AFC East Roundup: Quarterback Play

In Week 5 of the regular season we saw three teams in the AFC East come away with victories. The Miami Dolphins were the only division-mates unable to secure a win this week. The quarterback play was wide-ranging among the quartet of teams, so that’s where we’ll focus our attention for this edition of the AFC East roundup.

The Good

There were a lot of good takeaways from the signal callers in the division this week. The New England Patriots’ Tom Brady threw his 500th career touchdown against the Indianapolis Colts and dismantled their defense in a commanding team victory.

The Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen led his first career game-winning drive against the Tennessee Titans as the Bills won with a field goal as time expired. Allen also had the only offensive touchdown in the game on a 12-yard scramble.

Fellow rookie Sam Darnold led the New York Jets to a surprising victory against the Denver Broncos, in a game where he continued to show flashes of the attributes coveted by the Jets’ organization. Allen and Darnold—along with Baker Mayfield of the Cleveland Browns and Josh Rosen of the Arizona Cardinals—made it the first time in NFL history that four rookies went 4-0 in the same week they all started.

The Bad

Even though Brady had a terrific game on Thursday night, he threw two interceptions. However, if he can continue to counteract them with all those touchdowns, the team should be fine. Darnold and Allen also each threw an interception, but they did just enough for their teams to squeeze out victories.

The Ugly

We’re giving Allen credit for the game-winning drive but his numbers are not all that impressive. He only had 82 yards passing on ten completions. There were times his accuracy issues plagued him such that a better ball would have led to more yards or simply a completion, which is something he and his coaches need to address moving forward.

Ryan Tannehill of the Dolphins has not been discussed yet, and with good reason. After he and the team jumped out to a 17-0 lead against the Cincinnati Bengals, things went swiftly downhill. Tannehill threw a key interception that bounced off a helmet and was returned for a touchdown. The pick-six was followed by Tannehill fumbling on a scramble that was picked up and returned for another touchdown. He played a good first half, but he didn’t do enough to put the nail in the coffin during crunch time. Instead, his mistakes ultimately cost the Dolphins a victory.