Jerry Jabber

You're right, after the 1985 Superbowl, you guys did have bad QB's. I wish the Bills could luck out like you guys and have a lower round QB turn out to be a HoF QB. Congrats on the win Sunday!

Didn't say the Pats really aren't that good, just saying the division has been weak the entire time Brady has been the Patriots starter. How would the AFC East looked in the late 80's thru the end of the 90's if the Dolphins had the caliber of QB's they've had between 2001-2016 instead of Dan Marino and the Patriots had a scrub QB the caliber of what the Jets or Bills have had between 2001-2016? The Bills with Jim Kelly would have won the AFC East every year.

I agree that Brady is a great QB, but when the rest of the division is weak, it's easy to go 5-1/6-0 in the division every year.

Flacco had a bad knee injury in 2015, which usually takes time to recuperate from. The only QB that's had no noticeable side effects from a knee injury has been Brady. It took years off of Carson Palmer's career and altered Culpeper's career as he was never the same. And your argument about Flacco being good for one postseason is a terrible one. Here are the Ravens stats before Flacco's knee injury: In 2008, Flacco's rookie season, the Ravens finished 11-5 (2nd in the AFC North) and lost to a divisional rival [steelers] in the AFC Championship game (went 2-1 in the postseason). 2009, went 9-7, beat the Patriots in the Wild Card game and lost the following week (1-1 in the playoffs). 2010, 12-4 in the regular season, 1-1 in the postseason. 2011, 12-4 in the regular season, 1-1 in the postseason, lost in the AFC Championship game. 2012, 10-6 regular season, 4-0 in the playoffs, Superbowl champions. 2013, 8-8, missed the playoffs. 2014, 10-6 regular season, 1-1 in the postseason. So, the Ravens under Flacco went 72-34 during that time period, 10-5 in the post season, three AFC Championship appearances and one Superbowl victory. Back to the original topic, the Ravens did this while mostly finishing 2nd in the AFC North (finished 1st in the division once).

It's no wonder why the Pats have had such an easy time in division. When I was looking up the Pats record vs the AFC East, I came across the following article from a couple of years ago which is along the subject of this thread: http://archive.boston.com/sports/columnists/wilbur/2014/10/the_end_of_incompetence_the_patriots_dominance_in.html

If the AFC East had some other very good QB's since 2001, I can see the Patriots having fewer AFC East division titles. Granted, they would still have more than anyone else in the division, but it wouldn't have been a cake walk for them like it has since 2001. If the Jets had a very good QB during their two AFC Championship games instead of Sanchez, they probably would have went to the Superbowl and possibly won one or both. If the Bills had a very good QB when they had two years of having the #2 defense in the early 2000's and when they had the #4 ranked defense under Schwartz, they could have went deep in the playoffs.

The Patriots stretched the rule book on having the RB report as ineligible/eligible. The RB was supposed to report to the ref that he was an eligible receiver in enough time so the ref could tell the defense the RB is an eligible receiver. The Patriots in this specific game were telling the ref right before the ball was snapped which didn't give the ref enough time to tell the defense, which is why Harbaugh got P.O.'d and took a 15 yard penalty for coming onto the field. In that offseason, the NFL changed the rule so the Patriots and the rest of the league couldn't stretch that rule again.

+1 You got one thing right, their QB's stink! +1

+1

Agree to disagree. What about all the other divisions I mentioned? How come the Bills didn't make the playoffs when the Bills had the #2 ranked defense two years in a row in the early 2000's? How come they didn't make it to the playoffs when they had the #4 ranked defense under Schwartz and a Top 5 Special Teams unit?

The Steelers have been to three Super Bowl's and won two with Rapistburger, but the Ravens still managed to get in the playoffs six times and Bengals still managed to get in the playoffs five times even with playing against an elite QB [Rapistburger] in the division. You can try and use the argument "You just named a bunch of good teams with okay quarterback play," but how would all the AFC East QB's from the Bills, Jets and Dolphins over the past 16 years do on those teams? The Bills had a Top 5 defense three different times during the playoff drought, but did that get us to the playoffs? No. A good QB can make all the difference. Here's another division, the NFC South. The last two teams to represent the NFC came from this division. Every QB in this division can be considered very good to elite. Cam Newton, last year's MVP. Drew Brees, still throwing for over 5,000 yards and a SB winner. Matt Ryan, league MVP. Jameis Winston, up and comer and looking good in his second year in the league.

AFC North has Rapistburger and Flacco (two SB winners) and Dalton who was doing good up until this past season. Have the Bills, Jets and Dolphins had a good QB the caliber of those three since 2001...I don't think so. NFC North has Wilson and Palmer, Wilson went to two Super Bowl's and won one, Palmer was in the NFC Championship game last year...again, have the Bills, Jets and Dolphins had a good QB the caliber of those two since 2001...I don't think so. NFC East had E. Manning and Romo and Manning won two SB's. Have the Bills, Jets and Dolphins had a good QB the caliber of those two since 2001...I don't think so.

I agree 100%

The QB is the most important piece of the team and the rest of the division hasn't had a great one, let alone a good one in over 16 years.

Last night, Matt Ryan was the only Top 10 QB Brady had to face all year long. We unfortunately know the outcome, but if the Falcons coaches were smarter, they would have won the game. You know every game Brady is in, he's going to put up a lot of points, so you need an elite QB who can do the same. The AFC East has shown that you can't do that with guys like: Losman, Holcomb, Edwards, Fitzpatrick, Manuel, Taylor, Pennington, Clemens, Sanchez, G. Smith, Fiedler, Lemon, Beck, Moore and Tannehill.

It's pathetic that no other AFC East team has been able to get a very good/elite QB over the past 16 years. The Bills, Jets and Dolphins have been making it easy for Brady and Belichek.

Back in the late 80's thru the mid-90's, the AFC East had two elite QB's in the division, Kelly and Marino, followed by Bledsoe during the 90's with the Patriots. Since Brady took over as starter in 2001, he's barely had to face any good competition within the division. The best Brady had to face was Drew Bledsoe who was on the downside of his career during his three years with the Bills and Brett Favre who played with the Jets (had a torn bicep) for one year. Brady has had an easy ride winning the division almost every single year as there's been no real competition for 16 years. It would be nice if some team (preferably the Bills) got an elite QB and finally gave the Patriots a real challenge within the division.

Sorry for your loss. Thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family.

Marrone has him beat

Tank

I agree. I think Rex would be a great guy to go grab a beer and wings with and BS about football, but he underwhelmed as a HC. I wish him well at ESPN.

That, as well as injuries and not having those lost picks to use from the Watkins trade.

As far as Rex, I like his personality and how he embraced the city. But as a coach, I thought he was below average from not putting in the time (being last to arrive and first to leave everyday (as reported by Sal C. from WGR550) and not tailoring the defense based on the strengths of his players.

+1

Who cares about Brady's legacy as a Bills fan. The guy dominated the Bills during his career to date and there's no way the Bills will ever put enough wins up against him to make that W/L record even a respectable one.. I'm more concerned about the Buffalo Bills legacy. The past 17 years has been marked with failure and ineptitude. Our glory years have been long gone. I'm hoping the Pegula's will build a new, winning legacy in Buffalo with both the Sabres and Bills, but I think that itself is going to take some time as they are learning on the job as new sports owners.