Should You Start Buffalo Bills or Miami Dolphins Defense in Fantasy Football?
By Dennis Moody
Should you start the Buffalo Bills or Miami Dolphins defense in Fantasy Football this week in the finals?
Last time the Buffalo Bills played the Dolphins, Miami gashed the Bills on the ground rushing for 256 yards as a team and two rushing touchdowns. The Bills put on a horrible display of tackling in that game. To be sure they were missing Marcell Dareus who is ranked by Pro Football Focus as the 11th best interior lineman against the rush this season.
Dareus’ isn’t the top rated Bills interior lineman against the run though by the website. That honor goes to Kyle Williams who is tied with Aaron Donald for the 3rd best grade against the run this year for an interior lineman.
Kyle Williams has been dealing with back issues which caused him to miss the game against Pittsburgh and to miss some practice time but he returned to practice on Thursday and he is expected to play this week.
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Both teams have been terrible against the run this season with the Dolphins ranking 30th in the league and the Bills 27th in rushing yards allowed per game. In contrast, the Bills have allowed the 8th least passing yards while the Dolphins are 11th. Miami surprisingly is the fifth-highest scoring fantasy football defense this season while Buffalo has dropped all the way down to 15th.
Part of the reason Miami is the fifth best scoring defensive is due to the intangibles as they have given up the same amount of points this year as Buffalo. The Dolphins are tied for second best in the league with 16 interceptions and they have 31 sacks and nine fumbles recovered to go along with it. Buffalo only beats Miami in sacks where they are third in the league with 38 but they have fewer interceptions (11) and fumbles recovered (6).
The Dolphins defensive line dominated the Bills in the trenches last time they met and ended up with four sacks. Buffalo will not catch any breaks this week with their left tackle Cordy Glenn listed as doubtful and right guard John Miller listed as questionable. Expect Miami to take advantage of this which could make it a tough day for Tyrod Taylor and the Bills offense.
Buffalo will need to get the running game going in order to relieve the pressure of the pass rush which is something they were unable to do last time around against the Dolphins.
I’m in the finals in one of my leagues and I added the Chargers and Dolphins defense to go along with the Bills. I’m struggling to choose which one between the three to start this week. It’s not an easy decision. The Chargers play the Browns which is my entire thought process in adding them to my roster. Why not take the team playing the second worst offense in the league?
The Bills are an interesting choice because I think Rex Ryan will be looking for revenge against Miami after their poor performance earlier this season and I think Buffalo will end up winning the game in a tight battle. Generally, I would always start the defense of the team I think will win when I have two defense’s playing each other but this time I am going to stray from my usual thought process.
Miami is the defense out of those three that I am choosing to start because I believe that it be will be a tight game against Buffalo but I expect them to win the “intangible battle”. By that I mean, I think they will end up with more points off sacks, fumbles and turnovers and that will ultimately give them more fantasy points than the Bills this week.
Next: Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins: Three Keys to the Game
If you have Miami or Buffalo’s defense on your team in your fantasy finals both are ok starts. My preference is for Miami over Buffalo as the Bills defense has been average over the second half of the season while Miami’s has been much more reliable. For those still alive in your fantasy leagues GOOD LUCK this week!