Buffalo Bills Looking to Take Over the AFC East

The Buffalo Bills have almost been able to provide exciting football but have been missing from the playoffs for the past decade. This rut has caused a lot of discontent from faithful fans and spurned a time for change. All this change rests squarely on the shoulders of head coach Dick Jauron and the fans desperately want to see a post season berth. The Bills were able to start last season with a 5-1 record but were unable to ride that momentum into the places. So come this off season there were some severe changes made as the Bills and their fans are hoping to finally be able to compete for the AFC East title.

Last season the Bills offense was only able to score 14 touchdowns through the air and thus it forced their hand as they signed superstar WR Terrell Owens. Owens have over 135 career touchdowns which is second all time and has been able to score more than 10 TD's in each of the past three seasons. While many feel that Owens will tear apart the Bills locker room it is a risk worth taking as the team will now have two deep threats in Owens and Lee Evans.

Evans is a very promising wide receiver but has constantly received double coverage from teams over the years as there has not been another prominent receiver on the Bills side of the ball. Therefore he was only able to catch three touchdown passes last season even though he has averaged 16 yards per catch in his career. The threat of Owens on the other side of the field will make it impossible for teams to double cover Evans which should leave him wide open down the field.

While the passing game was not successful last year, neither was the running game. After signing offensive lineman Derrick Dockery to a lucrative contract he was released as the signing never worked out. The team also traded disgruntled lineman Jason Peters who was demanding a new contract. While Dockery and Peters both had great potential they were not consistent enough, so the team has brought in free agent Geoff Hangartner and rookies Andy Levitre and Eric Wood. These moves should open the field up more for future star Marshawn Lynch.

On the defensive side of the ball the team desperately needed a pass rusher as they were only able to come up with 24 sacks, which was almost last in the league. They used their first round draft pick to acquire Aaron Maybin, who had 12 sacks himself last year playing for Penn State. With the presence of Maybin there should be more room for Aaron Schobel to pressure the passer.

While the Bills have had an impressive off season they will need significant contributions from all of their new players and older players as well. Everything is going to need to come together perfectly if the team hopes to compete with the rest of the powerful AL East.