For 20 years, the AFC East belonged to the New England Patriots. For the past four years, it has belonged to the Buffalo Bills. Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel knows all too well that the AFC East is the division the Bills are currently losing.

“There’s one team that’s won the division in a row. They basically own the division until someone takes it away from them.”

Interestingly, McDaniel doesn’t directly say it’s the Bills, but we all know who he’s talking about. After Tom Brady left the AFC East following the 2019 season, Buffalo became a losing division and have dominated ever since, winning four straight AFC East titles.

The Dolphins had plenty of chances to win the AFC East last season and it looked like they would do so right up until the end. They held a multiple-game lead over the Bills, who were 6-6 on the year at one point, but the Bills reeled off five straight wins to close out the regular season. They won their fourth division title by defeating the Dolphins in the final week of the season.

Miami hasn’t won the AFC East since the 2008 season, when Brady was out all year and Chad Pennington led the offense.

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Last year, the Dolphins struggled against teams with winning records, so that’s something they’ll have to work on this season. If they want to be taken seriously and be a real contender for the AFC East crown, they can’t just beat up bad teams and then let the good teams beat them up.

Add to that the fact that the New York Jets will be more competitive this season now that Aaron Rodgers is healthy and the division is even more competitive. That said, if there is a chance to catch the Bills, it is this year. They lost a lot of talent in the offseason and that should have an impact on the field.

McDaniel is saying the right things, though. As long as the Bills don’t win the division, it’s their business to lose. Let’s hope this is the year that changes and the Dolphins can end the season atop the division.

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