Sean McDermott: 'The Patriots remain the favorite' in AFC East

Despite what the experts are saying, Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott believes the New England Patriots are still the favorite to win the AFC East.

After losing Tom Brady to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Patriots will be relying on second-year quarterback Jarrett Stidham, but McDermott just can't see a reason as to why New England wouldn't be the favorite heading into 2020.

“Anytime you bring up some of those words — expectations, pressure — number one, I think it shows you that people respect the way we’re doing things overall, which is nice,” McDermott said in an interview with Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer. “But number two, and just as important, the Patriots, look, they’ve won the division for X amount of years. [Ed. note: 11 straight and 16 of the last 17.] … Until someone is able to win the division, to us, the Patriots remain the favorite. Why shouldn’t they? You tell me one reason why they shouldn’t.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, we really do,” he said. “And our players work hard, there’s no doubt about that. I think that’s the one thing that I can say: We embrace that we’ve got to earn things.”

The Patriots have won the AFC East every year since 2008, but that's now in jeopardy with Brady officially gone. 

While Bill Belichick still will get the most out of his players, the Bills are shaping up to be the team to beat in the division. 

With Josh Allen, Cole Beasley, Stefon Diggs and many more contributing on offense, the Bills may just win the AFC East. 

However, they haven't won the division since 1995 and the Patriots, New York Jets and Miami Dolphins won't be going down without a fight.