See also:

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The Fillability Index is our annual look at each team's off-season acquisitions and departures. We continue today with the AFC East, a division dominated by a single monster and then otherwise defined by some of the worst teams in football last year.

 

Of course, the division just got a whole lot more interesting with the Jets' acquisition of Brett Favre late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning. The future Hall of Famer will battle another future Hall of Famer, New England's Tom Brady, in Week 2 at the Meadowlands and in Week 11 at Foxboro. The Gillette Stadium battle is already scheduled as the national Thursday night game on NFL Network Nov. 13.

 

This is just a hunch, but we're sure the NFL Network will manage to wring every last drip of hype out of the match-up. In fact, we hear Chris Berman might jump ship for the week just to wash some Brady-Favre nuggets on another network.

 

In fact, the Favre acquisition sets up for New England three definite clashes of future Hall of Fame quarterbacks (the Patriots face Peyton Manning and the Colts in Week 9 in Indy) and a fourth meeting against a potential HOF QB (Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers visit Foxboro in Week 13).

 

There are still plenty of statistical holes to fill here in the AFC East. And, as you'll see, even the mighty Patriots have a weakness, a weakness which cost them a shot at 19-0 in Super Bowl XLII.

 

The Fillability Index is the best way found anywhere in the seedy underworld of online football analysis to measure the off-season moves of each NFL team. Its brilliance is found in its simplicity: we size up each team based upon their statistical strengths and weaknesses last year, as measured by their rankings in all of our Quality Stats, and then determine whether they made the necessary off-season personnel moves to shore up those weaknesses.

 

Pretty simple. Yet nobody else does it.

 

So on to the Index.

 

DT Marcus Stroud (Jacksonville)

LB Kawika Mitchell (New York Giants)

DT Spencer Johnson (Minnesota)

CB William James (Philadelphia)

TE Courtney Anderson (Atlanta)

 

WR Sam Aiken (New England)

CB Jerametrius Butler (New Orleans)

TE Michael Gaines (Detroit)

LB Leon Joe (Tampa Bay)

S Jim Leonhard (Baltimore)

LB Josh Stamer (Tennessee)

RB Anthony Thomas (Unsigned)

DT Larry Tripplett (Seattle)

CB Jason Webster (New England)

S Coy Wire (Atlanta)

 

1 (11) Leodis McKelvin, CB, Troy

2 (41) James Hardy, WR, Indiana

3 (72) Chris Ellis, DE, Virginia Tech

4 (114) Reggie Corner, CB, Akron

4 (132) Derek Fine, TE, Kansas

5 (147) Alvin Bowen, LB, Iowa State

6 (179) Xavier Omon, RB, NW Missouri St

7 (219) Demetrius Bell, OT, Northwestern St

7 (224) Steve Johnson, WR, Kentucky

7 (251) Kennard Cox, CB, Pittsburgh

 

Buffalo could move the ball last year.

 

But when it came time to punch the ball into the end zone, the Bills floundered like a Northern pike gasping for breath on the shores of Lake Erie. 

 

Buffalo boasted the league’s No. 4-ranked Special Teams last year. Teams with strong special teams usually find themselves in a good position to score. The Bills were also among the 10 best teams in football last year on our Big Play Index. But a No. 29 ranking in our Scoreabilty Index speaks of a team that had trouble turning those stellar special teams and Big Plays into points, which, at the end of the day, are the only stats that really matter.

 

But scoring efficiency wasn’t the biggest problem for the Bills last year. Their true Achilles’ heel was the league’s worst Defensive Hogs.

 

The Bills made plenty of moves to shore up that defensive front, grabbing heavyweight defensive tackle and three-time Pro Bowler Marcus Stroud from Jacksonville, along with linebacker Kawika Mitchell, who made some noise as part of the world-champion crew of linebackers last year with the Giants. Stroud represents an upgrade over the departed Larry Tripplett. The most interesting addition may be DT Spencer Johnson, who was a part-time player for a Minnesota club that fielded two of the greatest run defenses in history each of the past two years. Johnson could prove to be a dark-horse contributor for the Bills. But either way, Buffalo’s Defensive Hogs, especially with the addition of Stroud, should improve this year. Hell, they can’t get worse.

 

The Bills, however, have made few moves to ignite that lethargic scoring offense. Clearly, they expect to be able to move the ball better with second year running back Marshawn Lynch, who had a solid rookie season (1,115 yards, 4.0 YPA, 7 TD) behind a poor offensive line (25th in our Offensive Hog Index). And they expect more production from second-year quarterback Trent Edwards or journeyman J.P. Losman.

 

If the efforts to solidify the Defensive Hogs pay off, then it's improved play at quarterback, as is so often the case, that will be the difference between another ho-hum season for the Bills and a possible wildcard playoff spot.

 

OG Justin Smiley (San Francisco)

WR Ernest Wilford (Jacksonville)

LB Reggie Torbor (New York Giants)

DT Jason Ferguson (Dallas)

QB Josh McCown (Oakland)

DT Randy Starks (Tennessee)

TE Sean Ryan (New York Jets)

CB Nathan Jones (Dallas)

FB Boomer Grigsby (Kansas City)

S Keith Davis (Dallas)

S Chris Crocker (Atlanta)

LB Charlie Anderson (Houston)

 

DE Jason Taylor (Washington)

LB Zach Thomas (Dallas)

RB Lorenzo Booker (Philadelphia)

WR Marty Booker (Chicago)

RB Jesse Chatman (New York Jets)

QB Trent Green (St. Louis)

C Rex Hadnot (Cleveland)

OT Cory Lekkerkerker (Dallas)

QB Cleo Lemon (Jacksonville)

OG Chris Liwienski (Jacksonville)

OG Gene Mruczkowski (New England)

LB Derrick Pope (Minnesota)

OT L.J. Shelton (San Diego)

 

1 (1) Jake Long, OT, Michigan

2 (32) Phillip Merling, DE, Clemson

2 (57) Chad Henne, QB, Michigan

3 (66) Kendall Langford, DE, Hampton

4 (110) Shawn Murphy, OG, Utah State

6 (176) Jalen Parmele, RB, Toledo

6 (195) Donald Thomas, OG, Connecticut

6 (204) Lex Hilliard, RB, Montana

7 (245) Lionel Dotson, DT, Arizona

 

Well, where to begin here?

 

Miami sucked so massively last year that FEMA plans to use the 2007 Dolphins to drain out the sub-sea-level soup dish of New Orleans next time the levees break. It’s easy to see why the Dolphins went 1-15 when you look at their Quality Stats across the board: they were among the worst in the league in every single aspect of the game, with their best unit a group of linemen who chimed in at No. 20 on our Offensive Hog Index.

 

But sucking so bad last year makes it an easy job for new VP of football ops Bill Parcells this year: No matter what he does, it's bound to improve a team that needed help in so many areas.

 

Clearly, Parcells decided not only to clean house, but to decontaminate it, too.

 

Fans in South Florida won’t even recognize the team this year. No club got rid of more players – Miami even unloaded face-of-the-franchise defenders Jason Taylor and Zach Thomas – and no team has brought in more players to fight for jobs. Hell, the Dolphins even got rid of two quarterbacks who started a combined 12 of 16 games for them last year, Cleo Lemon and Trent Green.

 

Taylor and Thomas, however, stand as the symbols of the decontamination effort. They were the foundations of the Miami defense over the past decade – but that defense bottomed out last year, a unit that ranked No. 30 in scoring in the NFL and ranked as the worst defense in franchise history.

 

Clearly, the Dolphins have nowhere to go but up. At this point, it's hard to discern a plan (though Parcells certainly has one). From the outside looking in, it seems like he's throwing sh*t against the wall, just to see what sticks. In typical Parcells fashion, we may have some indication of what's sticking by 2009 and certainly by 2011. After all, Parcells took over as coach of the Jets in 1997. The 1996 Jets were, like the 2007 Dolphins, a 1-15 team the year before Parcells arrived. He had the Jets in the AFC title game by 1998. The Patriots reached a Super Bowl in his fourth year at the helm. The Giants won a Super Bowl in his fourth year at the helm.

 

But he was the coach then. Now, that job falls upon the shoulders of unproven Tony Sparano. Parcells is simply buying the groceries.

 

S Tank Williams (Minnesota)

CB Jason Webster (Buffalo)

CB Lewis Sanders (Atlanta)

TE Marcus Pollard (Seattle)

LB Victor Hobson (New York Jets)

CB Fernando Bryant (Detroit)

WR San Aiken (Buffalo)

OT Anthony Clement (New York Jets)

 

CB Asante Samuel (Philadelphia)

WR Donte Stallworth (Cleveland)

LB Rosevelt Colvin (Houston)

LB Junior Seau (Unsigned)

CB Randall Gay (New Orleans)

S Eugene Wilson (Tampa Bay)

DT Rashad Moore (Atlanta)

 

1 (10) Jerod Mayo, LB, Tennessee

2 (62) Terrence Wheatley, CB, Colorado

3 (78) Shawn Crable, LB, Michigan

3 (94) Kevin O’Connell, QB, San Diego State

4 (129) Jonathan Wilhite, CB, Auburn

5 (153) Matt Slater, WR, ULCA

6 (197) Bo Ruud, LB, Nebraska

 

It's amazing how easy it is to see patterns and trends amid the chaos of an NFL game when you're armed with the Cold, Hard Football Facts.

 

The 2007 Patriots, for example, were the most dominant team of the Super Bowl Era – their dominance surpassed in NFL history only by the 1942 Bears (another undefeated team that suffered a shocking upset in the NFL championship game)

 

In fact, the 2007 Patriots had just one statistical weakness. And it was this weakness that killed them in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XLII. The Patriots dominated everywhere last year, but were merely mediocre against the pass, as evidenced by their No. 11 rank in Defensive Passer Rating.

 

Of course, Eli Manning and the Giants exploited this relative weakness with a pair of fourth-quarter Super Bowl scoring drives that overwhelmed New England's Kashmir-like quest for gridiron immortality with the shifting sandstorms of infamy.

 

In the fourth quarter, with the season absolutely on the line, Manning shredded New England’s mediocre pass defense. Here are Eli's fourth-quarter numbers that day: 9 of 14, 64.3%, 152 yards, 10.9 YPA, 2 TD, 0 INT, 140.5 rating.

 

They say that you’re only as strong as your weakest link, and last year New England’s weakest link snapped like Joe Theismann’s tibia in the most pressure-packed moments of the season.

 

The loss of top defensive playmaker Asante Samuel to Philly in free agency certainly doesn’t help the cause. Solid role players Randall Gay and Eugene Wilson are also gone. But Bill Belichick & Co. have brought in so many new defensive backs to fight for jobs that fans won’t even recognize the Patriots secondary this year. Four safeties and corners were brought in via free agency. Two more CBs were picked up in the draft, including second-rounder Terrence Wheatley out of Colorado. Several other street free agents are also fighting for jobs, in a defensive backfield that includes old-school warrior Rodney Harrison and last year's No. 1 draft pick, safety Brandon Meriweather. A injection of new blood into the linebacking corps should also help the pass defense, too.

 

So, for the Patriots, it was all very simple this off-season: shore up the lone weak link on the team, the weak link that snapped in the final quarter of New England’s quest for 19-0. The Patriots made these efforts. Of course, whether it translates on the field remains to be seen.

 

QB Brett Favre (Green Bay)

DT Kris Jenkins (Carolina)

OG Alan Faneca (Pittsburgh)

LB Calvin Pace (Arizona)

FB Tony Richardson (Minnesota)

OG Damien Woody (Detroit)

TE Bubba Franks (Green Bay)

RB Jesse Chatman (Miami)

 

LB Jonathan Vilma (New Orleans)

S Erik Coleman (Atlanta)

LB Victor Hobson (New England)

WR Justin McCareins (Tennessee)

TE Sean Ryan (Miami)

C Wade Smith (Kansas City)

QB Marques Tuiasosopo (Oakland)

 

1 (6) Vernon Gholston, DE, Ohio State

1 (30) Dustin Keller, TE, Purdue

4 (113) Dwight Lowery, CB, San Jose State

5 (162) Erik Ainge, QB, Tennessee

6 (171) Marcus Henry, WR, Kansas

7 (211) Nate Garner, OT, Arkansas

 

 

The Jets were a statistical airline disaster in 2007.

 

In fact, it's hard to believe the 4-12 Jets of 2007 were the same team that went 10-6 and reached the playoffs in 2006.

 

Looking at their lowly across-the-board averages in our Quality Stats last year (an average rank of 23.9), it's hard to believe they managed even four victories. The Jets ranked in the top half of the league in only one Quality Stat – and then even barely – with a No. 16 spot in Defensive Passer Rating.

 

But Eric Mangini’s Jets have proven that, if they do nothing else well, they certainly pour resources into needy areas in the off-season. They did it last year, when they earned a grade of A in our 2007 Fillability Index. They did it in 2006, when they earned an A- in our Fillability Index.

 

And they appear to have done it again this year, pouring all kinds of resources into Offensive and Defensive Hogs who were the worst combined line units in the entire NFL last year. The Jets shored up the offensive line by grabbing perennial Pro Bowler Alan Faneca out of Pittsburgh, and former Pro Bowler Damien Woody – who was once the highest paid offensive lineman in the league when he was signed by Detroit from New England. Coupled with third-year players and former No. 1 picks Nick Mangold and D’Brickashaw Ferguson, the Jets have the foundation for one of the more formidable offensive lines in the league.

 

Defensively, the Jets grabbed 350-pound doorstop Kris Jenkins out of Carolina, and used their top draft pick on Vernon Gholston of Ohio State, one of the most explosive defensive ends in college last year. Of course, the potential improvements among the Defensive Hogs were tempered by the loss of linebackers Victor Hobson and, especially, tackling machine Jonathan Vilma.

 

The Jets still need gamebreakers in the passing game (26th in Passing Yards Per Attempt) and on special teams (26th in our Special Teams Index). They also need to improve  upon their dreadful 28th ranking in Scoreability – this lowly position tells us that, even when the Jets did crank out yards or find themselves in scoring position, they had great difficulty turning those yards into points. And, at the end of the day, the only Cold, Hard Football Facts that matter are the ones on the scoreboard.

 

New York’s perfect A in our Fillability Index in 2007 didn’t translate on the field last season. But you have to believe that improvements on the offensive and defensive lines will pay off sooner or later – especially if the team can find stability at quarterback.