Buffalo Bills vs. Patriots DEF Fantasy Football Outlook

Sep 20, 2015; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Marcell Dareus (99) lines up on New England Patriots guard Josh Kline (67) during the second half at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Patriots defeat the Bills 40 to 32. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports /

This Sunday, it’s the Buffalo Bills vs. Patriots at New Era Field at 1pm. If you have either of the defenses in this game on your fantasy football team, here’s what you need to know.

If you drafted the Buffalo Bills defense or picked them up on waivers this year you have been very happy with their performance so far. They are the fourth best defense in average points per game in yahoo leagues and they have gotten good pressure on quarterbacks while creating turnovers.

This week, however, is not a very good matchup for Buffalo. The New England Patriots have two humongous tight ends and a number of threats in both the passing and running game which makes them extremely hard to scheme for. While Rex Ryan is probably the one man who would be able to scheme up a defensive plan to stop them, I wouldn’t count on it. Here lies the problem.

My personal preference in fantasy football is never to carry two defenses. I’m stuck with both the Buffalo and Seattle Seahawks defense in one league and have been trying to trade Seattle for weeks to no avail. This week is the one week where I will take advantage of having both of them and I will play Seattle instead of Buffalo.

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Against the Pats, the Bills best defensive player Marcell Dareus will play for the first time this season but it’s not going to be enough to overcome the Patriots talent on offense. Throw in the fact that Aaron Williams, who would have been responsible for covering one of the Patriots big tight ends, won’t be playing and Buffalo is in trouble.

I wouldn’t recommend trying to pick up another defense this week but instead just grin and bear whatever comes your way with the start of Buffalo’s defense. If you have someone you are willing to drop you can certainly seek out a better defensive matchup but it’s not worth the risk of losing the number four fantasy football defense just because they might have a bad week.

The Patriots have the 10th best defense in the league in average points per game. They are a pretty good start this week against a banged up Buffalo team. Most of Buffalo’s playmakers are either out for the game or playing at less than 100 percent. The Bills will be missing Sammy Watkins, LeSean McCoy, and Marquise Goodwin. Both Robert Woods and Mike Gillislee have foot injuries but are expected to play. There’s a slim chance of the Bills offense exploding this week against the Patriots due to these injuries.

Next: Week 8 Buffalo Bills Injury Updates

When you take into account the fact that the Patriots offense is likely to dominate the time of possession battle, their defense might not be on the field for very long further increasing the chance of them have a good performance this week.

This is the one week where it makes sense to sit the Bills defense but if you have the Patriots defense, I would definitely recommend putting them in your lineup.

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