I can't believe how many people are jumping on the Baltimore, Miami, and NYJ bandwagons saying that they are far and away better than the Pats because of a few big name signings and trades. These teams have just as many problems or questions that the Pats have right now. The only AFC teams that I feel may be ahead of the Pats AT THIS MOMENT are Indy and SD. NY, Balt, Miami, Cincy, Pitt, and Houston are AT BEST even with the Pats.
Baltimore traded for Boldin to improve their WR corps, but they also have huge questions at CB and S (aside from Ed Reed) especially after not addressing either position at the draft. They'll most likely have problems with any team that spreads them out similar to what the Pats did to Minnesota a few years ago. Plus I'm still not sold on Flacco being a top flight QB. People overrate his ability to throw deep (since he usually under throws the ball but has receivers that can adjust to the poorly thrown ball) and he also seemed to regress as the season went along last year. Add in the fact that he has been miserable in the playoffs (5 games / 57 for 120 / 660 yds / 1 TD / 6 INT).
NYJ made a few big name moves by acquiring Cromartie, Holmes, and LT. While these are well known players, LT is on his last legs, Cromartie has played well for only half of one season, and Holmes is facing a suspension (plus he plays opposite of another troubled receiver with stone hands). So none are guaranteed to improve the team. At the same time, they decided to weaken the power run game that they relied on last year by releasing Jones and Faneca and may also damage their run stopping capabilities if the rumors are true and they release both Ellis and Thomas. Also, Sanchez hasn't proven anything yet (and I'm not so sure he'll turn into a top 8 QB), and will have to take a much greater role if the running game takes a step back. Plus it feels as though people forget that the only reason the Jets made the playoffs last year was because both the Colts and Bengals laid down because the games were meaningless to them.
Miami has had an offseason similar to the Jets although I think that they may be in a better position than the Jets. They brought in a few big name players (Dansby and Marshall - both of which are better than the players NYJ acquired), but they are also facing high turnover at some defensive positions (like OLB where they lost their top two pass rushers). Although I did like how their draft focus was to improve the depth of the defense. Ronnie Brown is also coming off another severe injury. His return will help, but he may no longer be the same explosive player. In addition to all of that, they also have an unproven QB leading their offense in Henne. Henne has shown flashes of being a top flight QB and has good targets in Marshall, Bess, Camarillo, and company.
