AFC East Divisional Recap - Week 8
As we reach the halfway point of the 2023 NFL season, the tales of the four teams in the AFC East look different across the board. Here, we break down each AFC East team’s Week 8 performance and where they stand.
Buffalo Bills 24, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 18
At times throughout this game, it felt like the Gabriel Davis show.
The Bills wide receiver had a career-high nine receptions for 87 yards and a touchdown. WR Stefon Diggs showed out as well, catching nine passes as well for 70 yards.
Buffalo’s superstar quarterback Josh Allen completed 31 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns, something that lifted the Bills to a victory.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were able to erase an early ten-point deficit, however, but failed to complete the comeback after a botched Hail Mary play to end the game.
Buffalo was a team that was hard to judge leading into this game but found their groove and what many fans have learned to be the same old Bills. This win will likely set them back on the path of consistent wins.
Photo Credit: Megan Briggs, Getty Images
Miami Dolphins 31, New England Patriots 17
Miami’s 6-2 start is the team’s best since 2002. Head coach Mike McDaniel has seemed to have sparked a new level of confidence in QB Tua Tagovailoa since arriving.
The Dolphins look like one of the AFC’s best, and playmakers on offense like superstar WR Tyreek Hill allow for performances like the team’s historic Week 3 70-20 blowout over the Denver Broncos. Hill got to 1,000 receiving yards on the season in this game, the fastest a receiver has hit that mark in one season in NFL history.
Things look the complete opposite for the New England Patriots, however. New England’s struggles put them in a position as not only the AFC East’s worst team but amongst the entire NFL's worst.
The team is almost never able to deliver on any end, and each unit seems dysfunctional from the offense, defense, and special teams to the coaching staff running the units to the management. QB Mac Jones has turned the ball over too much, and the cast he has on offense hurts him early in his career. Given that the Patriots have seen success like very few for so long, their direction with all their struggles seems uncertain, and it may be a very busy offseason.
Photo Credit: Robert Sabo, NY Post
New York Jets 13, New York Giants 10, Overtime
Aaron Rodgers’ devastating torn Achilles injury in the early plays of Week 1 left the football and sports world heartbroken. For Jets fans, a lot of hope was lost.
Zach Wilson stepped in after the injury, and it’s been a roller coaster of a season at the quarterback position. Some weeks, he shows why he was drafted No. 2 overall in the 2021 draft out of Brigham Young. Other weeks, Jets fans wonder who let this kid throw a football.
Wilson made some improvements to his game, and the steps he’s taken prove to be enough at times to help the Jets win. They sit at one game above .500 eight weeks into the season.
The Jets have beaten teams like the Philadelphia Eagles and the Buffalo Bills, and are just coming off an overtime victory over fellow MetLife Stadium team New York Giants. If the Jets are able to produce and have guys like Wilson stay effective, they can have one of their better seasons in a long time. They may not be matched with some of the AFC’s best, but they can potentially find themselves in the wild card race later this season.
AFC EAST STANDINGS:
Miami Dolphins (6-2)
Buffalo Bills (5-3)
New York Jets (4-3)
New England Patriots (2-6)
