It’s the Bills vs. Ravens this Sunday at 1pm to start of the 2016 NFL Season for each team. Here are some thoughts on how Tyrod Taylor and Joe Flacco will perform.
Tyrod Taylor
Tyrod Tayor is heading back to Baltimore to face his old team and his mentor, Joe Flacco. Taylor learned a lot sitting behind Flacco for four years and now is anxious to prove that he is not only as good as his former teammate but that he can be better.
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One big help for Taylor is that Elvis Dumervil will not be dressing for the Ravens. He’s one of their top defensive players and he usually lines up on the right side of the line. He probably would have wreaked havoc on Taylor since that is the weaker side of the Bills offensive line.
This game is not going to be high scoring but the beauty about having a quarterback like Tyrod Taylor is even if the Bills don’t score much, he can add extra points on the ground with his legs and possibly even add a touchdown with his feet too.
It’s one of the major advantages of having a mobile quarterback on your team. Those benefits come with risks though. Taylor opens himself up to additional hits when he scrambles to extend plays and that increases the probability he could get knocked out of the game due to injury.
We don’t expect Taylor to reach 300 yards passing against the Ravens. He should make enough plays with his feet and his arm to end up with a decent amount of points this week but he’s not likely to be a top performer around the league in the first week of the season..
Joe Flacco
Last time the Ravens and the Bills met the Bills squeaked out an ugly victory 23 – 20. Joe Flacco threw five interceptions in the game which was part of the reason E.J. Manuel only needed 10 completions to pull out the victory.
The Bills secondary is much better than it was that year but you shouldn’t expect a repeat performance. Flacco has only thrown more than 12 interceptions once in eight seasons which is pretty remarkable for a QB known for his cannon arm and his ability to air it out downfield.
You can expect Flacco to have a decent day but we don’t think he will be able to put up over 300 yards considering how good the Bills cornerbacks are. The game is also likely to be low scoring, as noted in our previous article where we advise you start the Ravens and Bills defense this week.
With Flacco throwing for less than 300 yards and the low probability that this game turns into a shootout, he isn’t a very good start in fantasy this week if you have other decent options.
Next: Why You Should Start the Bills & Ravens DEF this Week
The advice is pretty similar for both Tyrod Taylor and Joe Flacco because we think this game will be low scoring. Out of the two, Tyrod Taylor is the better start since he has the advantage of using his legs.