Communicated Content – Since the departure of Tom Brady from the Patriots, the NFL has certainly become a more open league. It’s not that the Foxboro side simply won every Super Bowl while Brady was there – in fact, in his nineteen years as a starter there, they won six titles – but during his time under center for the club, it always felt like there was one team that stood over the others, always threatening to crush everything in its path. Since the breakup of the Brady-Belichick dynasty, there has been more room for promising NFL teams to become championship teams.
Not that that’s been something that fans in New York state have had to think about much during the last couple of decades. With the exception of a couple of Super Bowl wins for the Giants – both over Brady’s Patriots, interestingly – the pickings have been slim for sides from the Empire State. As we move towards the summer, and preparation for the new season continues to gather pace, it’s worth a look at what could be in the pipeline for the three sides hailing from the state in 2022.
Buffalo: Finally, a Super Bowl for the Bills?
Marv Levy’s Bills were probably, at some point in the early 90s, the best team in the NFL. They made it to four consecutive Super Bowls and had dominance over the AFC – and particularly their AFC East rivals the Dolphins – that was unshakable. And in each of those four Super Bowls, they lost. That kind of experience scars a team and a fanbase, so Bills fans won’t be counting any chickens going into the season, but they may never be in a better position to lay their ghosts to rest.
Fans with a promo code for Caesars in New York must be tempted to back the Bills to break the hoodoo. There may be better QBs in the game than Josh Allen, but not many – and none are as ready and as well-supported to win when it matters. Their offense was already good enough, and the addition of Von Miller means their defense is pretty close. They can smell the Vince Lombardi trophy, but will they finally feel it in February 2023? Maybe.
NY Giants: Reasons to be optimistic
No one could make the case for the Giants to be a Super Bowl team without laughing, but their mediocrity of recent seasons could at least be about to break. There are two key reasons for this. The first is the appointment of Brian Daboll as head coach. We’ve just mentioned how good Josh Allen is, and Daboll’s time as OC in Buffalo is considered to be the major reason why Allen is ready to win it all. The Giants have good reason to hope he’ll unlock the undoubted potential Daniel Jones carries.
The second reason is the NFC East. It’s a poor division. None of the Cowboys, Commanders or Eagles could be mistaken for a championship-grade team. To make the playoffs, the Giants only need to be better than those three. That’s a very achievable goal.
NY Jets: Still likely to lose more than they win, but improving
The one upside of being as rotten as the Jets have been for years is that you’re going to get a lot of early draft picks. Of course, you still need to pick the right players and you’ll also need a coach who can get the best out of them. The Jets haven’t always met the first criterion, and have been downright awful on the second for years, but they improved under Robert Saleh last season, and went from “laughing stock” to “work in progress”.
This season, they’ve upgraded at several positions, improving their defense and offense with four picks in the first 36. Zack Wilson got off to a tough start in 2021, and then suffered a knee injury that cost him four games. But he was evidently improving as the season went on and now has a lot more weapons around him including a very decent running back corps. They won’t make the playoffs without a miracle, but you can expect the Jets to continue a promising rebuild.
