ESPN AFC East Blog

Posted by ESPN.com's Tim Graham

Few organizations in NFL history have accomplished as much as the Miami Dolphins in such a short period of time.

The changes were swift and universal. On the field, inside the locker room and within the front office, the Dolphins established a new culture based on old-school football edicts.

	Steve Mitchell/US Presswire
	Bill Parcells helped turn the Dolphins into a playoff team.

The movement sounded admirably quaint at first. New football operations boss, Bill Parcells, had a plan and was building for the future through discipline, commitment and strength.

Little did we know, the future came right away. The 2008 Dolphins pulled off the most remarkable one-season turnaround in NFL history. They went from one victory to the playoffs (unprecedented) and a division title (unprecedented) while improving by 10 wins (tying an NFL record).

There's no question the Dolphins' turnaround was the greatest AFC East story of the past season and belongs at or near the top of any NFL list.

The sequence of events was compelling enough that many developments that helped pull off such a dramatic reversal stand alone as their own memorable moments.

With all four teams in the division done, let's take a look at the top 20 AFC East stories -- pleasant and foul -- from the past season.

1. Dolphins turnaround: The Dolphins were wretched in 2007. Fans were rooting for defensive end Jason Taylor to prevail on "Dancing with the Stars" because it might foster a winning tradition. Seriously.

2. Brett Favre trade: The entire division hinged on Favre's decision to play again and his subsequent trade to the New York Jets. The move and its main aftershock changed the face of the AFC East.

3. Chad Pennington to Miami: The Dolphins couldn't have been happier the Jets decided to cut Pennington loose to make room for Favre. Pennington won comeback player of the year honors and finished second to Peyton Manning for league MVP.

4. Matt Cassel's emergence: A bad preseason generated doubt he would make the Patriots' 53-man roster. Now it looks like he'll make about $15 million next season. Cassel started in Week 2 for the first time since high school and led the Patriots to 11 wins. He slowly did the unthinkable: He kept Patriot Nation from kvetching over their fallen hero, Tom Brady.

	AP Photo/Winslow Townson
	Tom Brady's season-ending injury paved the way for Matt Cassel to shine in New England.

5. Tom Brady's season-ending knee injury: Cassel was so astonishingly good, his emergence trumped Brady's opening-day downer. But had Brady been healthy, the Patriots might have won one more game and returned to the playoffs.

6. Tony Sparano's rookie season: The rookie head coach looked like a Parcells lackey when he joined the Dolphins, but he quickly established himself among the players as his own man. The front office turned over half the roster, and Sparano brought the pieces together every Sunday.

7. Miami's Wildcat offense: With Sparano's blessing, the Dolphins unleashed an offense that was so throwback it was exotic. It was an unbalanced line, a direct shotgun snap to Ronnie Brown, Ricky Williams as the fast-motion wingback, Pennington split wide ... The Wildcat's success forced other teams to quickly adopt it.

8. Jets victory over Titans: On the heels of a thrilling overtime triumph over the Patriots in Gillette Stadium, the Jets went into Nashville and thumped the undefeated Titans. The Jets raised their record to 8-3 and became the fashionable pick to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.

9. Favre's collapse: We later would learn he was playing with an injured throwing arm, but over the past five games of the season -- and perhaps his career -- Favre threw two touchdown passes and nine interceptions. The Jets went 1-5 in those games, rendering their season a failure.

10. Bills play in Toronto: The Bills outsourced eight home games over five years to Canada for a handsome $78 million payout. Bills fans are disgusted over the decision to extract regular-season games from Orchard Park, N.Y., and are anxious this could signal the team's intentions to move.

11. Bill Belichick's best season: The Patriots lost five more regular-season games than they did in 2007 and failed to make the postseason after playing in the Super Bowl. But the Patriots managed to win 11 games without the league MVP, their top three running backs, a defensive captain and a slew of other injured players.

	Otto Greule Jr./Getty Images
	After his team failed to make the playoffs, Eric Mangini was fired.

12. Jets' roster overhaul: Favre's arrival generated the boldest back-page headlines, but owner Woody Johnson and general manager Mike Tannenbaum spent $140 million to rebound from last year's 4-12 record. They paid the likes of guard Alan Faneca, tackle Damien Woody, fullback Tony Richardson and linebacker Calvin Pace in free agency and traded for nose tackle Kris Jenkins.

13. Eric Mangini fired: After 11 games he was on his way to the playoffs and maybe the Super Bowl. After 16 games he was hunting for boxes to clean out his desk. He had two winning records in his three-year stay.

14. Dick Jauron's contract mess: One of the more absurd sagas of the season was Buffalo's refusal to acknowledge it had given its head coach a three-year contract extension during the season. Were the Bills embarrassed of him? Apparently only enough to not admit they'd remain associated with him, but not enough to fire him.

15. Pennington's victory over Jets: With the Dolphins' season on the line, Pennington returned to the Meadowlands and found retribution. He beat the team that cut him in training camp and outplayed the old man the Jets preferred.

16. Cassel's inspirational game: Days after his father's death and with the funeral pending, Cassel threw four touchdown passes in the rain to win at Oakland in Week 15.

17. Buffalo's hot start: The Bills sprinted to a 4-0 start and were 5-1 before they had played a divisional game. They looked like a lock to make the playoffs, had an inside track on a first-round bye and were dreaming about the Super Bowl.

18. J.P. Losman's fumble: No play summed up a season better. With victory likely and time running down against the Jets in Week 15, the Bills infamously called for a pass. Losman was sacked and fumbled. Jets defensive lineman Shaun Ellis recovered the fumble and ran for a touchdown to win, 31-27, and keep the Bills winless in AFC East play.

19. Joey Porter's return: He was labeled the biggest bust of the 2007 free-agent class after recording 5.5 sacks, but Porter stormed back with a vengeance. He generated early defensive MVP buzz and finished with 17.5 sacks under new defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni.

20. Jason Peters' holdout: Bills fans endured a love-hate relationship with their Pro Bowl left tackle. He sat out all offseason workouts and missed the entire preseason because he wanted a new contract. He agreed to return two days before the regular season began and took a long time to round into form before earning another trip to Honolulu. The thing is, the Bills won without him playing his best.