If they can continue to be competitive they might surprise some opponents

Key Acquisitions

Patriots: WR Chad Ochocinco, DT Albert Haynesworth, DE Shaun Ellis, DT Marcus Stroud

Jets: WR Plaxico Burress, WR Derrick Mason

Dolphins: LB Kevin Burnett, OT Marc Colombo, RB Reggie Bush

Bills: LB Nick Barnett, WR Brad Smith, QB Tyler Thigpen

Key Rookies

Patriots: OT Nate Solder

Jets: DE Muhammad Wilkerson

Dolphins: RB Daniel Thomas

Bills: DT Marcell Dareus

Team Previews

New England

The staple of a Bill Belichick coached team is a good all around defense.  The defense led the NFL in interceptions and turnover differential, but was near the bottom against the pass.  The main reason was because of their lack of a pass rush.  They ranked in the middle of the pack last season, but they still finished the season with a 14-2 record.

Of course when you have Tom Brady as your quarterback you will have success.  The Patriots were the best scoring team in the NFL and Brady was named MVP for the second time.  He had many reliable targets last year, but there wasn’t a clear cut gamebreaker last season.  Enter Chad Ochocinco.  His arrival will help open up the middle of the field for Wes Welker and Deion Branch.  Tight end is a loaded position for New England with the emergence of Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski.  Should Chad be the Chad of ’03-’07 the Patriots will be the team to beat in this division.

Defensively they should be greatly improved with the additions of Haynesworth, Ellis and Stroud to go along with Vince Wilfork on the defensive line.  New England attacks opposing offenses with many different fronts.  It will be interesting to see how all the pieces will fit, but Belichick is a master at putting players in the right spot to succeed.  With an improved pass rush that should help linebacker Jerod Mayo continue to be a force in the middle. Cornerback Devin McCourty and Safety Patrick Chung should still be a dominant duo with less time chasing opposing receivers.

New York

It wasn’t as successful an offseason as the Jets would have liked, but they did keep some important pieces to remain Super Bowl contenders.  Rex Ryan is still talking and why wouldn’t he?  New York had a top three rushing attack and one of the best defenses in the league last year.  Both are relatively intact for the 2011 season.

QB Mark Sanchez survived his sophomore season with the Jets. It was a repeat of his rookie season as the Jets were one win away from playing in the Super Bowl.  With that much early success it’s easy to think that Sanchez will have a breakthrough year.  And why not?  WR Santonio Holmes was re-signed and will be playing an entire year with Sanchez.  Braylon Edwards is gone, but replacing him are a capable veteran Derrick Mason and 6’5 Plaxico Burress.  Plus Sanchez’s favorite target TE Dustin Keller is an elite pass catcher.  The rushing attack should be among the best again with Shonn Greene and LaDainian Tomlinson going through one of the best offensive lines in the NFL.

They struck out trying to get the big free agent prize, CB Nnamdi Asomugha.  But they were able to bring back CB Antonio Cromartie.  It doesn’t sound as good as the combo of Nnamdi and Darrelle Revis, but it’s still pretty good.  Both are good cover corners and are ballhawks as well.  With a youth movement taking place on the defensive line that should help keep the veterans fresh through the long regular season.  And linebackers David Harris and Bart Scott should be free to wreak havoc all over the field.

Miami

He was almost shown the door when owner Stephen Ross was courting then Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh to be the Dolphins head coach.  Harbaugh turned Ross down.  Afterwards Ross almost immediately extended Tony Sparano’s contract. Sparano is now in his 4th season in Miami.  Miami has gone 7-9 the last two seasons.  Going forward Sparano knows he doesn’t have much time to turn it around.  He has a good defense, but the offense is in transition.  Time will tell if it will work against New England and New York.

They didn’t want a quarterback in the draft and they weren’t looking for a replacement in free agency either.  That means Chad Henne is the guy going into the 2011 season.  With new faces in the backfield for Henne, it remains to be seen if he can bounce back after a rough 2010 season.  He still has Brandon Marshall to look for.  Whether anyone else can step up to take the pressure off Marshall is another story.  Reggie Bush coming over in a trade will help the short passing game, but Miami figures to use him more as a running back this year.  Rookie Daniel Thomas figures to see a lot of action running the ball, but he’s a bruiser and won’t be asked to carry all the time.

The one constant with Sparano’s teams have been on defense. They were a great defense last year even though the offense didn’t help through long stretches of the season.  One big reason was LB Cameron Wake.  His 14 sacks led the team and was 3rd in the NFL.  One weakness was coverage among the linebackers and Kevin Burnett should fix that.  He’s seen as an improvement over Channing Crowder last season.  Burnett and Karlos Dansby are a formidable duo inside for Miami.  The defensive line should continue to get better with 2010 1st round pick Jared Odrick and Paul Soliai anchoring it.  CB Vontae Davis will have to start living up to his 1st round selection in 2009 this season and become a shutdown corner.

Buffalo

The one positive from the 2010 season for Chan Gailey is that Buffalo was competitive in almost all of their games.  Their 4-12 record doesn’t show that, but 6 of their losses could easily have been wins.  Do the math and that’s a 10-6 record.  But that can be said for almost every team.  Going forward the mindset in Buffalo is to remain competitive and get the offensive playmakers more involved.

The quarterback position could very well have been a disaster last year.  Fortunately for the Bills they had Ryan Fitzpatrick.  He finished the year with career highs in yards thrown and touchdowns.  Along with Fitzpatrick’s career year they discovered a gem with WR Steve Johnson.  His spectacular production was a welcome surprise when their best receiver at the time Lee Evans was struggling to stay healthy.  The offense should open up with the versatile Brad Smith being signed away from the rival New York Jets.  Look for some creative play calling this season with Smith on board.  Fred Jackson will be the workhorse in the backfield, but C.J. Spiller should have an expanded role with one year under his belt.

Buffalo was struggling to find an identity on defense last year as well as on offense.  It became apparent that the Bills weren’t adequately equipped to run a traditional 3-4.  In the middle of the season they switched to a hybrid defense that alternates between a 4-3 base to the occasional 3-4.  It was probably too late as the defense was the worst against the run last year.  The defense should get a lift with the additions of LB Nick Barnett and rookie DT Marcell Dareus.  Look for improvements from LB Shawne Merriman and LB Chris Kelsay with the change in tactics.  The one positive was that Buffalo was third against the pass last year.  Credit to the Bills for keeping that intact with CB Terrence McGee, CB Leodis McKelvin, CB Drayton Forence and S Jairus Byrd all returning.