Some changes in the AFC East standings after some wild games over the Thanksgiving weekend as the Jets and Patriots have swapped positions in the standings. The Buffalo Bills survive a scare against the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving Day. The New England Patriots’ winning streak comes to an end in Minnesota. The Miami Dolphins looked to be cruising to an easy win against Houston, until the Texans offense got rolling late. And the New York Jets bench their starter and suddenly have an offense.
MIAMI DOLPHINS
The Dolphins came into the weekend fresh off the bye with the division lead and the easiest opponent in the Houston Texans. Miami was clicking on all cylinders under Tua Tagovailoa who finished the day completing 22 of 36 passes for 299 yards. When Tua left the game, Miami led 30-0. Houston would mount a small comeback against Miami’s backups getting the score to 30-15 before ultimately falling short. Miami keeps the division lead as they head to San Francisco this Sunday.
BUFFALO BILLS
The Bills entered the year as the favorites to win the division but losses to the Dolphins and Jets have them sitting in second place right now. Buffalo just played its second straight game in Detroit after last Sunday’s home game had to be moved due to feet of snow in Western New York. On Thanksgiving Day, Buffalo became the visitor against the Lions. The game looked to be going to overtime until Josh Allen led a solid 48 yard drive in 21 seconds to set up Buffalo for the go-ahead field goal. Buffalo’s win keeps them close to Miami with another meeting on the horizon.
NEW YORK JETS
The Jets entered the weekend in the worst position of the four teams in the division. They were in last place, had just been held to three points by their archrivals, and benched their quarterback following his disappointing reactions to last week’s loss. But backup quarterback Mike White came in and revitalized New York’s offense. Yes, it was against the lowly Bears, who were also playing a backup quarterback, but White still completed 22 of 28 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns in the 31-10 win. One week after their worst game of the season, New York managed to pull itself out of the cellar.
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
The Patriots were headed in the opposite direction of the Jets going into this weekend. They had won three in a row after their disappointing loss to Chicago on Monday Night Football back in October, and they had held the last two opponents to a field goal. But, then they headed to Minnesota on Thanksgiving night. It was one of the most entertaining games this weekend with a controversial no-catch ruling that might’ve been a touchdown and the best performance all year from quarterback Mac Jones. But an ineffective two minute drill did them in and now they are back to the bottom of the standings after climbing out just last week.
PLAYOFF SCENARIOS
Just two weeks ago, all four of these teams were sitting in playoff spots. The up and down performances from the Patriots and Jets along with two very good weeks by the Bengals have resulted in one of them on the outside looking in, but there’s still a long way to go in the season. The Dolphins are sitting in the number two seed in the AFC, only one game behind Kansas City for the potential bye. Buffalo has a better record than two of the four division leaders and is currently the top Wild Card team. New York is sitting in the final playoff spot while New England is the first team out with the Bengals sitting in the other Wild Card spot.
WHAT’S NEXT?
As mentioned earlier, Miami heads to San Francisco to take on the NFC West leading 49ers. Buffalo heads to Foxboro to face New England in a divisional matchup. And the Jets take their crack at the Vikings as they head to Minnesota. Depending on what happens with the Bengals and Chargers, it’s very possible all four could be sitting in playoff spots again soon.
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