Buffalo Bills 9-7

Welcome to the AFC East Week and the Buffalo Bills 2014 Fantasy Highs and Lows! Each week we will go division by division breaking down each team.

Frankly, the Bills were a Tale of Two Teams. There was the Offense. There was the Defense. One was confused. One was spectacular. The result was missing the playoffs, but they did have their first season over .500 since 2004.

Highs:

Defense

The Bills Defense was on fire last year. They gave up the second fewest total points to opponents (273 total). They amassed a league high 54 sacks, the second highest was Baltimore, with 49. They ranked 6th in the league with 19 interceptions. They were a top-10 unit in every category except defensive touchdowns. They only scored twice on their numerous turnovers. That’s okay because newly appointed head coach Rex Ryan needs at least one challenge.

Sammy Watkins-ish

And the award for Mr. Potential goes to… Adam Schefter reported on NFL Countdown that ex-coach Doug Marrone stormed out of the draft room when the Bills traded up and lost a first round pick to draft Watkins. After hearing about all of the drama surrounding Marrone’s departure, I’m surprised the Bills’ season went as well as it did. But if the Bills can shore up the Quarterback situation Watkins could be great. He shows flashes of talent. His best game was Week 7 versus Minnesota when he went 9 of 14 for 122 yards and two touchdowns. They can build on that.

Lows:

Trying with all of my might to tell you not to play Boobie Dixon and/or Bryce Brown

Although the NAME Boobie Dixon was certainly a highlight, the rest of that injury situation at Running Back was a disaster. Not only are Dixon and Brown not Spiller and Jackson, they also went up against some of the toughest run defenses in the league rendering them unstartable. Here was their schedule: the Jets, a Bye, then Kansas City, Miami and the Jets again. Brutal.

The Switch at Quarterback. Still not a big fan.

“I just have been going at it for 10 years and it’s just a family decision and I’ve decided to get home and be a dad and call it a day,” Kyle Orton said while announcing his retirement. Orton took over for second year Quarterback E.J. Manuel after four mediocre outings. But Orton didn’t exactly come out and light it up. He won seven games, threw for 3,018 yards, 18 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and rushed for 14 yards and a touchdown. And he had retired before. The writing was on the wall! And now the team has a deflated Manuel and no first round pick (due to that Watkins trade, see above). It’s a bad situation. I can’t help but wonder if they would have had the same results if they started Manuel i.e. missing the playoffs. And maybe Manuel could have improved, and become more confident and maybe the Bills could get to the playoffs with Manuel and that awesome defense. Sadly, we will never know. Best of luck to Orton. He’s not the one guilty of poor planning.