It is official: The AFC East is wide open

by: Chris Sullivan

The Pats have just announced that Brady's injury is indeed season-ending. This opens the AFC East up to becoming one of the most competitive conferences in the league. Steffes proclaimed to me yesterday that the Jets are now the favorite in the conference, with Brett manning the helm. I have to believe that the Bills looked much better yesterday against a much better team than the Jets played...

Remember also that our crappy opening-day game against Jacksonville in 2005 was the first game in a quite substantial rise for the Jags -- in 2004, no one would have expected to be surprised by the Jags losing any game, and now they are talked about as a sleeper pick in the AFC. Could we again be at the genesis of another rising AFC star?

I will go on the record and say I now believe the Bills will win the AFC East, barring a serious turnaround by either Matt Cassel or a surprise free agent QB (Chris Simms sounds like the most likely). I don't believe it is so much that the Bills are an extraordinary team -- if we had played up to our "potential" yesterday, it would have been close or a Hawks victory. I think the Bills take the East because I don't trust the Jets -- who are already being appointed the champs after almost losing to the worst team in football last year.

What do you guys think? How is the AFC changed with the injury to Brady? Indianapolis looked bad yesterday, the Chargers lost too, and Jacksonville suffered a surprising defeat as well. Yesterday was bizarro-world in the NFL. What else do we have to look forward to (or fear) in this 2008 season? Make your predictions about both questions in the comments.