ESPN’s Mike Rodak predicts Patriots win AFC East, Buffalo Bills miss playoffs

Mike Rodak, along with the rest of the NFL Nation AFC East crew, gave their predictions for the 2017 season.

The media currently has mixed feelings about the Buffalo Bills and how their 2017 season will go. Some have faith that the new regime can pull it together, while others feel the team is still too far away to end that playoff drought.

ESPN’s NFL Nation crew was recently asked who will win their respective division, as well as how many teams in that division will make the playoffs. When it came to the AFC East, it was time for Mike Rodak (Bills’ reporter), James Walker (Dolphins’ reporter), Mike Reiss (Patriots’ reporter) and Rich Cimini (Jets’ reporter) to give their take on how the division will play out.

Starting with Mike Rodak, he remained true to form by tree-hugging the New England Patriots and all the shame that comes with it. At the same time, his answer could turn out to be true.

Rodak said the Patriots will be the only team from the AFC East making the playoffs this season. As far as the other three teams, he sees no chance the Jets make it, an unlikely chance for the Bills and sees Miami as a possibility. His reasoning for why the other three could suffer is pretty accurate:

"The strength of the AFC still lies in the West and North divisions, from which I believe both playoff wild cards will emerge. If the Raiders and Steelers are the class of each of those divisions, I see the Chiefs as the most likely wild-card team, followed by a glut of teams, including the Bengals, Dolphins, Ravens and Broncos. It would not surprise me if Miami snuck in a second consecutive wild-card appearance, but I am not yet sold on Ryan Tannehill as the quarterback to lead the team any further than that. After five seasons, I think we have seen close to Tannehill’s ceiling."

I know it’s rare that I agree with Mike Rodak, but I think he nailed that.

Looking at what the other three reporters wrote, they all only had one team from the AFC East making the playoffs — all choosing the Patriots. They also seemed to be in agreement about the other teams, which fell in line with what Rodak said.

The New England Patriots are the best team in the NFL, if they don’t win the division then all hell will break loose everywhere — ironically, the same hell that would break loose if the Buffalo Bills were to win the division. The Patriots are good and it’s going to be tough for anyone in the AFC East to match their firepower — LeBron James knows the feeling.

The Miami Dolphins are the next best currently, but none of the reporters had enough faith in them to make the playoffs. They see the team taking a “step back” in Adam Gase’s second year as head coach and will ultimately get beaten out be a team in the AFC West or North.

The Buffalo Bills are the team that will likely miss the playoffs, but could surprise everyone and make some noise with a playoff run. James Walker’s (Dolphins) reasoning was due to having a rookie head coach, Mike Reiss’ (Patriots) gave the same reasoning and Rich Cimini (Jets) suggested they could surprise with big seasons from Sammy Watkns and LeSean McCoy, as long as the defense improves.

Lastly, everyone seemed to agree that the New York Jets were in full rebuilding mode and were “throwing the white flag” as Walker put it. Cimini stated “they’ll be closer to the No. 1 overall pick than a playoff spot.”

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Do you agree with NFL Nation? I’d say my thoughts are spot on with the rest of them, but I won’t be sleeping on the Buffalo Bills as much as them. Leave your thoughts below!