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Things are heating up in the AFC East after the Buffalo Bills were the only losers this week.
The New York Jets earned a hard-fought victory against Buffalo, while the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots grabbed wins against the Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts, respectively.
The good news for Bills fans is that the team is still leading the division at 6-2—but now the Jets and Dolphins are each 6-3 with wins over Buffalo, while New England isn’t far behind at 5-4.
Through 9 weeks of this #NFL season, all 4 teams in AFC East have winning records (Buf 6-2, NYJ 6-3, Mia 6-3, NE 5-4); the last time all 4 had winning records this late in a season was after Week 12, 2008 (NYJ 8-3, NE 7-4, Buf 6-5, Mia 6-5)
— Mike Haim (@mikehaim) November 7, 2022
Is the AFC East the best division in football right now?
Before the season, this seemed like a crazy question, as most thought that the Bills were clearly the favorites in the division. We knew that the Dolphins were going to be a threat after acquiring wide receiver Tyreek Hill; it was just a matter of the development of quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who has performed at an elite level when healthy this season. The Jets have been a surprising team thus far in the season, and the Patriots are still finding ways to win.
The AFC East is the only division in the league currently where each team has a winning record. Their 23 total wins are only second to the NFC East, which has 24 wins in part due to the Philadelphia Eagles being 8-0 with the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants being 6-2.
With three defensive-minded coaches in the division, it’s no surprise that three teams in the AFC East rank in the top 10 in points allowed per game. In terms of total points allowed this season, the division has allowed 684, which is second to the NFC East with 617. The Bills and Dolphins have two of the top six offenses in the league when you look at total yards, and are also in the upper half of the league with putting points on the board. As a collective, the division has scored a total of 832 points, which leads the NFL. No other division has combined for more than 760 points.
If you are seeing multiple mentions of the NFC East, it’s for good reason. That’s because they seem to be the AFC East’s current competition as the best division in football. Going into this weekend’s games the popular Super Bowl matchup predicted was the Bills against the Eagles. As for teams that can make a deep run in the playoffs, many analysts have been saying that the Cowboys and Dolphins could each do it in their own conferences. The best-division argument may come down to if you think the combination of the Jets and the Patriots are better than the combination of the Giants and the Washington Commanders. We’d love to hear your thoughts!
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