Views From the AFC East

New York Jets (Won against Patriots 16-9; now 2-0), from Gang Green Nation:

For the second straight week, the opponent forced the rookie quarterback to make plays to win the game. For the second straight week, the rookie quarterback delivered. The Pats always seemed to have a safety flying up when the Jets tried to run the ball. The Jets didn’t have Sanchez put it up much in the first half and with good reason. On his first drop back, he was stripped for a loss of 17. The rest of the half, he didn’t look comfortable. His 5 throws were generally off target, and he looked afraid to attack. The Jets opened things up in the second half. Sanchez went 11 for 17 with 148 yards, a touchdown, and most importantly, no interceptions. He guided a successful passing offense and allowed the Jets to churn out long drives. […]

This was a statement game. Last year, Brady was out, and the Jets were renting Brett Favre. This one feels like an announcement the Jets are here to stay. Sanchez and Ryan aren’t going anywhere, and this team can stand toe to toe with the Pats.

New England Patriots (Lost to Jets 16-9; now 1-1), from Pats Pulpit:

As we discussed all week, the feeling was Rex Ryan would bring the house and amp up the pass pressure. I think [Sunday] was evidence of that. Tom Brady was rushed repeatedly. There were times in the first half when Brady’s pass protection looked very good, with Laurence Maroney providing a lot of extra protection. That all ended in the second half. The Jets’ defense started getting to him. No sacks, but a lot of hurries. And it showed. Brady was overthrowing a lot of balls. But the reception woes weren’t necessarily all on Brady; some of the misses were blown routes and/or a lack of communication between Brady and his receivers.

Buffalo Bills (Won against Bucs 33-20; now 1-1), from Buffalo Rumblings:

[Trent] Edwards’ solid start to the season continued. Through two games, he’s thrown four touchdown passes – keep in mind he’d thrown just 18 in his career, and 11 in 2008, heading into this season – and is sporting a quarterback rating of 104.9. He continues to make plays with his legs, rushing for another 24 yards on Sunday, and though his one interception wasn’t pretty, it came alongside big plays down the field.

Buffalo’s offense is now responsible for 43 points through two games – 17 in New England, and 26 yesterday. They’ll need to up their production a bit if they want to beat New Orleans in Week 3, but considering what the offense looked like in the pre-season, we’ll take 22 points per game for the time being. […]

As Buffalo’s only productive running back, [Fred] Jackson has been asked to carry the load, and to say he’s handled it well is to put it mildly. Through two weeks, Jackson has accrued 328 total yards and a touchdown, and he is Buffalo’s leading receiver – both in receptions and in yardage.

Miami Dolphins (Lost to Colts 27-23; now 0-2), from The Phinsider:
[M]ost of the blame goes squarely on the play of the defense. Peyton Manning just had a field day – throwing for 303 yards on just 14 completions. That’s a whopping 21.6 yards per completion for Manning. All total, the Colts ran 35 plays in the entire game and averaged over 10 yards per play. That’s just ridiculous. […]The Dolphins held the ball for over 45 minutes and piled up over 400 yards of total offense. They converted 71% of their 3rd downs and did almost everything they were asked.

The running game was outstanding. Ronnie Brown showed how good he can be when he gets a little blocking out there. He shows patience for the hole to open, then can explode, runs hard through tackles, and gets extra yardage. Ricky Williams showed that he’s still got it. And the offensive line was outstanding – both in the running game and in pass protection. They dominated in the trenches.