The Buffalo Bills, despite being in the midst of a thirteen year playoff drought, continue to prove one thing on a consistent basis season after season: they are one of the most unpredictable teams in the NFL.

Last season it appeared as if the Bills had finally made the jump to playoff contention after an impressive 5-2 start with victories against the eventual AFC champion New England Patriots and the star-studded Philadelphia Eagles. Talk of starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick earning every bit of his recent contract extension and running back Fred Jackson becoming one of the best in the league seemed a bit premature, but warranted after the hot start. However, in typical Buffalo Bills fashion, their playoff hopes steadily evaporated after losing eight of their next nine games and finishing a lowly 6-10, good for a last place tie in the AFC East.

However, the Bills are bringing a new look defense to compliment the impressive offensive trio of Fitzpatrick, Jackson, and fiery wide receiver Stevie Johnson. Buffalo signed the former number one overall pick Mario Williams and fellow pass rusher Mark Anderson to force some much needed pressure on opposing quarterbacks. Rookies Stephen Gilmore at cornerback and left tackle Cordy Glenn are expected to come in and make an immediate impact on the starting lineup, something the Bills have lacked in their most recent drafts.

To go along with their proven talent, Buffalo has a couple of explosive weapons waiting to make their first real impact for the squad. Running back C.J. Spiller was a highly touted running back out of Clemson just a few years ago, but has yet to make the offensive impact that draft experts expected him to make. Along with wildcat weapon Brad Smith, these two athletes are expected to bring a faster pace to the Bills offense to go along with the new and improved pass rush on the defensive side of the ball.

A real subject of note from the Bills’ camp is the potential backup quarterback situation. The competition’s coverage is severely lacking compared to their downstate division rival’s backup quarterback situation (Tim Tebow, ever heard of him?), but a familiar face may be waiting in the wings behind Ryan Fitzpatrick. Former two time pro-bowler Vince Young has all but solidified his role as backup quarterback with an impressive pre-season, beating out perennial backup Tyler Thigpen. With shaky offense a staple in Buffalo, the backup quarterback position always seems to be vital for this team.

Despite playing in a division with the AFC’s juggernauts in New England, the Bills have one of the easier schedules in the NFL. With the key acquisitions in free agency and the draft added to the in-house talent, this is Buffalo’s most formidable team in over a decade. The time is now for the Buffalo Bills to move into the upper echelon of the NFL and end their playoff drought.

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Tennessee will head to Buffalo on Sunday looking to keep pace with the rest of the teams in the wild card hunt. Tennessee is seeking its first back to back wins in almost two months and will need to make a run in the last few weeks in order to have a shot at making the playoffs. The Bills on the other side will probably have to win out the rest of their games just to have a shot at making it.

Tennessee is in a position where it could maybe catch up to the first place Houston Texans with the Texans down to their third-string quarterback T.J. Yates, a rookie from North Carolina, and the recently signed Jake Delhomme. With the teams finishing out the season against each other a few wins and Tennessee could be playing for the division in that final game.

“We’re aware of where we are in the standings every week and what our situation is, and that’s why we have to realize how important this game is for us,” coach Mike Munchak said. “We’ve got to win if we’re going to have a chance to play more than 16 games.” The Bills suffered their fifth straight road loss and fourth loss on the road last Sunday when they fell 28-24 to the New York Jets.

“We have to win out, and we probably have to get some help — and that’s what I told the team,” coach Chan Gailey said. While the offense, which had been lacking in the previous three losses, bounced back against the Jets, too many penalties doomed the Bills in MetLife Stadium. They committed a season high 9 penalties and gave up 138 yards on just 23 carries to a running game that had been struggling.

The Bills are giving up 123.8 yards on the ground per game which is ranked 21^st in the league, and it won’t be easier for them this week as they face running back Chris Johnson who is coming off his best performance this season rushing for 190 yards. Another problem for the Bills could be if they let the Titans get to the red zone as they rank second to last in TD efficiency inside the 20 and the Titans hold the NFL’s highest mark scoring a TD over 70 percent of the time they get there.

With leading rusher Fred Jackson out for the year, and C.J. Spiller not filling the role effectively so far the Bills will have to rely on Ryan Fitzpatrick and the passing attack to put up points. That plays right into Tennessee’s strength as they have the 13^th ranked passing attack giving up only 229.1 yards per game.

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Normally the backup quarterback for the recently injured Michael Vick, Vince Young, threw a late touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to secure the 17-10 victory for the Philadelphia Eagles against the New York Giants on Sunday.

Although he threw three interceptions in the game, Young was the main man who helped to get the ball down the field for the Eagles, collecting 258 yards on 23 completed passes for two touchdowns. Receiver Riley Cooper was able to split the defense well, collecting 75 yards on five receptions for a touchdown. Steve Smith only caught one pass during the game, but from which he was able to collect 14 yards and a touchdown.

Giants’ quarterback Eli Manning helped in his team’s offense by throwing for 264 yards on 18 completed passes for one touchdown and one interception. Victor Cruz was the main target for Manning, gaining 128 yards on six receptions and one touchdown.

Philadelphia running back got a lot of action in the game, rushing for 113 yards on 23 attempts. The Giants, on the other hand, did not gain much on the running attack of Brandon Jacobs, who ran for only 21 yards on 12 attempts.

With no one able to score in the opening quarter, the Eagles were the first to get on the scoreboard with a 33-yard field goal from Alex Henery. The Eagles scored again with a minute left in the half with a 14-yard pass from Young to Smith. The Giants got the final points in the first half with Lawrence Tynes kicking a 48-yard field goal in the last second.

After the third quarter passed with no team being able to capitalize on offensive attempts, the Giants were able to tie the game up at 10-10 early in the fourth quarter off a 24-yard pass from Manning to Cruz. The Eagles would have the final say of the game, moving the ball 80 yards downfield on 18 plays and finishing up with an eight-yard pass from Young to Cooper to secure the win with two minutes left in the game.

The Philadelphia Eagles (4-6) head back home to prepare for a game against the New England Patriots, while the New York Giants (6-4) travel to Louisiana to face the New Orleans Saints on Monday.

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The Tennessee Titans (4-4) battled hard, but ultimately lost a close game 24-17 to the visiting Cincinnati Bengals (6-2). Despite looking the stronger team early on at LP Field, the Titans could not maintain their first half momentum, and gave up 17 unanswered points in the second half as they fell to defeat.

The Bengals continued to suffer from the absence of injured linebacker Rey Maualuga, as well as tight end Jermaine Gresham, although defensive end Carlos Dunlap was available after being listed as doubtful. Although the Titans had injury problems of their own, especially in the secondary, they were more concerned with the poor form of running back Chris Johnson, whose future in Tennessee seems to become less and less certain with each poor performance the tailback turns in.

Tennessee took an early lead with a field goal in the first quarter, but the lead was not to last long, with quarterback Andy Dalton picking out tight end Colin Cochart for a one-yard touchdown, making the score 7-3 to the visitors. The Titans regained their lead quickly though, wide receiver Damian Williams making an excellent catch at the back of the endzone for an eight-yard touchdown.

With time running down in the second, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck orchestrated a drive down the field with a culmination of timeouts and the Titan’s no-huddle offense, which ultimately resulted in Hasselbeck passing for 16 yards to Lavelle Hawkins and the touchdown.

Cincinnati continued to look dangerous however, and cut the lead to just three points when Dalton threw his second touchdown pass of the night, this time to Jerome Simpson for 15 yards. Dalton then continued to lead the Bengals comeback, ending the visitors drive with a five-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Andre Caldwell, giving them a four point lead over the Titans.

A field goal from Mike Nugent with two minutes left to play was enough to secure the win for the Bengals, and Head Coach Marvin Lewis will be pleased with his side’s second half comeback in what was a challenging away game. Dalton impressed throughout the game, and was pivotal in leading his side’s comeback, passing for 217 yards, as well as three touchdowns.

Rookie wide receiver A.J. Green also continued to impress, making 83 yards on seven receptions, and distancing himself at the top of the rookie receptions table. Although the Titans will be disappointed with a loss at home, especially after they took a substantial lead early in the game, but the continuing good form of Hasselbeck will not leave Titan’s fans completely disheartened.

Tailback Johnson’s 64 yards from 14 carries, and 46 yards from four receptions may not be particularly sensational, they do represent an improvement on his recent form, and the quickest way for the Titans to return to winning ways would be for Johnson to find his groove again, which would in turn allow for Hasselbeck to be even more effective.

The Bengals now face a testing schedule for the next four weeks, which sees them meet the Steelers (twice), Ravens and Browns, in a series of games which could make or break their season.

The Titans face a slightly easier challenge, taking on the Panthers and Buccaneers in their next games, but will be eager to ensure they do not have any slip-ups as they seek to put pressure on the Houston Texans at the top of the AFC South.

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Things are moving extremely fast in the NFL these days; in fact, sports fans haven’t been able to take in every thing that has been occurring in terms of free agency and trades.  The movement throughout the league is not surprising given the small window teams have to accomplish all of their off season requirements.

Free agency is an exciting time and so far it has been great to cover, the moves should have a big impact on other players still considering where they will take their talents next season. Also, these player movements should impact the success and failures we see during the season.

Let’s examine what has happen thus far and where the surprises lie.

Why not start with the biggest name still available—Asomugha hasn’t moved yet, but would the big name defensive back choose to return to Oakland.  He is a very loyal player but loyalty will not necessarily earn you a ring.  He is reaching a point in his career where he must make a move; the question remains though, where will he play.  Will he decide to play with another great defensive back in Revis and a potential Superbowl team in the Jets, play with another team offering the most money or will he return to Oakland? Only he knows at this point, but I know where the sports world hopes he goes.  It just makes sense to be in a jets uniform next year but will he accept that challenge.

The jets have already taken care of primary receiver Holmes and will likely not attempt to resign Braylon Edwards who had a decent year for them last season.

Other notable signings thus far include big named quarterback Donovan Mcnabb, perennial attack dummy for fans and NFL players alike.  He will take his talents to Minnesota this season and mentor their first round draft pick Christian Ponder until he is ready to take over.

Minnesota will also lose big time receiver Sidney Rice who has chosen to sign with the Seahawks.  The Seahawks are taking a chance on him given the fact he has had one productive season with the indecisive Brett Favre and he will be coming off surgery which sidelined him for most of last year.  The Seahawks have also acquired Tavarus Jackson from Minnesota after parting ways with their long tenured quarterback Matt Hasslebeck who will now be taking his veteran talents to the Titans.

The first big time talent to come of the board so to speak is Deangelo Williams, the Panther back has chosen to resign in a 5 year deal with over 20 million in guaranteed money.

The hated Patriots have struck potential gold in their trade with the Redskins in which they acquired Albert Haynesworth for a 6th round pick; once again, coach Belichick gets a possible steal that puts them back on top in the AFC East division. I don’t know how many teams were looking at the troubled defensive tackle, but looking at the potential defensive line, the AFC East along with the rest of the league have been out maneuvered up until this point.

While we already have big movements with quarterbacks, there are still moves to be made– specifically Kolb in Philadelphia and Kyle Orton in Denver.  Also, Vince Young will be released today, we have yet to hear where exactly he will pay, what role he will have on that team or even what teams have shown interested.  The young quarterback’s reputation has been damaged significantly, it remains to be seen if he will recover and get his career back on track.  Speaking of great college players, 3rd down back Reggie Bush has signed with the Dolphins with a 2 year contract worth roughly 5 million; a considerable reduction in value from his Saints days.

ESPN is now reporting that Chad OchoCinco has been dealt to the active patriots; maybe a way to combat the potential addition of Asomugha to the Jets.  It remains to be seen what happens with many more players including receivers, Plaxico Burress, Randy Moss and Terrell Owens. Expect many more announcements in the day’s ahead, things are just heating up as we approach the upcoming NFL season.

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The 2010-2011 NFL season showed fans a slew of teams that found themselves on the cusp of taking the reigns of their respective divisions. The AFC South in particular has seen the Indianapolis Colts dominate Houston, Jacksonville and Tennessee over the past decade en route to perennial top seeded playoff positions. Though they are still considered a serious threat around the league, last year for the first time they showed that they too have flaws and seem to be a bit vulnerable. Father time seems to have caught up with a few of their dominant players, and young talent across the division may be too much to handle for Indianapolis moving forward. Let’s break down the AFC South down team-by-team and see who really has the best chance to dethrone the Super Bowl XLI Champions.

Tennessee Titans: The Titans have probably been the most inconsistent team in the division over the past few years. They were always able to fall back on having one of the most well-renowned coaches in the NFL in years past. Now that the Jeff Fisher era is behind us, we will see what this team really is made of. Also, owner Bud Adams seems to have finally given up on Vince Young and his off-field antics. The hope is that new coach, former Houston Oilers guard, Mike Munchak will be able to form a nice report with first-round draft pick Jake Locker (QB, Washington), and mold him into a leader on the field. They undoubtedly have some other nice pieces in place with electrifying running back Chris Johnson alongside receivers Kenny Britt and Justin Gage running the offense. Their defense has shown promise over the past few seasons, and though Tennessee is in somewhat of a rebuilding time, they might just have enough firepower to make noise in the division.

Jacksonville Jaguars: Though the Jaguars picked after the Titans in the first-round of the draft, they got the quarterback that everyone else seemed to want more than Locker in Blaine Gabbert (QB, Missouri). Jacksonville is taking the safer, and probably smarter route in developing Gabbert over time since they still have David Garrard to man the helm and mentor the rookie for a few years. They always seem to be a tough team to beat at home, and when you possess one of the best runners in the league, defenses are never going to be excited about playing you. Maurice Jones-Drew has racked up over 1,300 yards in each of his past two seasons and shows no signs of slowing down. Look for them to feature MJD even more this season amidst all of the quarterback confusion. The Jags can be expected to round out the bottom of the division this season, but if Jones-Drew has another career year, ninth year head coach Jack Del Rio just might be able to coax them into a successful season.

Houston Texans: This is where we come to the bread and butter of the AFC South. Last season the Texans showed real promise at the beginning of the season knocking off the Colts at home in week one and making everyone wonder whether 2010 was finally their year. It wasn’t. They finished a disappointing 6-10 and showed serious problems on the defensive side of the ball. I remember seeing their offense torch a prolific New York Jets defense last season, only to watch their corner backs fail to cover simple slant routes on consecutive plays to lead the Jets into the end-zone and blow yet another game for Houston. Everybody knows that the Matt Schaub to Andre Johnson connection is one of the best in the business. Unfortunately, they also know that they can routinely throw down field on one of the worst secondaries in the league. Everyone in Houston is hoping that newly hired defensive coordinator Wade Phillips will be able to turn their struggles around and finally snatch the division away from Indianapolis. The Texans are my sleeper this year, and if the Colts aren’t careful, they might find themselves having to compete for a wild-card spot in 2011.

Indianapolis Colts: So what do we know about the Colts? Well, offensive guru Tom Moore is gone, they caught the injury bug in the worst way last season, and Peyton Manning is coming off of two neck surgeries. Nobody is doubting what Manning has done, and probably still will do in the future at quarterback in Indianapolis. In fact, I would have to say that he’s the best I’ve ever seen play the game at that position. The problem is, he’s 35 years old going into this season, and not everyone can last as long as Brett Favre and John Elway. He finally, for the first time, showed signs of the slowing down last season when he was plagued by a string of interceptions midway through the year. Of course, even with all of the injuries, the Colts still went 10-6 to win the division, but failed to show off their prolific offense in the playoffs and were bounced quickly. I’m not doubting what this team can do with a future hall-of-fame quarterback leading them, but I will say that if they don’t make some changes and improvements from last season, their time in the spotlight of the AFC South may be coming to and end sooner than some people may think.

The AFC South is definitely no longer a one horse race as it has been for majority of the past decade. There are some real star-players all the way across the division, and seemingly more to come out of the first-round draft picks selected in this years draft. There will be battles throughout the year between all four of these teams, and don’t be surprised if we see two AFC South representatives in the playoffs next season…if there is a season of course.

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