Another week in the books for the AFC East and the Buffalo Bills find themselves alone in first place with a 4-0 record. After them are the New England Patriots at 2-2 after dropping their game Monday night against the Kansas City Chiefs. Rounding out the division are the Miami Dolphins at 1-3 and the New York Jets who are still looking for their first win of the season. This week on the AFC East Roundup we discuss one stat that has had an early impact on each team.
Buffalo Bills: 30.8 points per game
For the Bills a big question coming into the season was if the offense was finally going to be explosive. Well, so far so good as the team is averaging just over 30 points. For a team that has been carried by a great defense the past couple of seasons it’s nice to see the offense putting up big numbers week in and week out. A lot of the credit can be given to Josh Allen who has made a big jump in his third year at quarterback and putting up the best numbers so far in his young career. Let’s not forget wide receiver Stefon Diggs who the Bills traded for to give them a true number-one receiver, which has paid off as Diggs is currently tied for the league lead in receiving yards at 403. If Buffalo can keep putting up points, they will remain a hard team to beat.
New England Patriots: 1 positive test
Things were going really well for the Patriots on the season until quarterback Cam Newton tested positive for COVID-19. Newton was playing well after three games, completing just under 70 percent of his passes and had the team one play away from upsetting the Seattle Seahawks on the road last weekend. Unfortunately with the positive test, Newton missed the game against the Chiefs resulting in Brian Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham playing under center. New England ended up losing the game 26-10. It may only be Week 4 but that was a big game for the Patriots as it now puts them two games behind the Bills in the standings, which could be important as the weeks go by.
Miami Dolphins: 426 yards per game
Do not let their 1-3 record fool you, the Miami Dolphins are a good football team and gave the Buffalo Bills and the Seattle Seahawks all they could handle the last two weeks. Where this team is hurting is on defense—giving up 426 yards per game to opposing offenses. That’s a lot of yards and, as a result, has them surrendering 24 points per game. That is a tough hole for the offense to dig out of when they are only averaging 355 yards per game. If the defense can shape up for the Dolphins then this team could make a run late in the season for a potential Wild Card spot.
New York Jets: 12 sacks
There are a lot of stats that stand out on the Jets, which is to be expected of an 0-4 football team. However, one stat that stood out to me was that Sam Darnold has been sacked 12 times this season, which ranks him eighth in the league. For a team that was supposed to be rebuilding a solid offensive line around him, it does not seem to be working for the Jets. For Darnold and for any quarterback to excel, they need time in the pocket to throw. On the flip side, it may not be the offensive line’s fault as Darnold actually ranks 11th in the league for time to throw in the pocket. Either way, something needs to change or else that sack number is going to continue to rise.