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I swear this isn’t a biased piece of advice.
Through two weeks, fantasy owners have obviously been targeting in a few of the Buffalo Bills offensive playmakers such as C.J. Spiller and Stevie Johnson. However, it’s the guys on the other side of the ball that deserve a look as we approach the third week of the season.
For years, Buffalo’s defensive unit has been one of the most generous when it comes to allowing fantasy points. Quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, you name it. All have produced against these guys. However, after the first two weeks, I have been very impressed with the Buffalo defense. They have forced eight sacks, which is tied for 5th-most in the league, have forced two fumbles and have picked off two balls. They also scored a touchdown, and the combination of these numbers has them placed as the ninth-highest scoring fantasy defense in football right now. Keep in mind that they are doing all of this without two of their best defensive players in Jairus Byrd and Stephon Gilmore. In fact, despite the incredible poise from rookie quarterback EJ Manuel in Sunday’s last-second victory, it was the defense that won the game for the Bills, coming up with huge stops in the red zone. So, after all of this high praise and momentum they are riding, what else needs to be said?
Oh yeah. They play the New York Jets this week.
Through the first two games, the Jets have only scored a combined 28 points, while starting quarterback Geno Smith is posting a poor passer rating of 55.2 with four interceptions and a fumble. Even though the Bills secondary is hurting right now, the Jets receiving corp certainly doesn’t scare anyone, so this may be the one week you don’t have to worry about Buffalo’s second level. One of the Bills defensive strengths, however, is their defensive front, as Mario Williams had an impressive 4.5 sacks on Sunday. This unit will swarm Smith and company, and if the Patriots sacked Smith four times on Thursday night, I believe Buffalo can as well.
If you don’t own one of the elite fantasy defenses, and have been streaming to start the year, consider picking up the Bills D/ST and plugging them into your lineup this week.
Adam Pfeifer is a featured fantasy sports columnist for Rant Sports.
You can follow him on Twitter @aPfeiferRS.
