Tom Brady is Tom Brady, and he's the reason that the Patriots are still, at least in this humble blogger's opinion, the team to beat in the AFC East. Most NFL analysts insist that the Jets and Dolphins are much closer to usurping the division throne than Buffalo - considering each team's overall talent level, that's not surprising - but none of these three teams have yet discovered the consistent QB play that will be the biggest factor in New England's downfall. That trend has continued this pre-season.
Trent Edwards was not great in the Bills' pre-season debut against Washington, completing just 6 of 12 passes for 58 yards with an ugly interception. He was much better against Indianapolis, going 5-of-8 for 93 yards, with a 70-yard touchdown pass to Lee Evans.
Chad Henne was arguably worse than Edwards in Miami's pre-season opener against Tampa Bay, going 5-of-11 for just 19 yards, though he didn't turn the ball over. Then again, he absolutely torched Jacksonville last night, completing 11 of 14 passes for 151 yards with two scores. That performance has by far been the most encouraging that any division QB has put up this pre-season.
Mark Sanchez had an efficient pre-season opener against the Giants, completing 13 of 17 passes for 119 yards with a score and a pick on a tipped pass. He was something less than efficient against Carolina last night, completing 5 of 10 passes for just 12 yards.
Perhaps I'm just old-fashioned, but until one of these quarterbacks start playing more consistent football, I don't see any of these teams vaulting past Brady and the Pats, despite the trendiness surrounding New York and Miami.