With the bye week coming up, Dolphins coach Cam Cameron is in no rush to name his starting QB for Week 9.

The Phins have waived defensive lineman Sam Rayburn and signed running back Samkon Gado.

Are the Jets trying to cover up just how upset linebacker Jonathan Vilma is? If so, I would think it is to keep Vilma’s trade value from plummeting to the ground like a Chad Pennington pass.

And if Vilma’s career with the Jets is over, they certainly seem to have a capable replacement for him already.

The Jets midterm grades are in, and lets just say they make Delta House look like a pack of rocket scientists.

Looks like Bills’ running back Marshawn Lynch is getting along real well in Buffalo.

The Bills quarterback carosel continues…

Do the Patriots have a game this weekend? I haven’t really heard anything…

Week 8 in the AFC East was certainly an interesting one. The Patriots kept on rolling, the Bills gave their fans reason for optimism, while the Jets and Dolphins continued their horrible starts.

The game of the week in the AFC East took place down in the Meadowlands where the Buffalo Bills improved to 3-4 with a 13-3 win over the struggling Jets. In what was an extremely ugly game, the Bills made the one big play, a 75-yard touchdown pass from J.P. Losman, who was in for an injured Trent Edwards, to WR Lee Evans that made it a 13-3 game with 3:38 left in the game. Losman played a solid game in relief, leading the Bills on two scoring drives in the fourth quarter. The Bills defense held the lackluster Jets to just 216 total yards and forced 3 turnovers. RB Marshawn Lynch continued his great rookie year with 80 yards rushing on the day.

For the Jets, the breaking point may have finally hit. After a poor day passing, Jets QB Chad Pennington was replaced by Kellen Clemens, much to the delight of the Jets home crowd. Clemens didn’t fare much better, throwing two interceptions in his limited playing time. There isn’t much going right in New York these days, and the Jets are hoping a change at QB might give them the spark they need. The only stars of the game for the Jets would have to be RB Thomas Jones (70 yards on 16 carries) and rookie LB David Harris, who had 17 tackles and a sack playing in place of Jonathan Vilma, who was placed on IR recently. The Jets are hoping Harris can takeover the starting role for good as Vilma doesn’t seem to fit the team’s 3-4 defensive alignment.

Up in Foxboro, the Patriots took the Redskins out behind the woodshed and laid a 52-7 beating on them. There wasn’t much the Pats could do wrong this weekend as the offense scored at will and the defense held the Skins to 224 yards on the day. QB Tom Brady continued his MVP-worthy start to the season, throwing for 3 TDs and rushing for 2 more. LB Mike Vrabel had a career day with 11 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and a TD catch while playing TE. Vrabel now has 10 catches in his career, all for touchdowns. WR Wes Welker had another great day for the Pats, hauling in 9 catches for 89 yards and his 6th touchdown of the season.

Over in merry old England the Miami Dolphins looked to get their first win of the season, but it was more of the same as they dropped a 13-10 game to the Giants. Playing on a rain soaked field that isn’t built for American football, neither team was able to muster much offense. The Dolphins didn’t find the end zone until the final minutes of the game when Cleo Lemon hit Tedd Ginn, Jr. for a late touchdown that brought the Phins within 3. The ensuing onside kick slid out of bounds on the slick field and the Giants were able to run out the clock to win.

Week 8 on the NFL calendar is upon us, which means we’re nearly halfway through the 2007 season. So far its safe to say only one team in the AFC East can be truly happy thus far, while two teams have to be beyond disappointed and the other is probably right about where they expected to be. At the start of the season it looked like the Patriots division to lose, and nothing has happened to change that forecast.

In Week 8, we get an interdivisional matchup (Buffalo at New York Jets), a non-conference matchup (Washington at New England)and an international matchup (New York Giants at Miami, via London, England).

In the Meadowlands, the Jets will look to avenge their earlier loss to Buffalo, while the Bills will look to win back-to-back games after upsetting Baltimore last weekend. The Jets are truly reeling, and a home loss to a division rival would do little to soften the critics of head coach Eric Mangini and quarterback Chad Pennington. In order to win, the Jets will have to force the Bills offense into some turnovers, something that neither the Jets defense or Bills offense has been doing with much frequency lately. RB Thomas Jones needs a big day to keep the pressure off Pennington, both from the Bills defense and the Jets fans.

For the Bills, they need to keep doing whats been working, namely protecting the ball and playing solid defense. If they can keep the Jets out of the end zone and force them to settle for field goals they can escape New Jersey with another divisional win. The Bills D was impressive against the Ravens offense, but then again who isnt? Punter Brian Moorman will be called upon once again to help Buffalo win the all important field position battle since points will be at a premium. Rookie RB Marshawn Lynch could have a breakout performance against a struggling Jets D.

Patriots QB Tom Brady looks to set yet another record this weekend against the Redskins. In Brady’s career he has defeated 30 of the NFL’s 32 teams. The only two teams he has yet to defeat? The New England Patriots (duh) and the Washington Redskins. In a funny twist of fate, Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning tries to set the same mark this weekend against Carolina, too. The Redskins defense should offer the toughest test for the Patriots offense thus far this season. The Skins secondary is physical and not afraid to put their noses in wherever the ball goes. Pats WRs will have their hands full finding open spaces downfield this weekend. If the Pats running game can get on track it would greatly help matters. On the defensive side of the ball, the Patriots will try and get back on track after a weak second half performance in Miami. Redskins QB Jason Campbell doesn’t have the best stats in the world, but he can be deadly if given enough time to throw. New England will also have to contend with Skins RB Clinton Portis who is one of the better backs in the NFL. I don’t expect to see the Patriots putting up another 48 or 49 point performance this weekend, but they should still score enough to win comfortably.

Over in merry old England the New York Giants “visit” the Miami Dolphins for “a competitive fixture at Wembley [Stadium] on Sunday”. All the pomp and circumstance aside, this looks to be another long day for Phins fans. The Giants defense comes into the game on a hot streak, and combined with the Phins struggles on the offensive line it could get very ugly very fast. Added to that is the loss of star RB Ronnie Brown who has been Miami’s only source of offense this season and things really look bad for the Dolphins. But there is a reason they play the games after all, and if the Phins defense can step up and force Eli Manning into some bad decisions they could steal enough momentum and field position to put themselves in a position to pull a big upset.

Patriots defensive end Richard Seymour returned to practice today. Finally, maybe the Pats defense can finally get its act together.

Was Jets’ linebacker Jonathan Vilma really hurt last week?

Looks like Jets fans get at least one more week of Chad Pennington, Starting Quarterback.

And Bills fans get a few more weeks of Trent Edwards, Starting Quarterback.

Maybe I was too quick to say that Dolphins linebacker Zach Thomas wasn’t injured in Sunday’s postgame car accident.

The 2007 Dolphins season just keeps getting worse, as star running back Ronnie Brown was placed on injured reserve today after injuring his knee against the Patriots Sunday. Brown was injured when he tried to tackle Pats’ DB Randall Gay on an interception return. Also, the Dolphins placed starting safety Renaldo Hill on injured reserve with a knee injury. And to top it all off, star linebacker Zach Thomas was involved in a car accident on the way home from the game. Luckily neither Thomas nor his wife were injured in the crash.