The Buffalo Bills were off Week 11 enjoying their bye, likely taking in all of the action within the rest of the division. Coming into this week, the Miami Dolphins had a chance to even their record with Buffalo in the standings by defeating the Denver Broncos. The New York Jets were still looking for their first win of the season, while the New England Patriots were looking to keep momentum going for a possible postseason push. Let’s recap the action from Week 11 in this edition of AFC East Roundup—a week that was very kind to the Bills.
The Miami Dolphins may find themselves eating some humble pie this year at Thanksgiving after losing to the Broncos. A lot of people were jumping on the Miami tour boat this past week due to their recent success and a “soft” schedule the rest of the season. Many thought they had a chance to run the table and win the division. Instead, they found themselves struggling to score points on offense with the defense unable to generate turnovers like was the case in recent weeks. In the fourth quarter the team even benched Tua for veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick. Now the Dolphins finds themselves with a possible quarterback controversy even though head coach Brian Flores said that Tua would remain the starter going forward.
Meanwhile in New England, after a victory over the Baltimore Ravens some thought the Patriots were slowly coming together and could make a late run in the second half of the season. Unfortunately for them, that was not the case in Week 11 as they fell to the Houston Texans. Cam Newton put up a very impressive performance passing for over 350 yards and a touchdown but the problem was New England’s defense didn’t show up and allowed Deshaun Watson to pass for 344 yards and two touchdown passes. The loss drops the Patriots to 4-6 on the season with the playoffs looking like a pipedream.
Lastly we have the Jets who tried valiantly to get their first win of the year. Their season could be summed up by the first couple of series in the game. The Jets were able to block a punt on the first series that led to the game’s first touchdown. However, in true Jets fashion they missed the extra point. On the ensuing drive, the defense gave up a huge play but was able to force and recover a fumble on the one-yard line. The stars seemed to be aligning until Joe Flacco threw a pick-six on the following play. New York ended up losing 34-28, officially being eliminated from the playoffs.