A new season of the most exciting sports league in the world – the NFL, of course – is upon us. So before we get overwhelmed by the charge of the special teams on opening kick-off, let's take a look at the eight divisions and see what the Gridiron Gods seem to have in store for us.

First up: The AFC East, home of my beloved NY Jets, and of the sole true empire of this young century, the New England Patriots.

New England Patriots
A hobbling, deficient Pats team came within a heartbeat of a fourth Superbowl in six years. That was without the excellent addition of Adalius Thomas on defense, and without a HUGE upgrade at the wide receiver position. Even without counting Randy Moss, the super-talented, micro-motivated former star, who's barely been seen at camp, Donte Stallworth and Wes Welker are a vast improvement over last year's crew, led by the strangely bug-eyed Reche Caldwell. What does all this mean? That barring really bad luck or coach Bill Belichik suddenly forgetting his craft, the Pats should be a shoe-in for the playoffs and go deep once there.

Chances to make the playoffs: (my own estimate): 90% and up, leaving a little chance to the unexpected.

'Anything better than last year will be a welcome surprise for the Miami Dolphins'


Chances to win the Superbowl: (current Vegas line): 4/1

New York Jets
In 2006, a serious rebuilding team with no real NFL running back, a rookie coach, and a quarterback returning from some heavy surgery shocked the league by winning 10 games and making the play-offs. That achievement, impressive as it was, was abetted by a very soft schedule. (In the NFL, the season is shorter in number of games [16] than the number of potential opponents [31], so chances of success are determined by which teams happen to be strong and how many currently strong teams you have on your schedule). In any event, this year the Jets have a much tougher schedule (at least on paper) and despite a productive off-season, they will do extremely well to finish 9:7, which may barely give them a playoff berth.

Chances to make the playoffs: I'd say 40%, but they're my team, so take that with a grain or two.

Current Vegas line to win Superbowl: 40/1

Miami Dolphins
The Fish, as they are erroneously called around the league, are a franchise caught in the swampy mud of mediocrity. They are exactly where they were two years ago, when they appointed the slick Nick Saban as coach. Several missed opportunities later (Drew Brees, to name one), Saban weasled out of his contract to return to college ranks, and the Dolphins are now going into battle with an old and deteriorating QB (Trent Green), an underachieving running-back (Ronnie Brown), and a pretty lousy offensive line. Last year, a stellar defense was only enough for six wins. This year, even with the addition of the phenomenal Joey Porter from Pittsburgh, anything better than last year will be a welcome surprise.

Chances to make the playoffs: 20%

Current Vegas line to win Superbowl: 50/1


Buffalo Bills
The once-mighty Bisons are also floundering, as their last play-off appearance was at the heartbreaking “Music City Miracle” loss to Tennessee in 1999. The wild bovines have a young and very good defense, but question-marks all over the offence. Wide Receiver Lee Evans is projected to do great, but rookie running-back Marshawn Lynch is very disappointing so far in pre-season, and few outside Upstate New York are willing to bet on QB J.P. Losman finding consistent targets other than Evans, which he'll need to have any kind of success.

Chances of making playoffs: Unlike Vegas, which thinks a bit more highly of Miami than of Buffalo, I'll go the other way and give the Bills a 25% chance of surprising everyone and sneaking into the real fun.

Current Vegas line to win Superbowl: 66/1

Stay tuned for the next instalment – the AFC North.