Buffalo Rumblings
Once again, everything ran through Orchard Park, NY. So where does that leave things heading into the 2025 NFL season?
Another NFL season is in the books and unfortunately for the AFC East it was another year without a Super Bowl appearance, let alone a championship title. It was a roller coaster of emotions for each team in the division so it’s fitting to recap it all in one place.
We start off with the Buffalo Bills who won the division for the fifth season in a row, which set a new franchise record. Coming into the season, the national media didn’t have high hopes for this team after losing the likes of Stefon Diggs via trade and Gabe Davis in free agency. Defensively, the team moved on from Tre’Davious White, Jordan Poyer, and Micah Hyde (who came back in a practice squad/coach role).
The team took all the noise and rattled off an impressive 13-4 record, which included giving the Kansas City Chiefs their only regular-season loss where starters played. However, this era’s Bills team is measured by what it does in the postseason. Buffalo injected new hope into the fan base after defeating the Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional Round, but once again fell to the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game.
Again, the Bills enter an offseason scratching their heads wondering how they’ll get over the hump. Will the team make a splash with edge rusher Myles Garrett or will this be another year where fans’ hopes for an all-in move go unanswered?
Finishing second in the division were the Miami Dolphins, which had another let-down season that didn’t even see them meaningfully contend for postseason play. After a win against the Jacksonville Jaguars to start the season, the team was hoping to beat the Bills in Week 2 to show they were a force. A 31-10 loss in South Beach proved that to be an altogether premature idea.
To make matters worse in that game, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered another concussion that at one point put his football future in serious jeopardy. In the four games that he missed, Miami went 1-3 and made it an uphill battle the rest of the way.
The Dolphins were still in wild card contention after Thanksgiving, but went 3-3 down the stretch. Miami has more questions than answers heading into the 2025 season. Can Tagovailoa stay healthy for a full season? Is it time for the team to move on from wide receiver Tyreek Hill who had a down season by his standards battling a wrist injury all season? Is head coach Mike McDaniels on the hot seat as the Dolphins continue losing to teams with winning records?
That said, it could always be worse...
Consider the situation in New Jersey: The New York Jets were without doubt one of the biggest letdowns in the NFL this past season. All offseason the narrative was that Aaron Rodgers was going to come off his torn Achilles better than ever and...
