{"id":261493,"date":"2026-01-03T08:30:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T13:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=261493"},"modified":"2026-01-02T18:22:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-02T23:22:27","slug":"nfl-week-18-bold-predictions-afc-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/01\/03\/nfl-week-18-bold-predictions-afc-east\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Week 18 Bold Predictions: AFC East"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the New England Patriots (13-3) officially crowned AFC East champs, the Buffalo Bills (11-5), Miami Dolphins (7-9), and New York Jets (3-13) are all just playing out the season at this point. We should see a lot of backups from all four teams this week, so it could be a strange Week 18. As we enter the last week of the 2025 NFL season, let\u2019s dive into our AFC East Bold Predictions for Week 18.<\/p>\n

AFC East Bold Predictions for NFL Week 18<\/h2>\n

New England Patriots<\/h3>\n

The Patriots get the bye in the AFC<\/h4>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Patriots<\/a> are tied with the Denver Broncos<\/a> for the best record in the AFC (and the entire NFL), but need a Broncos loss to get the first-round playoff bye. While the Los Angeles Chargers<\/a> are going to sit Justin Herbert, we\u2019re going to go out on a limb and predict that Trey Lance will lead the Chargers to victory in Denver.<\/p>\n

Drake Maye will win the MVP<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Drake Maye is neck-and-neck with Matthew Stafford for the NFL MVP award, but probably needs one last week of production to seal the deal. With the 7-9 Miami Dolphins<\/a> coming to town, we\u2019re predicting the Patriots leave Maye in long enough to both win the game and put up at least 250 passing yards.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Buffalo Bills<\/h3>\n

The Bills will lose to the New York Jets<\/h4>\n

\"Offensive<\/p>\n

The Buffalo Bills<\/a> don\u2019t really have anything to play for besides playoff seeding, as they\u2019re guaranteed to play on the road in the first round of the playoffs. They\u2019re reportedly going to rest their starters against the Jets<\/a>, so we\u2019re going to predict a 17-14 loss as the Bills fall to the No. 7 seed in the AFC.<\/p>\n

James Cook will lead the NFL in rushing yards<\/h4>\n
\"Bills
Photo Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the Bills will reportedly rest their starters this weekend, Bills head coach Sean McDermott reportedly wants to get James Cook the NFL rushing title. Cook is 47 rushing yards ahead of Jonathan Taylor heading into Week 18, so he has a bit of a head start. With the Colts playing earlier than the Bills, McDermott will be able to get Cook the title and rest him.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Miami Dolphins<\/h3>\n

The Dolphins will lay an egg in New England<\/h4>\n
\"AFC
Photo Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Miami Dolphins are looking to finish their season strong, but will have to head to frigid New England to finish their year. Heading into the game at 7-9, the Dolphins don\u2019t have much to play for as the Patriots still have a chance at the No. 1 seed in the AFC East. We\u2019re predicting the Dolphins to leave their A-game in Miami and lose 27-13. After Week 18 they can head home and ponder the rumors that have them targeting a former NFL MVP<\/a> in an offseason trade.<\/p>\n

Quinn Ewers will struggle against the Patriots<\/h4>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Quinn Ewers has looked decent for the Miami Dolphins as he\u2019s stepped in for the benched Tua Tagovailoa, but the seventh-round pick also hasn\u2019t been great either. He\u2019ll have to play his first game in the frigid cold of New England this weekend, and we\u2019re predicting him to throw for less than 200 yards with at least one interception on the day.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

New York Jets<\/h3>\n

The Jets will beat the Buffalo Bills<\/h4>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The New York Jets come into this week sitting at 3-13, but they\u2019ll get to play the Bills\u2019 backups (for the most part) as the Bills have nothing to play for. While the Jets aren\u2019t very good, their starters should be able to do some damage against the Bills\u2019 backups. We\u2019re predicting a 17-14 Jets win in Buffalo.<\/p>\n

Adonai Mitchell will have a big week<\/h4>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Adonai Mitchell was a throw-in as part of the Sauce Gardner trade, but he\u2019s quickly turned into the Jets\u2019 most-targeted receiver since. While that\u2019s a low bar to clear, Mitchell has put together some solid games with the Jets, and we\u2019re predicting him to excel against the Bills\u2019 backups this week with at least 80 receiving yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n

For more great football analysis, check out DrRoto.com<\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the New England Patriots (13-3) officially crowned AFC East champs, the Buffalo Bills (11-5), Miami Dolphins (7-9), and New York Jets (3-13) are all just playing out the season at this point. We should see a lot of backups from all four teams this week, so it could be a strange Week 18. As […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5637,"featured_media":261497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32810],"tags":[682,2320],"class_list":["post-261493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-predictions","tag-afc-east","tag-nfl-schedule"],"modified_by":"Doug Henderson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5637"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261493"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":261507,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261493\/revisions\/261507"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261497"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}