Buffalo Bills fantasy football recap: LeSean McCoy has huge day in loss

The Buffalo Bills lost yet again on Sunday, dropping a pivotal road game at the Los Angeles Chargers, 54-24. The Bills’ once-excellent playoff odds now hang precariously in familiar territory; they are no long “in position,” but they have returned to their usual November placement “in the hunt.”

Even with the debacle that occurred on the field, at least a few Bills were worth the start in fantasy football this past week.

RB LeSean McCoy

Truthfully, Shady is the only Bill who is a must-start week in and week out, but you probably knew that already. He scored in double-figures for the seventh time this season, and was north of twenty points for the third week. McCoy made the most of his 13 carries, totaling 114 yards rushing and adding a touchdown on the ground; he also caught his only target for a garbage-time touchdown on fourth and goal from 12 yards out. His 25.1 fantasy points represented the second-highest total for McCoy on the season. Had the game not been so out of hand early on, it’s not hard to think that McCoy could have approached 200 yards on the ground with and additional 10-12 carries.

QB Tyrod Taylor

For the second consecutive week, a fantasy player who started Buffalo’s backup quarterback would have outscored a player who put Buffalo’s starter in his or her lineup. Taylor’s line was not eye-popping by any means, as he completed 15-of-25 passes for 158 yards and the aforementioned touchdown to McCoy, but they were good enough for 18.12 fantasy points. He also added 38 yards rushing and another touchdown. For perspective, his day was good for the twelfth-highest output by a quarterback in Week 11, and he only played in the second half. Until head coach Sean McDermott decides on a starting quarterback, it is impossible to recommend rostering one of Buffalo’s signal callers. If he decides to start Nathan Peterman again, there is nowhere to go but up for the rookie, as his total score of -6.96 points represented the worst day for a quarterback in fantasy football in the last fifteen years.

WR Zay Jones

The first of Buffalo’s two second-round draft picks in 2017 returned from an ankle injury and led the team in receiving on the day. He had four catches for 68 yards on the day, and he was targeted seven times, which was second only to Deonte Thompson’s eight. Jones seems to have settled into a pretty nice groove after a rough start to his rookie campaign. Although he only scored 8.8 fantasy points on the day, this is now two games in a row where he’s been a feature in the offense. He profiles as a high-floor flex going forward, especially if Buffalo continues to trail for great stretches of games, thus forcing them to throw the ball more often.

TE Charles Clay

Buffalo’s top tight end has not seemed quite like himself over the last two weeks, as he is slowly working his way back to full health after knee surgery six weeks ago. He caught 3 passes on Sunday for 27 yards, and he was targeted 4 times overall. He’ll be a good player to watch down the stretch, especially given the scarcity of true high-level tight ends. If he returns to full health, he could be a good plug-and-play option during the fantasy playoff run.

Stephen Hauschka

The man who set the NFL record for most consecutive 50+ yard field goals made has not had many chances to score in recent weeks, but he still managed to put up a respectable 8 points on Sunday. If you are looking for a potential big-time scorer at kicker, you could do worse than a player who has made 13 straight 50-yard kicks.

Bills D/ST

If you haven’t dropped them already, now would be a good time to do so. They’ve scored -5 points combined over the last 3 weeks, allowing 123 points over that time. That early-season success seems like a lifetime ago at this point.