Buckle up, Dolphins fans! Aaron Rodgers plans to join Jets, turn AFC East into must-see | Habib

Everybody ready for Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots buried in last place?

Before we get to Aaron Rodgers choosing the New York Jets and taking half of the Green Bay Packers with him, why not chortle over the Patriots destined for the basement in 2023?

At least there’s one thing three teams in the AFC East can agree on.

Everything else is a mess. A beautiful mess that will make every division game a must-see battle royal, once the Jets and Packers work out trade compensation. It doesn’t take much to imagine January arriving and the division title being decided by the sixth tiebreaker: penalty kicks.

The Buffalo Bills? Go ahead and make a case for them. It’s not hard. They’re the champs until somebody has a good reason to say they aren’t.

The Dolphins? Seems like 10 minutes ago that Miami fans learned there’s a new cornerback in town, Jalen Ramsey. Now they’re Googling the site of next season’s Super Bowl (Las Vegas). You can’t plan these things too early, you know.

Wednesday, the Jets bulldozed their way into the discussion. Even with Rodgers waffling and dropping cryptic messages on whether he’ll join the Jets or work the counter at Antonelli’s Cheese Shop, the Jets shrewdly positioned themselves for good news by working to import two of his favorite targets, Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard.

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The Jets were so into pandering to Rodgers that if there had been a way to legally nab Davante Adams from the Raiders, they would have gone all in. At least they have their sights on Jake from State Farm — sorry, but that MetLife Stadium name’s gotta go — with James Lofton, Sterling Sharpe and Greg Jennings on deck. And the coup de grâce: a case of Badger State brew.

By the way, the Jets still have Garrett Wilson — that one is actually true — and he had 1,103 yards last season with nobody named Aaron Rodgers throwing to him.

Oh, also by the way, the Jets gave up the fourth-fewest points in the NFL last year. One of the teams even stingier? Buffalo.

Starting to capisce on this three-horse race theory?

Nobody can forget the three meetings between the Dolphins and Bills in 2022. The Dolphins won by two at home, lost the snow globe game by three, then lost the wild-card meeting by three. That’s how thin the difference was between the teams, despite all three of Miami’s QBs taking snaps against Buffalo.

The Dolphins vs. Jets was a different story. The Jets blew out the Dolphins 40-17 aided by the Teddy Bridgewater concussion only one person at MetLife seemed to notice. Miami won the regular-season finale 11-6 thanks to Joe Flacco putting on the kind of performance Aaron Rodgers won’t.

How has Aaron Rodgers traditionally done vs. AFC East teams?

We say this despite a statistical anomaly deep on Rodgers’ stat sheet. He has the lowest passer rating in his career against AFC East teams, 88.3, nearly covering a full season’s worth of games (16). The lowest completion percentage, too, at 58.1. He’s 3-1 against both the Jets and Dolphins, with seven touchdown passes and two interceptions vs. Miami.

So the Dolphins’ defenders had better show marked improvement over 2022. Chris Grier and the organization have taken steps to assure last season’s No. 24 ranking in points allowed won’t be repeated. Adding Ramsey, naturally. Plugging in linebacker David Long from the Titans could be one of those under-the-radar moves that ought to be on everyone’s radar. And of course, there’s Vic Fangio’s presence, plus the logical assumption that injuries in 2023 cannot possibly rise above the red line labeled “ANOTHER ONE?” two straight years. Right?

Further tightening could occur via Buffalo losing linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, who led the Bills with 102 tackles in 2022. He jumped to the Bears, who see him worthy of a $72 million deal. Probably because he is.

Is East most intriguing division in NFL?

Does all this make the AFC East the most interesting division in the NFL? Maybe, but don’t underestimate the networks’ love affair with the three NFC East contenders (Eagles, Cowboys, Giants). While college football has the SEC and everybody else, the NFL has the Beasts of the Two Easts and a bunch of one- or two-team races.

The Dolphins last won the division in 2008. In the 14 seasons since, they’ve managed a winning divisional record four times, finishing 4-2 on each such occasion. Given the parity, four wins might be enough in 2023.

Meantime, just know that the captain has turned on the "fasten seat belts" sign.

Ride’s about to get bumpy.

Dolphins reporter Hal Habib can be reached at  hhabib@pbpost.com and followed on Twitter  @gunnerhal.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: What Aaron Rodgers choosing Jets means for Dolphins, wicked AFC East