The AFC East is one of those divisions that certainly is not the best, but now it should be a two-team race for the foreseeable future. For nearly two decades, it belonged to the New England Patriots. But then once Tom Brady left in 2020, the Buffalo Bills took over as the best team for the next five years. Then last season, the Patriots found a way to take it back and make a run at the Super Bowl.
While the Bills and Patriots are expected to be competing at the top, the same can’t be said for the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. They are closer towards the bottom of the league and at this point, they should just be focused on 2027.
Even though there are two teams that are near the top and two that are near the bottom, all four teams have atleast one major question surrounding them going into the 2026 season.
1 question that each AFC East team will have to answer in 2026
Buffalo Bills: Can Joe Brady go further than Sean McDermott ever did?
Out of all the moves that the Bills made this past offseason, firing Sean McDermott and promoting Joe Brady to head coach is the biggest one. After nine seasons with McDermott, the Bills had enough of losing in the playoffs under him and decided to make the change. Now they will be going with an offensive-minded coach who has been in the building and has worked closely with Josh Allen.
However, McDermott had a ton of success and Brady will now have to not just repeat it, but also do more than what McDermott did. The only thing that McDermott wasn’t able to accomplish was reach the Super Bowl and win it. Can Brady be the one that finally does it for the Bills?
New England Patriots: Was 2025 a fluke, or are they the real deal?
The Patriots shocked the league last year by going 14-3 with a second-year quarterback in Drake Maye. Not only that, but they did make it to the Super Bowl…until the Seattle Seahawks completely embarrassed them. Nonetheless, they did what the Bills haven’t been able to do with Josh Allen.
At the same time, it was one of the easiest schedules that a team could have had to go on that kind of run. Now, they will have to prove that 2025 wasn’t a fluke and that they can be for real, and I’m not sure that they will be able to.
New York Jets: How much pressure is truly on Aaron Glenn?
The Jets were bad under their former head coach in Robert Saleh, but atleast the defense was near an elite status. Last season with Aaron Glenn as their new head coach, things went from bad to worse on both sides of the ball. The fact that a defense, which is led by a defensive-minded coach, wasn’t able to get a single interception is pathetic.
Glenn faces the most pressure out of any head coach going into this season, and he will need to prove to not just Jets fans, but all NFL fans that he can be a head coach in this league.
Miami Dolphins: What does success look like in 2026?
We all know that the Dolphins are in a rebuild, it’s no surprise. They have a new general manager and head coach, both coming from the Green Bay Packers, and they came in and tore down the roster. So, the biggest question for the Dolphins is seeing what success looks like for them this season.
They signed QB Malik Willis to a three-year deal, but he hasn’t been a full-season starter at all in his career. Their wide receiver room is not great whatsoever, and the only true playmaker they have is De’Von Achane in the backfield.
No one expects much out of Miami this year, but they will need to determine what success looks like in 2026 so that they can build off of it for 2027 and beyond.
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