Others improved, but enough to dethrone Pats in AFC East?

NEW YORK — The AFC East got a lot more entertaining with one wacky, drama-filled offseason.

Rex Ryan brought his bluster to Buffalo. The New York Jets cleaned house, welcomed home one of the franchise’s best players and saw their quarterback socked in the jaw by a teammate. Miami paid big bucks to bolster an already dominant defensive line by bringing aboard Ndamukong Suh.

And then there’s the New England Patriots.

The defending Super Bowl champions’ offseason was filled with talk of deflated footballs, lawsuits and Tom Brady’s four-game suspen- sion for his role in the “Deflategate” scandal.

With all of those distractions, could this be the year someone else sits atop the division at the end of the season? After all, the Patriots have won 12 of the last 14 division titles.

“At this time of year, there’s a lot of optimism around the NFL for a lot of different teams,” said Mike Tannenbaum, the former Jets GM who’s now the Dolphins’ executive vice president of football operations. “But I can tell you with certainty the difference between our optimism and the other 31 (teams) is our optimism is earned.”

Ryan can appreciate that kind of confidence. After being fired by the Jets as coach after six years, he found a home in Western New York. He’s already a fan favorite, blowing into town with the types of bold declarations and promises that always made headlines in New York City.

“This ain’t the honeymoon period,” Ryan said. “The honeymoon period’s coming, and I truly believe that. I truly believe there’s going to be such great days ahead of us that the true honeymoon period is getting ready to take place.”

The Bills have certainly improved, and so have the Dolphins and Jets. But the question remains, if Brady sits out four games or not, whether any of them will be able to dethrone the Patriots.