New England Patriots at Buffalo Bills

The last time New England went into Buffalo they came out of the game with their tail between their legs. Buffalo jumped out to an early 21-7 lead last September before Tom Brady led the Patriots back with a game-tying touchdown to Wes Welker. However, Buffalo had the last laugh as Rian Lindell booted a 26-yard field goal for the 34-31 victory.

New England cannot afford the same fate here. They much come out of Buffalo with a win or face the possibility of sitting in the cellar of the AFC East through one-quarter of the same...Imagine that.

Meanwhile, Buffalo can cement their status as a prime competitor to take the division away from New England in 2012. Their primary issue is going to be finding some balance in the passing game with both C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson questionable to play. If the Bills have to rely on Ryan Fitzpatrick too much, they could be in some real trouble here.

I fully expect Buffalo to look at exploiting New England’s secondary by going in Stevie Johnson’s direction a great deal Sunday.

On the other side of the ball, it appears that New England has righted the ship after struggling through the first two games of the season on offense. The passing offense centered around Wes Welker against the Baltimore Ravens after he was largely quiet in the initial two games. In the process, Brady was able to open up the offense. Expect this to continue against a Bills’ defense that has struggled to an extent thus far. They really need Mario Williams and Mark Anderson, among others to find a consistent pass-rush against Brady. If not, Buffalo’s D could be in for a long day.

Fantasy Outlook

There remains a myriad of different fantasy options here for both teams. Stevie Johnson is someone to really look at starting on the outside for Buffalo. He will be targeted a great deal against a lackluster Patriots’ secondary and could end up putting up WR1 numbers.

Meanwhile, look at every possible Patriots’ skill position player as a contributor on your fantasy team. Buffalo yielded about 400 total yards, including 140 on the ground, in their first two games before taking on a horrible Cleveland Browns offense last week. Stevan Ridley should be able to find holes against a pedestrian run defense. Moreover, both Brandon Lloyd and Wes Welker are in position to have huge games. It goes without saying that Brady will also put up some solid fantasy numbers. The one Patriot’ offensive player that I would question is Rob Gronkowski, simply because they are going to attack the perimeter of Buffalo’s defense.

San Francisco 49ers at New York Jets

I took a look at this matchup in an NFC West article earlier today. Click here to check out what I had to say. 

Miami Dolphins at Arizona Cardinals 

Same thing here. While the outcome of this game is most likely already settled, there is some fantasy information you can get by clicking here. Additionally, I take a look at whether or not Ryan Tannehill can get anything going against a stout Arizona defense.