NFL 2015: In AFC, from Bills to Browns, have-nots still in futile uphill fight

Gregg Patton previews the 2015 American Football Conference, where he writes there's every reason to expect it to look a lot like it did last season.

New Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan believes his team can exceed expectations and make the NFL play-offs in 2015. Duane Burleson / AP / September 3, 2015

The National Football League is designed to create parity. Run by billionaires and corporations, the owners long ago embraced a socialist model for their toy: spread the riches, underwrite the poor.

From its first television revenue-sharing deal more than 50 years ago, to its reward-the-losers draft, to its salary cap, the have-nots receive every opportunity to succeed.

How, then, to explain the Buffalo Bills? They have not had a sniff of the play-offs since the last century – 15 seasons, the longest-running play-off drought in the NFL.

But they are not alone in their futility. The American Football Conference is awash in teams that manage to blow their draft picks, hire flawed coaches, make JP Losman their quarterback and avoid a top-six spot in the AFC year after year.

The Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders are 12 years removed from a play-off appearance. The Jacksonville Jaguars are seven years out, and the Tennessee Titans and Miami Dolphins are working on six-year streaks.

Two of those teams start the season thinking they have a chance to end the frustration, and they both reside in the AFC East – Miami and, yes, long-suffering Buffalo.

“I think we’re going to be in the play-offs this year,” new Bills coach Rex Ryan, formerly of the New York Jets, said at his first news conference. “I can guarantee you one thing, teams aren’t going to want to play us.”

Boosted by a sturdy defence, the Bills went 9-7 last year, so Ryan may have a point – or, perhaps, a blind spot. The team has turned to an unproven quarterback, Tyrod Taylor, who somehow beat out last year’s starter EJ Manuel and journeyman Matt Cassel for the job. “Unproven quarterback” and “play-offs” do not often mix.

It is the Dolphins who appear better positioned, after an 8-8 season, to re-join the play-off party. The Miami defence was solid last year and is likely better this year. Their quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, enters his fourth year on a decided career upswing with 27 touchdowns, 12 interceptions last year.

As for Cleveland, Oakland, Jacksonville and Tennessee, what is one more year on the outside looking in?

Where parity seems to work best is at the top – dragging teams out of the play-offs. The longest current play-off streak in the AFC is six years, held by the New England Patriots. In the NFC, only the Green Bay Packers can match it. The Denver Broncos and Cincinnati Bengals each have four consecutive appearances.

Apparently, it is easier to stay bad than to stay good.

That said, do not look for much play-off turnover in the AFC this season. With New England quarterback Tom Brady winning the all-important pre-season legal battle to vacate his four-game “Deflategate” suspension, the defending Super Bowl champions should grab one spot.

The Indianapolis Colts, losers of the AFC title game, continue to gather strength around the league’s best young quarterback, Andrew Luck. The Pittsburgh Steelers still seem one, giant offensive step better than their fellow play-off teams from the AFC North, the defensively loaded Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals.

It is increasingly an offence-first league. No fire power, no chance to win all those fourth-quarter shootouts.

In the AFC West, Denver quarterback Peyton Manning will try to avoid Kansas City Chiefs sack master Justin Houston as they vie for the division title and an automatic play-off berth.

Parity-shmarity. The division winners will be New England, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis and Kansas City. The wild cards will go to Miami and Denver.

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