Buffalo Bills fantasy football recap: add Bills’ D/ST

The Buffalo Bills lost a game that was ultimately winnable on Sunday, dropping a 20-13 tilt to the Houston Texans. Lost amidst the Nathan-Peterman-being-Nathan-Peterman finish to the game were some pretty solid efforts all over the Bills’ roster. One side of the ball is obviously outplaying the others at this point and, in fantasy football terms, that is a tremendous advantage for fantasy owners everywhere.

Here are the Bills’ top performers for the week.

RB LeSean McCoy

Shady was one of three Bills to crack double-digits on Sunday, coming in at 10.9 points on the day. McCoy’s day wasn’t fantastic, as he carried 16 times for 73 yards and hauled in 3 receptions for 21 more yards, but it was solid. If the Bills could have a mulligan on the fateful pick-six drive, I wonder if they would have begun it with a screen pass rather than an out-route between two players who don’t see many reps with one another during the week—and whose timing was clearly off.

WR Zay Jones

Buffalo’s number-one receiver in terms of performance is the second-year man whose positive development is lost in the reality that this offense is one of the worst ever in the modern NFL. After having a dismal rookie season, catching only 36.5% of the pass thrown his way, Jones has rebounded nicely to start his sophomore campaign. He has hauled in 16-of-29 targets, which is a 55.2% catch rate. That’s not elite by any means (in fact, it’s still below-average). However, he was the worst in the league in that category a season ago, so any progress is positive. On Sunday, Jones caught a touchdown pass, his first of the year, on a beautiful double-move and a perfect pass from Peterman. Jones was targeted eight times, and he made three grabs for 35 yards.

Bills D/ST

What a waste of a beautiful effort on the part of this defense. Buffalo’s defense has just been fantastic since the second half of the second game of the season. While the special teams left plenty to be desired, allowing a blocked punt and muffing a punt (both of which led to points for Houston), the Bills’ defense suffocated Houston’s skill players. They tallied 7 sacks, 2 interceptions, and 1 fumble recovery on the afternoon. The defense played well enough to win the game; all they needed was mediocrity out of the offense, and the Bills couldn’t even manage that. Buffalo’s defense scored 14 fantasy points this week, the fourth-best total in the league. They’re still available in 97% of Yahoo! leagues, so if you’re looking for a quick injection of points, they’re a sound bet.