Ever since Tom Brady left the New England Patriots in 2020, the Buffalo Bills have filled the vacuum as the top team in the AFC East division.
Buffalo has won the last five division titles and is favored to win a sixth straight with league MVP Josh Allen back for another year to try and end Buffalo's championship drought.
While the Bills are considered an early and overwhelming favorite in the division, Buffalo should have some competition from one particular team heading into the new year.
And no, it's not the Miami Dolphins.
Lou Scataglia from NFL Spin Zone predicted that the Patriots franchise would be significantly better in 2025 than previous years with Mike Vrabel as their new head coach.
"I have said for a while now that not only did Drake Maye play better than the stats would indicate in 2025, but that the New England Patriots are going to shock people in 2025," Scataglia said. "The amount of talent and quality coaching they added is going to pay immediate dividends, and biggest improvement on the roster was the team fixing their offensive line."
Maye is considered an up-and-coming quarterback around the league despite the lack of wins from his rookie season. New England has put more talent around him, though, and should be much better than their struggles from 2024.
Will they be good enough to compete with the Bills for the division title, though? That may remain to be seen, but crazier things have happened before.
Who knows, perhaps this is the year Buffalo's dominance in the AFC East finally ends. ... though we doubt it.