AFC East: Jets

1. New York Jets - Despite two losses to the Pats, the Jets will take more advantage of New England's personnel losses than any other team. Pennington's shoulder will not be an issue. Reuniting Lavernues Coles with Pennington will matter less than the accuracy of rookie placekicker, Mike Nugent. Because the Jets play such a gritty type of football; they play a lot of close games. The former Buckeye will be the difference, but the playoffs will be too much for him.

2. New England Patriots (Wildcard) - Every dynasty, sooner or later, shows the beginnings of its decline. That time is now. Brady and the Pats will continue their winning ways, but their linebacker corp is in shambles and the base of its stellar operations, coordinators Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel, are roaming foreign sidelines. The first to vanquish the Pats in the playoffs will be the next AFC represenatives.

3. Miami Dolphins - As forecasted the Dolphins hit rock bottom when their coach quit in the middle of last season. New coach, Nick Saban, is reminiscent of Jimmy Johnson arrival in Dallas over a decade ago. Saban won a national championship, is an expert on defense and has been given total control of a once sparkling franchise. Miami will be a dynasty within four years. Until then, a quarterback is needed because these three guys--Frerotte, Feeley and Rosenfels--are the worst. Rookie RB Ronnie Brown won't fly until the OL is, at least, mediocre.

4. Buffalo Bills - The J.P. Losman experiment is bound to be a wasted number 1 draft pick. Sure, everyone says he's a great athlete, but did Johnny Unitas, Trent Dilfer or Bernie Kosar look like Olympians? Word is, the guy's a jerk and you can't lack for leadership at that position. The defense is not as good as advertised. On the positive side, the emergence of Willis McGahee will continue. He'll challenge for the rushing title.

2004 LFR Genius Prediction: "[Miami] Head coach Dave Wannsteadt will be gone by week 4 or 5"

2004 LFR Dumb Prediction: "[New England] RB Corey Dillon will turn out to be a dubious addition to a team that values cohesion."