Lingering Questions About the AFC East

Up next on our series on lingering questions from the 2023 season, the AFC East. The Guardian’s Ollie Connolly sits down with Robert Mays to discuss the Dolphins, Bills, Patriots and Jets.
0:00 Intro
2:42 Miami Dolphins
26:32 Buffalo Bills
44:28 New England Patriots
58:53 New York Jets
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[@SamGuydon152]

Ollie Connolly is one of the best in the business - a pleasure to listen to him objectively analyze what went on with each team during the season. So much better than those hot-take shows on ESPN and FS1!

[@G.T.A]

This is the guy, I really hope he's back as the co host

[@tylerr3418]

Okay I LOVE this guy. First media person who has understood what the IOL injuries meant for this offense. Everyone wants to blame Tua but that IOL was so important for Tua and the run game.

[@Chilldude_101]

Ollie was fantastic super good analysis

[@sheabuttersymba]

Thank you for the timestamps! I enjoyed listening to Ollie.

[@upstatenydude8322]

The Bills' secondary will be better than most people expect. Matt Milano will be back playing alongside Terrel Bernard after his breakout season (mostly without Milano). I am very content with Rasul Douglas and Christian Benford at CB + Taron Johnson at nickel. And, say whatever you want about Sean McDermott, but no coach gets more out of his safeties than he does. When Poyer and Hyde came to Buffalo they were middle tier.

[@tonysoprallen]

Cant wait for Cole Bishop to ball out

[@Vinylincantation]

That NIN plaque is awesome. Go Bills

[@josephgrip]

Ollie is great

[@seahorserider33]

I miss Nate. It's not the same without him. The dynamic between those two was unreal. Haven't missed an episode in almost 2 yrs before his departure and listened to a few after Nate left...missed a lot since then.

[@kev792]

Wait he left the athletic?

[@seahorserider33]

@@kev792 yes, they did one or two shows after the draft and he then left.

[@kev792]

@@seahorserider33 wow. I liked Nate on here

[@seahorserider33]

@@kev792 me too :(

[@kmshark12]

Wow... this was my first time listening to Ollie, I have to find more of his content. He's one of the few that analysts I've seen put the Dolphin's season into sensible context. So many just regurgitate the same weak points. I am very excited about this coming season for the Dolphins for a few reasons: 1. O-Line experience and hopefully healthy Brewer. MCD's run blocking schemes are COMPLEX and if a lineman is playing a different position that what was practiced in camp, and/or it's their first year in the scheme - they make mistakes. That was a big factor in the run-game after we lost Conner and Wynn... the run game in the first 1/3 of the season was incredible. 2. Receiver-depth. Achane will be a pass-catching threat even more this year and Odell instead of Wilson is a great upgrade. I also feel that if Tyreek/Waddle miss a game, Malik will be able to run most of their routes well by mid-season. Of course Jonnu is a MAJOR upgrade to Durahm... so overall much better depth while keeping the scheme consistent. 3. Tua's getting even better. Those that think the fall-off of the offense was due to Tua really haven't analyzed the games - many of his fumbles were due to Conner or Liam - both made mistakes hiking the ball. Then about a 3rd of his INTs were receivers making mistakes - Tyreek admitted to making a few and that Claypool route in a critical spot was horrible. The 2nd/3rd/4th options for Tua are much better and he's going into his 3rd yr with the same system. The drop-off from Tyreek/Waddle is MUCH less this year.

[@bradkershaw491]

Ken Dorsey is a litmus test for analysts. On paper, he produced m-m-m-monster EPA p/play early in the drive by generating 40y on the first play, then going 3 and out at the 50y line. He would end up with net-positive EPA and no points. We were shut out for three quarters of most games early in the year, then Allen would take over in the 2 minute drill in the 4th quarter and score 21, making the team *appear* as if it was an average scoring team. Dorsey was infuriating to watch and multiple opposition teams have commented on how telegraphed everything was.

[@tonysoprallen]

YES, anybody, who watched buffalo in 2022 and first half of 2023 knows that Dorsey's tactic was essentially "Josh save us please" w/o any functional run game (running up the middle with james cook with 80% of the time) and short range game

[@ChewsCarefully]

@@tonysoprallen _NO,_ dammit! Go read the article about McDermott that no one is being sued for libel over. McDermott_ forced Dorsey to adapt to _HIM!_ & you could tell because the offense you're describing reared its ugly head in clutch, not regular games. That was when McDermott would take over all play-calling. Forget titles. Do Andy Reid & Sean McVay's OCs call the offense? No? So why's it so hard to grasp that these "Josh Allen Save Us" plays that are *still there* if in a reduced capacity are McDermott's & not Dorsey's? Those plays aren't gone. If they were all Dorsey's then _wouldn't they_ be? When stressed, McDermott goes a little bit nuts & refuses to trust his coordinators. He takes over *all* the play-calling. & important games is when we see this most. That's not a coincidence.

[@camdencapps6894]

The only difference between Joe Brady and Ken Dorsey was they stopped turnovers

[@waylenwaddlefinsup9876]

5:45 Jalen Ramsey ?

[@motivatedt9926]

Imagine a bears fan and a dude from the UK, tell you about your team lmaoo.. what a joke! 😅

[@jamespier7801]

These guys get what Aaron Rodgers is about. He’s too arrogant to run a 2024 NFL offense with all the motions. He’s too arrogant to work as much as possible with his new wide receivers. He’s going to fail, but he’s going to find someone else to blame. Rodgers knows that if this team doesn’t make the playoffs the coaching staff is gone. He’s going to bring Saleh down.

[@jackiemoon5906]

Where can I troll Viking fans who thought falcons were going to lose a first rounder for tampering?

[@seanmcallister2985]

Hey bozos. Rodgers has been with the team for the last month practicing. All of which he was not required to be at but was. Are we seriously crying about 2 days of practice?