Miami Dolphins vs. Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
Quarterback
- Josh Allen: 16/26, 202 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs | 4 carries, 32 yards
The final score of this game certainly does not tell the entire story of this game. The Dolphins led at halftime for the first time all season and the Bills struggled with finishing drives in the first half. Buffalo settled for field goals on its first three drives, before going three and out and ended the half on a 3 play, -8 yards possession. Following a Tre’Davius White interception on the goal line, Josh Allen led the offense on a 12 play, 98-yard touchdown drive to regain the lead. The drive was highlighted by a 23-yard pass to Duke Williams and a beautiful 20-yard pass to John Brown for the score. All things considered, Allen put up a solid fantasy day, but not the monster game we expected considering the matchup and the fact that they had an extra week to prepare for the Dolphins. Regardless, Allen still has a decent fantasy floor due to his running ability and the Bills’ upcoming schedule is favorable.
Running Backs
- Frank Gore: 11 carries, 55 yards | 1 target, 1 catch, 11 yards
- Devin Singletary: 7 carries, 26 yards
- Patrick DiMarco: 1 carry, 4 yards | 1 target, 1 catch, 27 yards
Welp, so much for my Devin Singletary breakout week. Game script certainly factored into this, but the Bills exercised caution with Singletary, as Frank Gore got the bigger share of the workload. Considering the Dolphins held the lead for almost half the game and the Bills only had one possession in which they led by 10 points, we didn’t see the Bills lean on the run game.
Gore was his usual boring, but solid self. He had chunk plays of 8, 10, and 15 yards to go along with his 11-yard reception. Gore is an unsexy RB2/Flex play moving forward. Despite Singletary being on the field for the second snap of the game, he didn’t have his first touch until the second quarter, which ended up being a nice 9-yard run. We should expect the Bills to get Singletary more work moving forward, making him a Flex play until we see him get a bigger workload.
Wide Receivers/ Tight Ends
- John Brown: 6 targets, 5 catches, 83 yards, 1 TD
- Cole Beasley: 6 targets, 3 catches, 16 yards, 1 TD
- Duke Williams: 1 target, 1 catch, 23 yards
- Dawson Knox: 5 targets. 2 catches, 22 yards
- Isaiah McKenzie: 3 targets, 2 catches, 11 yards
- Lee Smith: 1 target, 1 catch, 9 yards
- Andre Roberts: 1 target
John Brown didn’t get his first catch until the second quarter, but boy did he make them count. Three of his five receptions went for 20 yards or more, including a 20-yard strike from Allen for a touchdown that put the Bills up 17-14. Brown is a WR2 moving forward and has week winning upside with the deep targets he gets every week.
Cole Beasley matched Brown in targets with 6, however, with an aDOT of just 5.0 yards, the quality of those targets was much different. Beasley caught 3 of those five targets for 16 yards, including a 3 yard out route for a touchdown. Beasley’s upside is limited due to that low aDOT but is usable as a Flex option in PPR leagues.
Dawson Knox had back-to-back drops that ended a second-quarter drive, which ended with a 45-yard field goal. Despite the bad drops, Knox saw five targets for the second straight game. If you’re desperate for a tight end, Knox’s workload is trending in a positive direction.
Miami Dolphins
Quarterback
- Ryan Fitzpatrick: 23/35, 282 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT | 6 carries, 13 yards, 1 TD
What a difference having the veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback as opposed to Josh Rosen. Coming into the week, the Dolphins had allowed 30 sacks in their first 5 games. Today, they allowed one and it was on a backward pass trick play on the first play of the day in which Albert Wilson was “sacked’ for a ten-yard loss. It seemed like all game I was hearing, “Fitzpatrick in trouble. Gets away from the rush.” The ultimate example of this was on his 11-yard touchdown run, in which he evaded a would-be sacker and plowed his way into the end zone. Outside of his one extremely costly interception at the goal line, Fitzpatrick played very well against a tough Bills defense. While I wouldn’t recommend using Fitz-magic as a quarterback moving forward, he does make the Preston Williams and DeVonte Parker playable.
Running Backs
- Mark Walton: 14 carries, 66 yards | 1 target, 1 catch, -8 yards
- Kenyan Drake: 6 carries, 21 yards | 4 targets, 3 catches, 37 yards
- Kalen Ballage: 3 carries, 7 yards 1 TD
Following the failed trick play to open the game, we saw Mark Walton take his first handoff and scamper for 19 yards. In total, Walton had 5 carries of 7 yards or more and had one 13 yard run called back due to a holding call. If Walton’s on your waiver wire, he’s certainly a back that should be owned moving forward.
Kenyan Drake’s role has been reduced to that of a third-down back. The good side to that is that he’s had 9 and 4 targets the last two weeks, so while his carries have been limited, he should be in line for a decent amount of work if the Dolphins are in a negative game script.
Kalen Ballage found the end zone, but has now had 2, 3, and 3 carries over the last three weeks. Unless we see Ballage’s opportunity change, you can leave him on your waiver wire.
Wide Receivers/ Tight Ends
- Preston Williams: 8 targets, 6 catches, 82 yards, 1 fumble lost
- DeVante Parker: 10 targets, 5 catches, 55 yards, 1 TD
- Allen Hurns: 3 targets, 3 catches, 53 yards
- Mike Gesicki: 4 targets, 4 catches, 41 yards
- Albert Wilson: 2 targets, 1 catch, 22 yards
- Durham Smythe: 1 target
- Isaiah Ford: 1 target
With a legit quarterback, Preston Williams was able to finally take advantage of his 23% target share and team-leading 115 Air Yards. Unfortunately, Tre’Davius White managed to punch the ball out of Williams’ hands causing a fumble, which the Bills recovered. As long as Fitzpatrick is under center, I’d consider Williams a decent Flex play moving forward.
DeVante Parker had a season-high 10 targets against the Bills, including a 12-yard catch and run for a touchdown that put the Dolphins up 14-9. While Parker had a respectable 10.0 aDOT, 9 of his 10 targets were short targets with one deep target that fell incomplete. Like Williams, Parker should be a decent flex play as like as Fitz-magic is the quarterback and the Dolphins are in negative game scripts.
Mike Gesicki caught all five, yes five, of his targets. The fifth was an incredible leaping catch that would’ve gone for 29 yards if it hadn’t been called back due to an offensive holding penalty. Gesicki has had a 14% target share over the last three Dolphins’ games and if he continues to catch everything thrown his way, we could see Fitzpatrick look his way more often moving forward.
-Rich Holman, @nextdoorFFguru