06/29 — In this second installment of "the Trendy AFC East," the focus is the Buffalo Bills and something they've been doing better than any other team in the NFL for the last two years: punting.

Or more precisely, punting and covering.

Brian Moorman is the gold standard when it comes to field-position punting. Last season his net average was 39.2 yards, the best in the league, edging out Carolina's Jason Baker at 39.0. (The Jets' Ben Graham was a spiffy fourth at 37.9.)

How good is a 39-yard net? It had Bills ST coach Bobby April gushing at midseason.

"Brian's having a phenomenal year," April said. "No punter has ever netted 40. Over 40 for a season is like the four-minute mile for punters. But we might be ahead of ourselves to look at it that way. Every punt is like playing on the golf course. You don't always have the opportunity to hit it off the tee."

Actually, April was partly right about the 40 net. The last punter, perhaps the only punter, to go a season with a 40-plus net was the Los Angeles Rams' Dave Chapple, back in 1972 when the venerable Dave Jennings was pitching the concept of officially keeping track of net average.

And Mike Horan netted a 40.2 in 1992 but only on 37 punts, not enough to qualify as the leader that year.

Horan played about half of '92 with Denver and half of '93 with the Giants and posted a combined net of 40.0. From 1993 to present, only three have come close to that magic number for a two-season stretch:

The upshot to all this net-working is that field position goes along with turnover margin and possession time as some of the hidden stats that have huge impacts on who wins NFL games and who loses them. And that whatever else the Bills throw at the Jets this season, their two division games will again likely be field position struggles.

Schein 'Cotch-ing On'

Adam Schein knows what a lot of NFL big-media types don't, which is that Jerricho Cotchery is coming on. Schein (who as part of the fairness doctrine we must state contributes to SNY shows Jets Nation and Jets Extra Point) in his new FoxSports.com column headlined "Schein's Nine," lists Cotchery as one of his nine most underrated NFL stars.

Auf Wiedersehen

At least the Radar was able to give NFL Europa a good sendoff with our recent weekly reports on how the four Jets were faring overseas. Today it was announced that the NFL has folded its developmental league after 15 seasons, calling the decision a sound business move that allow for a stronger international focus on regular-season games outside the United States.