Dolphins vs. Bills Fantasy Football Passing Game Predictions

If you have Miami Dolphins or Buffalo Bills fantasy football players who are in involved in the passing game you can’t be too happy so far this season.

Let’s start with the quarterbacks. Ryan Tannehill has thrown for over 41 percent more yards than Tyrod Taylor this season with 1,524 compared to 1,076 for Taylor. Despite that fact, Taylor has been a much more effective quarterback this season.

Tannehill is 12th in the league in passing yards but because of his two fumbles lost and seven interceptions he ranks a lowly 29th in yahoo leagues in average points per game for a quarterback.

The seven interceptions he’s thrown is the fourth most in the league. So far he is on pace for 21 interceptions which is uncharacteristic of him. He’s never been able to take his quarterback play to the next level but besides one season where he threw 17 interceptions he has never thrown over 13 in any other year of his career.

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This season he had two good games where he threw for over 300 yards but besides those weeks he hasn’t thrown for over 200 yards. Buffalo has a good passing defense giving up just the 13th most yards in the league. Don’t expect Tannehill to break that trend this week especially when you consider his struggles against Buffalo.

In his career, he is 2-6 against Buffalo with a 58.1 completion percentage, 11 touchdowns, and eight interceptions. He averages just 204 yards against Buffalo in those games and has a quarterback rating of 75.6 against them.

For the Bills, Tyrod Taylor still isn’t startable in fantasy yet but he’s slowly moving up the ranks in average points per week. Currently, he sits at number 18 in that category in standard yahoo leagues.

Taylor has still yet to throw over 300 yards and has only thrown for over 200 twice this year. The thing is, he hasn’t needed to. The Bills have gotten out to early leads in recent weeks and their running game has been so efficient, including Tyrod who has 236 yards on the season, that they haven’t needed him to sling the ball. He hasn’t been perfect but he’s made some key plays on third downs and has avoided turnovers as he has always done.

Taylor is currently without his top target Sammy Watkins who is on injured reserve and won’t be able to return for several weeks if he is able to return at all. On top of that, the Bills next best wide receiver Robert Woods is doubtful for Sunday’s game and was in a walking boot earlier this week.

That leaves Tyrod with few options and none of them are great. Marquise Goodwin hasn’t been able to do anything this year besides one big touchdown catch against the Jets. The Bills may have to increase their targets to Walter Powell who has just 11 targets on the 91 passing plays that he’s been on the field for. Powell did well in the preseason but he was considered a long-shot to make the roster and so it’s doubtful he’ll make a big difference if he does play.

The most interesting player the Bills have at wide receiver is Justin Hunter who has played in just two games for Buffalo. He’s scored a touchdown in each but those were his only receptions in either game. He is still learning the offense and he has the potential to surprise to the upside as he gets more familiar with the system but he’s not quite there yet.

The Bills will need former Miami Dolphin, Charles Clay to step up. The tight end has started to get it going after a slow start. He has battled knee issues all season but in the past three weeks, he has five receptions in each game. He’s averaging just over 57 yards in those games which is an improvement but he’s still yet to record a touchdown this season. This could be the week as he might be the top receiving threat in Buffalo’s offense.

On the other side of the ball, the Dolphins are almost as weak as the Bills. The Dolphins do have their top wideout Jarvis Landry who is definitely a threat and worth a start in fantasy leagues. Landry gets targeted over nine times per week and has 494 receiving yards which is ninth best in the league.

The problem for Landry is he has just one touchdown and that’s been a problem his whole career. His highest touchdown reception total was his first season with five. Due to his lack of touchdowns, he’s just the 32nd best receiver in average fantasy points per week in yahoo leagues despite almost 500 yards receiving.

Landry is one of the better up and coming receivers in the league and he is easily on pace to top his 110 receptions and 1,157 yards from last season despite being on a team that averages just the 25th most yards per game.

The other Dolphins receiver who people thought could be a fantasy threat has not panned out. DeVante Parker has only two weeks with more than three receptions this season. He had one good game against the Patriots Week 2 when he had eight catches for 106 yards but he has been invisible since.

In fantasy football, you want to start quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends on teams with competent passing games and unfortunately, neither of these teams are excelling in this area right now. If you have Jarvis Landry you should start him. With Charles Clay or Tyrod Taylor starting them feels more like a homer pick than a smart, unbiased fantasy football decision.

Next: First Round Pick Shaq Lawson to Make Debut Against Dolphins

I do have an inkling Clay might have a big week against his old team but starting a player due to an inkling over facts isn’t the best idea. The best bet is to avoid starting players on either team in the passing game if you can avoid it.

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