Rex Ryan might be getting a little ahead of himself.
The coach’s Buffalo Bills have been a part of a flurry of aggressive moves made in the AFC East since the start of the new NFL year, while their rival New England Patriots have lost more big names than they’ve signed. For Ryan, this is enough reason to believe that the Bills are closing the gap on the defending Super Bowl champs.
“I feel pretty good about what we’ve added,” Ryan told Toronto’s SportsNet 590. “So we’ll see. … I think the conference really got stronger. If anything, it currently doesn’t look — if you can say winners and losers in free agency — obviously New England had to cut quite a few players.
“So obviously they don’t look as strong as they did. I certainly hope they’re not. They just got through winning the Super Bowl. But I believe the rest of the division really has got stronger. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. I truly believe that we got stronger.”
The Bills did get stronger. That much is true. They traded for top running back LeSean McCoy and signed wide receiver Percy Harvin. They held onto most of their defense, which ranked fourth in the NFL in fewest points allowed in 2014.
But it’s hard to believe that Buffalo did enough to overtake the Pats.
Though 25-year-old quarterback Tyrod Taylor could prove to be a wild card — he has just 35 pass attempts under his belt over four seasons — former Tom Brady backup Matt Cassel currently is Buffalo’s most likely starter. And it’s unlikely he can lead a team that just enjoyed its first season above .500 since 2004 past one that hasn’t won less than 10 games since 2002.
The Miami Dolphins and New York Jets certainly went out of their way to bolster their defenses, signing defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh and luring cornerback Darrelle Revis from the Patriots, respectively, but on paper their offenses don’t have what it takes to dethrone New England.
Of course Ryan would believe the rest of the division is closing the gap on the Patriots because that’s his job. He’s not exactly wrong — these new-look defenses certainly won’t be a cakewalk for New England — but the gap was pretty large to begin with.
Still, the Patriots have made the playoffs with worse than what they have now, and it’s going to take a more complete team to stop coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady.
Thumbnail photo via Brian Spurlock/USA TODAY Sports Images
