat to make some noise this upcoming season. All these teams won at least seven games last season, and all seem poised to be contenders this season.
Buffalo Bills (+450 Conference Odds)
The Bills are favored to win the division for the fourth straight year (+130) and have the third-shortest odds to win the Super Bowl (+900). Buffalo is led by a high-flying offense and Josh Allen, who has become a perennial MVP candidate in the past few seasons. The Bills also have a stout defense that finished fourth in scoring last year. With both sides of the ball in the top four for scoring, there is no reason to believe the Bills won’t be good again this season. Even in this tough division, the Bills’ win total is set at 10.5.
Miami Dolphins (+1100 Conference Odds)
The Dolphins enter the new season with the third-best odds to win the division (+290) and are tied for the tenth-best odds to win the Super Bowl (+2500). The key for the Dolphins will be the health of Tagovailoa — when he played, they had an 8-5 record. Miami’s win total is currently at 9.5 and if it wants to hit that over, Tagovailoa will need to stay healthy/be more consistent.
New England Patriots (+5000 Conference Odds)
The Patriots still managed to win eight games last season and will surely be a competitive team again this season. The only downside for them is that their division is loaded and currently they have the worst odds to win the division (+750). The narrative in New England is that there simply aren’t enough weapons for Jones and experts are unsure if they’ll be able to make enough happen on offense. New England did rank 11th in the league in scoring defense and don’t expect much to change while Belichick is still running that side of the ball. The Patriots win total is set at 7.5 and if they are to reach that they’ll need better play from Jones and the offense, while still having their defense be stout.
New York Jets (+1100 Conference Odds)
No team is expected to take a bigger step than the New York Jets this season. Last year, the Jets were great in almost every aspect besides quarterback play. The Jets used many different quarterbacks last season and all of them played well-below league standards, but it seems they have solved that problem by bringing in four-time league MVP Aaron Rodgers. This acquisition sets the Jets up with the second-best odds to win the division (+250) and the seventh-best odds to win the Super Bowl (+1600). This is for good reason as the Jets had the second-best scoring defense in the NFL last season and have great skill players around Rodgers on offense. The Jets win total is set at 9.5 and expectations are sky-high with Rodgers under center. If the defense can repeat its performance from last year and Rodgers clicks on offense, the Jets should be scary next season.
*Odds courtesy of DraftKings.
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