This is part of an ongoing 8-part series where the Steel City Underground team takes their stab at predicting the 2016 NFL season.

This edition focuses on the AFC East.

2015 Finish	Terry	Brian	Joe	Josh
NE	NE	NE	NE	NE
NYJ	BUF	NYJ	NYJ	NYJ
BUF	MIA	BUF	BUF	BUF
MIA	NYJ	MIA	MIA	MIA

You’d swear we all cheated off of each other’s homework with these picks!

Everyone seems to think the rest of the AFC East is in no position to take advantage of Tom Brady‘s suspension. Brian, Joe and Josh all felt exactly the same way about all 4 teams, while Terry isn’t sold on the Jets turnaround last season.

Read below to find out what we thought:

Terry

New England will win the division.

Without Brady they will go 2-2, and then he’ll come back and kill it. (12-4.)

Oh Rex… their talent and their defense will allow them to take second, but without a good ST unit their 10-6 season will fall short of the playoffs.

Miami has a decent QB in Tannehill, and the O-line protects him better than most, but they are thin at WR and newly acquired RB Arian Foster has not played 16 games since 2012. Coming off an Achilles tear at 30 years old, he may not make it through the season. The ‘fins have a good year, not a great year (10-5-1.)

The Jets are always playing the “we are better than you think we are” game. Fitzpatrick has one of his worst career games versus Buffalo during the last week of the 2015 season, causing them to miss the playoffs (and allowing the Steelers to get in.)

Fitz still held out for a big paycheck, but his worth is not what he thinks it is. He makes rushed decisions when the pocket is collapsing for too many INTs. New York was smart to only give him a one year deal. (8-8.)

Brian

I think the Brady-less Patriots will stumble, and start out the blocks either 2-2 or 1-3.  I do think that once Brady comes back, the Pats will win more than they lose. I guess them finishing at 11-5, which I think is still enough to take the division.

The Jets are a defensive powerhouse, and I think that defense will carry them to second place.

Buffalo could be good, but the best part of that team is the D-line, and I’m just not sure if Tyrod Taylor has a sophomore season that measures up.

I could flip Miami with Buffalo, because I think the talent level is about even. I’m not a Tannehill believer, so in my book that puts them in the division cellar.

Now pardon me, I have to go wash my mouth out, because saying something nice about the Patriots made me throw up a little.

Joe

A lot of people might think the Patriots are in trouble with Tom Brady missing for the first four games of the season, but Bill Belichick hasn’t been around this long because he can’t coach. A similar mantra to the Steelers, the Pats will expect their next man up, Jimmy Garoppolo, to manage well enough to get the Patriots past the first four games: Arizona, Miami, Houston and Buffalo.

It pains me to say this, but the Pats won’t be any worse than 2-2 during this stretch and may go 3-1. Arizona will be their toughest opponent during this stretch, and they could very well win that game, as the early weeks of the NFL season are full of growing pains.

The Pats have long had the luxury of playing in an awful division, and the only competition they’ve had during that time is the New York Jets: whom I have placing second, as they add Matt Forte to an already loaded offense full of weapons.

It really doesn’t matter how good or bad Ryan Fitzpatrick plays, though his numbers suggest regression, this team was a game from making the playoffs last season. The Broncos made it in with terrible QB play and stellar defense, so why not the Jets?

Buffalo is on the upswing, but dealing with injuries to key players. That will hurt them in the long-run, as they’re not deep enough to sustain those losses… the Dolphins, on the other hand, are rebuilding once again, and don’t pose much of a threat to anyone in their division, let alone the NFL.