In defense of the AFC East, which produced only one 9-7 playoff team, the division is a dogfight.

It's been that way for two decades, but in different styles. In the early 1980s, the AFC East was the quarterbacks' division. There was Dan Marino, Jim Kelley, Ken O'Brien and Tony Eason. In the 1990s, it was Buffalo's time. Marv Levy turned out four consecutive AFC titles in the early 1990s for the Bills. Soon, Bill Parcells and Jimmy Johnson stamped their styles on the division.

	Linebacker Junior Seau was added to Miami's No. 3 ranked defense.

This is the defensive era of the AFC East. Each of the four coaches were former defensive coaches, and the unique part about this season is that how well those coaches improve their defenses will determine how many will make the playoffs. The problem is that these four teams make it tough on each other.

In any given year, the AFC East can be counted on for at least three playoff contenders, but those teams usually don't go far into the playoffs because the regular season takes so much out of them. The division winner ends up as a third seed and they usually have to play without a bye week.

And if you thought last season was tough when three teams finished 9-7 and the Bills finished 8-8, wait until this year. Each team appears to be better, and the emphasis has been on the defensive side of the ball. Naturally.

"You see everybody loading up on defense in the AFC East and the teams are bringing in a lot of high profile names," Dolphins vice president Rick Spielman said. "This division is competitive, so there are going to be some bloodbaths."

What you can't do in the AFC East is go by the stats. The Dolphins clearly have the best defense. They finished third last year overall, fifth against the run and eighth against the pass. If you include backup defensive end Rob Burnett, the Dolphins can field nine current and former Pro Bowlers at one time.

Combine that with a 1,853-yard runner (Ricky Williams) and you should be talking Super Bowl. That's what the stats should indicate, right? Wrong. The Dolphins went on a three-game tailspin when Jay Fiedler was hurt, and a late season loss to the Vikings cost them a trip to the playoffs.

And if you went by the numbers, the Patriots might not have been the odds-on pick to win the Super Bowl two years ago. They got hot at the right time, had the right quarterback (Tom Brady) and followed the great coaching orders of Bill Belichick to beat the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.

Still, the numbers indicate that at least three of the AFC East teams needed work on their defense, and even the fourth team, the Dolphins, bolstered their defense with the likes of linebacker Junior Seau.

The Bills made the biggest jump as far as talent. Their stats were a little misleading a year ago. Although they ranked 15th overall, that was only because opponents ran the ball so well against them that they didn't give up a lot of passing yards. The Bills surrendered 132 yards a game on the ground and 4.5 yards a carry.

General manager Tom Donahoe started the rebuilding of the front seven on defense a year ago by signing defensive end Marcus Jones, a $5 million-a-year former Bucs defensive end. Jones missed the entire 2002 with a knee injury, but is ready to play this year. During the offseason, he spent $14.3 million of salary and signing bonus money on three new starters -- linebackers Takeo Spikes and Jeff Posey and defensive tackle Sam Adams. Throw in role players such as safety Izell Reese, cornerback Dainon Sidney and pass-rushing defensive end Keith McKenzie along with second-round choice Chris Kelsay, a defensive end, and the Bills may have the caliber of defense to keep stride with the most productive offense in the division.

Belichick didn't stand pat either. Opponents exploited a lack of speed on defense to rush for 137 yards a game against the Patriots and average 4.7 yards a rush last season. Quarterbacks picked apart the interior of their pass defense, too, particularly because of a lack of a consistent pass rush.

Unlike past years, Belichick didn't just go bargain shopping for low-priced veteran role players. He signed linebacker Rosevelt Colvin to a six-year, $25.9 million contract to bring his double-digit sack numbers over from Chicago and added Rodney Harrison to toughen up the safety position, playing him next to Pro Bowl safety Lawyer Milloy. Tyrone Poole was added as a third cornerback and Ty Warren was taken in the first-round to be the nose tackle.

	“	You see everybody loading up on defense in the AFC East and the teams are bringing in a lot of high profile names. This division is competitive, so there are going to be some bloodbaths. ”
		— Rick Spielman, Dolphins vice president

The Patriots, who juggle between a 4-3 and a 3-4 alignment, have their best players on the field in the 3-4. Being the only 3-4 in the division, the Patriots will make it harder for opponents to prepare for them.

Even though the Jets won the division last year, they face the toughest challenge. First, their No. 1 finish earned them the toughest schedule. They face opponents with a combined .541 wining percentage and have 12 games against teams with .500 or better records. The Redskins made life tougher by stealing four key players -- wide receiver Laveranues Coles, guard Randy Thomas, kicker John Hall and kick-returner Chad Morton. Herman Edwards hopes to patch those losses with wide receiver Curtis Conway, guard Tom Nutten and kicker Doug Brien.

Armed with two first-round choices, the Jets, fitting the AFC East tradition, went for defense in a big way. They traded those choices to grab who most people believed was the best defensive impact player in the draft, defensive tackle Dewayne Robertson. Why Robertson? Simple, the Jets have made two consecutive playoff appearances despite poor run-stopping.

Last year, the Jets surrendered 123 yards a game on the ground and 4.6 yards a carry. Think about this, three of the conference's four worst run-stopping teams in average per carry were in the AFC East -- the Bills, the Jets and the Patriots. In a division loaded with defensive coaches, that won't be allowed to continue.

Still, stats are misleading in this division. The Dolphins had all the stats last year. Williams led the NFL in rushing. Defensive end Jason Taylor had 18½ sacks. And yet, the Dolphins finished third and once again faded in the second half of the season.

Coach Dave Wannstedt answered that flaw by bringing in defensive players who can be leaders. Seau has been a Pro Bowler since the early 1990s. Defensive tackle Jeff Zgonina was a team captain for the Rams. Terrell Buckley has bounced between the Patriots and Dolphins in the past few years, but he has returned to the Dolphins to pressure former first-rounder Jamar Fletcher into playing better. Safety Sammy Knight was signed for his uncanny ability to create turnovers.

To do that much for the third-ranked defense may seem to be a little much, but it isn't. Offensive coaches tend to play more conservative and not allow turnovers, so the only way to counter that is to get aggressive players to force turnovers.

The aggressive nature of the offseason, though, may make it tough for any of these AFC East teams to improve more than a game or two.

John Clayton is a senior writer for ESPN.com.