Fantasy Football Bills vs. Rams Outlook

How will the defenses do in Fantasy Football this week?

The Bills and the Rams have two of the better defenses in the league. Buffalo’s defense has the second highest average points per week in standard Yahoo leagues and the Rams are sixth. Both are must-starts in fantasy this week not just because of their own talent but due to the lack of productivity for each of their opposing offenses. Both teams feature strong running games which should keep the clock running and lower the amount of possessions and points.

The Bills defense this week could get a huge boost with the return of “Mr. Big Stuff”, Marcell Dareus, to the active roster from a four-game suspension. Dareus tweaked his hamstring in practice on Friday so there is a chance he might not play but they held up fine without him in the first four weeks so it shouldn’t be a factor in your decision to play them.

He’s not in shape to play a full game but his presence in the middle should give the Bills a huge boost. He’ll take a few snaps away from Kyle Williams, Corbin Bryant, Leger Douzable and Adolphus Washington keeping them fresher for when they are in the game.

The defense has been great in three out of four weeks this season and you can expect that to continue. Buffalo really only needs to worry about Todd Gurley and not much else. They can’t get overly cocky though coming off a huge shutout of the Patriots. Luckily they have guys in the locker room like Leger Douzable who on the John Murphy Show in his regular “Douz and Dont’s” segment said that the team shouldn’t “drink the Kool-Aid” after all the praise following their past two wins.

The Bills defense has the sixth highest turnover amount in the league with eight. Their linebackers have been playing lights out which has been the major difference between this season and last. In fact, Bills linebacker Zach Brown won the AFC Defensive Player of the Week last week.

The Rams defense generally plays in a 4-3 formation under the guidance of defensive coordinator Gregg Williams who was head coach of the Bills for three years starting in 2001. Defensive tackle Aaron Donald was the NFC Defensive Player of the Week last week just like Zach Brown was in the AFC.

Donald is an absolute superstar and if you watch this game, it won’t be hard to notice which player he is. He’ll be the one in Tyrod Taylor’s face all day. The Bills offense will have to double and triple team him while relying on Tyrod’s legs to get away from him. It won’t be easy as he has an NFL high 25 pressures on the quarterback along with 1.5 sacks. Pro Football Focus ranks Donald as the best player in the league with a rating of 95.3.

A few years back Rex Ryan criticized Donald but that was really more of a statement of support for Rex’s guy at the time Sheldon Richardson than a knock on Donald. Rex has since admitted he had never even seen Donald play at the time and now that he has he admits he is a special talent. Donald may still use those words for motivation on Sunday though.

Donald is part of the reason why the Rams have one of the better front sevens in the league along with Robert Quinn and Alec Ogletree. The Rams weakness lies in their secondary and losing Janoris Jenkins in the free agency this past year didn’t help. If Buffalo can find a way to get their passing game going it could be a long day for Los Angeles but the Bills have not proven that they can do that thus far this season.

If you have either of these defenses on your roster you should feel pretty good about starting them. Both are very talented and they play offenses which are not very potent. That’s the perfect combination for a good week.

Due to the strong defensive play, both kickers could also have good weeks. Greg Zuerlein has only five field goal attempts this year but he has hit all of them. If the Rams can move the ball into Bills territory a few times he should get a couple attempts. The same goes for Dan Carpenter who is six of eight on field goal attempts this year. Both of his misses were in the 40-49 yard range.

Next: Bills vs. Rams: Three Keys to the Game

When it comes down to it, both defenses, running backs and kickers are decent starts. The quarterbacks should be avoided and only the top receivers on each team should be considered along with possibly Charles Clay if you don’t have a better option this week. Everyone else should be avoided like the plague.