If you lost your fantasy match-up due to playing members of the Buffalo Bills last weekend, you were doubly upset at the team’s putrid offensive showing in its 9-3 loss at the Carolina Panthers. No individual Bill scored over 10.5 points last week (and that was quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who was outscored by 26 other starting quarterbacks in a brutal performance overall). The defense/special teams had a strong day, totaling 6 sacks and allowing only 9 points, so if your league gives bonuses for keeping points off the board, you did well playing them. Otherwise, all of our projections from last week busted big-time.
RB LeSean McCoy
It was a no-show day from the whole offense, but the Panthers did a fantastic job accomplishing the obvious goal when playing the Bills: Don’t let Shady have any open space. They held Buffalo’s star running back to 9 yards rushing on 12 carries, and although he was the team’s leading receiver, he caught 6 passes for 34 yards. A 7.3-point day isn’t what anyone looks for out of McCoy, but considering how lost Tyrod Taylor and the passing game seemed, it was almost inevitable that McCoy would be shut down on Sunday.
WR Jordan Matthews
Matthews was the leader among Buffalo receivers in fantasy scoring, which is the good news. The bad news? He had 4.5 points. In fact, the only three Bills’ receivers to score were Matthews, Andre Holmes (2.8 points), and Zay Jones (2.8 points). The entire receiving corps combined couldn’t outscore the top-28 receivers in week two. It was that poor an effort overall. Matthews caught all three of his targets, gaining 30 yards.
TE Charles Clay
The Panthers linebackers are good. Really, really good. Clay was targeted 3 times, and he also caught all 3 of those, gaining 23 yards in the process. I still think he’s the best bet to roster among all of Buffalo’s pass-catchers, with Matthews a close second. One of my favorite play calls from the game was the tight end screen to Clay early in the third quarter; his athleticism is such that he should continue to receive quite a few targets, and if the team continues to struggle to complete passes outside, Clay could be the beneficiary of bigger games as the season progresses.