The Buffalo Bills may have lost the AFC East last season to the New England Patriots, and it may felt like a step back for them. At the same time, they still made the playoffs and they even got their first road playoff win in the Josh Allen era. Even with the changes that the Bills went through this offseason, they are closer to being championship contenders than in contention for No. 1 overall pick.
Heading into this season, the Bills and Patriots are expected to be battling it out for the top of the division. As for the other two teams in the division in the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets, it’s the complete opposite.
Last season, the Dolphins atleast had some kind of success at times. As for the Jets, they were in the first phase of their rebuild with head coach Aaron Glenn, who is a defensive-minded coach, yet couldn't put the Jets in a position to record a single interception.
The Jets finished last season at 3-14, but they are running it back with Glenn, who had to hire new coordinators to assist with the roster. They made some additions to try and improve the roster, but they still have a long way to go.
Bills fans should be happy that Buffalo isn't where the Jets currently are
The Jets are nowhere near being an elite team, but they did have a solid offseason with additions both in free agency and the NFL Draft. Historically, the Jets have been known to have some of the better defensive units in the league, and they do have the talent on paper to improve this unit.
Even though he were solid in their Week 2 preseason win over the Pittsburgh Steelers (who the Bills will be playing this Thursday for the preseason finale), the Jets' defense got a reality check from Carter Bahns of CBS Sports, who says that the Jets' defense being fixed is an overreaction.
"Remember, though, that this came against Pittsburgh's No. 2 offense. And keep in mind that while the Jets overhauled the unit with a plethora of free agent additions, none of them are elite players. Aaron Glenn needs this group to hold its own in 2026, and it may just do that. But this shutout means very little." said Bahns.
Yes, the Jets did shutout the Steelers and only allowed them go to 5/16 on 3rd-downs. New York’s defense did also grab two interceptions and four sacks. That’s all great, but just like Bahns said, it was against Pittsburgh’s backups.
To say this defense is fixed would definitely be an overreaction because they have so much work to do. I get it, the Bills are not perfect and their defense has a new-look under Jim Leonhard. At the same time, Buffalo made a bunch of moves that is going to help fix their defense and Leonhard’s approach is going to be vastly different than Sean McDermott’s.
The Bills and Jets don’t play each other until Week 10 when the Bills head to the Jets, and then the Bills will welcome the Jets in the regular season finale. So, fans have a little bit of time to study how this Jets defense performs. For now though, there is no reason to believe that the Jets defense is changed for the better.
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