AFC East Roundtable: First Quarter Division Awards

Ian said:

I wrote my part of that based on who I thought has done the better coaching job to this point in terms of making something out of a bad situation, and again was trying to write it thinking outside the box. We know how good Belichick is, but my reasoning was I never expected New York to be 3-1 at this point or playing anywhere near as well as they are and out of the four coaches, the Jets are the biggest (positive) surprise out of the group.

No worries patfanken, at the end of the day - I know who the best coach is

Like I said, I was just trying to be a little more open-minded on this one. Definitely didn't expect this one to get as much play as it has.

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But who would you have expected to beat them? The Colts are trash so far, even though they've managed to pull out three squeakers over division rivals who are worse trash. The Eagles haven't won a game other than the Jets. the Browns are, well, the Browns and lost their QB in the first half, and the Dolphins fell apart the week before going to England to face the Jets and will be lucky if they aren't picking in the top 3 next year.

Who you play matters. The Pats have thumped the Bills in Buffalo (four inches shorter on the throw from Brady to Edelman and they win that game by four scores), swatted the Steelers with Ben (maybe the 2nd best team in the AFC), and obliterated the Jaguars in the kind of game you're simply not supposed to see in parity NFL.

I watched the Jets last week - watched Revis and Cromartie swap obvious interference penalties back and forth against mediocre Miami receivers. Bring 'em on!

Chris Ivory is not the MVP of the AFC East.

Chris Ivory is the MVP of the entire NFL.

Ask any coach or GM which player they would rather have: Brady, Gronkowski, Ivory. Ivory wins that in a landslide. He is in the midst of a historic season, on pace for over 1200 yards and 12 TDs. Has that ever been done before?

goheels22002 said:

You guys ought to agree that you can't pick someone from your own team for these awards which would put everyone in the same boat.

Clearly Jets Coach Todd Bowles has done the best job by default. I'd pick Tyrod Taylor as the non-Pats Offensive MVP, Dolphins S Reshad Jones at Defensive MVP (he's just everywhere for Miami!), and Biggest Team Surprise is the Bills.

The Bills are a huge mystery. Great D on paper but they stink, while the offense is explosive with Tyrod Taylor at the controls. He's going to be a great NFL QB, I think.

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That is an interesting idea.

Bills seem to be coming apart, needed some help from Tennessee to win today

I had a top 10 list to start the year of who i thought the 10 top players on this team would be. Here is the first quarter report in my opinion - I will probably do this once for each quarter

#1 Brady - He has been the best player in the NFL regardless of position to this point.

#2 Collins - Collins flashed year 1. Was very good but at times inconsistent in year 2. Now it has all come together for him. He has obtained that mix of vet savy and experience to fully use his talent and he has a lot of talent. I would argue in these first 4 games he has shown he will probably be in the running for DPOY.

#3 Gronk - Honestly putting Gronk #3 when he is the best TE in the NFL seems silly. But I think since week 1 he has cooled off a bit though still dominate. Maybe they just don't feel a need to throw to him as much right now but when they need a shot in the arm (ala 2nd half in the Cowboys game) he is there and ready.

#4 Edelman - Edelman has improved over last year. What a beast. He can beat you outside or inside. He can get that clutch first down and break big plays.

#5 McCourty - A few missed plays here and there but he has been down right dominate at times too. He is showing up anyone who had any doubts he is worth his contract.

#6 Sheard - What a signing. Best DL this year for us. Jones/Nink are not far behind but Sheard has been a hair better than both.

#7 Hightower - How can Hightower be this low you ask? Cause he missed most of the last game. Also we have other very good players. He is right up there with Collins though in how much of an impact he has. Lock em both up and you don't need to worry about your LB group for a long itme.

#8 Vollmer - The often forgotten man. He is the one guy you never seem to have to worry about. He did get beat once last game but besides that has been very good in all aspects.

#9 Butler - I am very happy with what I am seeing so far. He has improved overall as the year has gone on IMO and Still has things he can improve. That aside he has looked like a #1 CB and is along with McCourty keeping this group solid.

#10 Dion Lewis - I didn't think much of this signing at the time. Thought he was worth a shot. Wow. What a find. I really want to put him higher on this list but can't right now cause of the 9 guys above him. Was quickly extended and for good reason.


HMs Jones, Nink, Gost (i really wanted to put him on here but could not bear to leave any of the top 10 guys i put on off).

Also top rookie so far this year? Mason. Andrews has been solid and dependable but Mason has made some big time plays on that OL.

Still have a lot of hopes for this class to this point as a lot of rookie has flashed and shown well but Mason looks like the best rookie so far this year.