Fantasy football recap: Los Angeles Chargers have a field day against Buffalo Bills

Through seven games, the Buffalo Bills were 5-2, and their opponents were not very successful in fantasy football. The Bills’ defense held opposing players to lower than their averages more often than not, and had done a great job forcing turnovers, as well. However, over the last three weeks, Buffalo has gone from a terrible matchup for fantasy football players to a prime one, especially for running backs. The Los Angeles Chargers were the latest team to take advantage of the Bills’ porous defense, which led to a huge day for multiple Buffalo players.

WR Keenan Allen

The Chargers’ best receiver had himself a day on Sunday. He caught 12-of-13 targets on the day for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Only Antonio Brown (37.4 fantasy points) of the Pittsburgh Steelers scored more fantasy points than Allen’s 34.2 this week. Buffalo constantly found themselves trying to guard Allen with linebackers, as the Chargers moved him to the slot and allowed him to attack the middle of Buffalo’s zone defense early and often.

Chargers D/ST

Unfortunately, the call to start the Chargers’ defense was correct. They intercepted rookie Nathan Peterman five times, returning one for a touchdown. They also had a strip-sack on Tyrod Taylor that resulted in a second defensive touchdown. While they did allow 24 points, most of which came with the game completely out of reach, they still were able to total 25 points on the day, better than all defenses except for the Baltimore Ravens, who scored 26 points.

QB Philip Rivers

Rivers had one of his best games of 2017, completing 20-of-32 passes for 251 yards and 2 touchdowns. He did not turn the ball over on the afternoon. Rivers scored 18.04 points on the game, which was the second-highest total output allowed by the Bills this season. Only Jameis Winston scored more.

K Nick Novak

Well, when your team scores 54 points, chances are good that you had to kick plenty of extra points. Novak made six extra points and was 4-5 on field goal attempts in the blowout victory. His 18 fantasy points were the third-highest total in the league last week, falling behind only Stephen Gostkowski and Chris Boswell.

RBs Melvin Gordon and Austin Ekeler

The Bills continued their dreadful effort against the run on Sunday, allowing a combined 120 yards and 2 touchdowns on 26 carries. Gordon had 80 rushing yards and a touchdown, while Ekeler added 40 rushing yards, a rushing touchdown, 2 receptions, and 12 receiving yards on the day. Sadly, the 126 yards on the ground represents an improvement on Buffalo’s effort against the 1-2 punch of Mark Ingram and Alvin Kamara from the week prior against the New Orleans Saints. Gordon totaled 14 fantasy points, while Ekeler scored 12.8 in his second consecutive strong outing.