AFC East at Quarter Mark

Buffalo Bills (4-0) - The Bills were a sleeper team in the offseason after consecutive 7-9 starts. While I won't attribute the losing record in total due to injuries, having their young starting defense healthy certainly helps. The Bills look good on both sides of the ball, they just need to come out of the gate faster and put up more points in the first half. Trent Edwards has been a consistent, mistake-free quarterback who also can make some big plays (see: Lee Evans). Marshawn Lynch is arguably one of the top 5 running backs in the league, and he has the offensive line to have a huge year. Buffalo is a very balanced team and is looking like an early playoff contender after beating the Seahawks at home and the Jaguars in Jacksonville. However I do think that the team's youth will be a factor if they make it that far.

New England Patriots (2-1) - The Patriots have managed to win two games despite losing Tom Brady for the season. Of course, the two teams they beat were the Kansas City Chiefs (1-3) and the New York Jets (2-2) before getting routed by the Ronnie Brown. Matt Cassell looks lost in the offense much like he did in the preseason, while the single season touchdown record holder Randy Moss has only one touchdown and around 170 yards. The Patriots are not capable of winning shootouts without Brady, as their defense is clearly aging and finally having their weaknesses exposed when not playing with a 20 point lead. If the Patriots plan on playing in the postseason, they are going to have to take a long look at their quarterback situation and ask themselves if Matt Cassell is really the answer. Unless he turns it around in a big way against the 49ers, I wouldn't expect Cassell to hold his job.

New York Jets (2-2) - After three weeks of handcuffing Brett Favre with 4-yard dumps and screens, the Jets finally let him do what he does best- throw the ball downfield. Apparently the Cardinals defense isn't as good as everyone thought, and got gashed for 56 points and 6 touchdowns by Favre. The defense still is not playing up to their potential, but if there is one team in the division that should improve by leaps and bounds it's the Jets. The next meeting with New England should be totally different.

Miami Dolphins (1-2) - Single-wing formation aside, the Dolphins still got destroyed by two very mediocre teams in the Cardinals and the Jets. The victory over the Patriots was impressive, but the Dolphins are going to have to do it again before people start to take notice. The secondary is awful, and the offense outside of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams is ineffective. The Dolphins have a serviceable quarterback in Chad Pennington (and Ronnie Brown), but he needs a little help from his limited options on the outside.