Buffalo Bills

Fantasy Football Defense: Start Buffalo Bills and Seahawks

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Aug 20, 2016; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills assistant head coach/defense Rob Ryan (left) and head coach Rex Ryan on the field before the game against the New York Giants at New Era Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

It’s the Buffalo Bills vs. the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football this week. The game figures to be a defensive battle meaning you should feel confident starting either one this week.

When the Buffalo Bills face off against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football, you can expect a defensive battle which bodes well for each defense in fantasy football. The Bills defense is ranked sixth in Yahoo Leagues in average points per week while the Seahawks are seventh.

The Seahawks are second to only the Minnesota Vikings in points allowed per game while the Bills are 13th which is partly skewed by two poor performances this year against the Jets and the Patriots. Seattle gives up the ninth least passing yards per game, the seventh least rushing yards and the sixth least total yards per game.

Buffalo, on the other hand, doesn’t finish as well in those categories. They have had some really good games on defense and some really bad games like when Miami rushed for 256 yards against them. This has skewed their rankings but Buffalo remains one of the top fantasy football defenses despite a few bad games.

The Bills defense puts up good numbers in fantasy football because they are tied for the NFL lead in sacks with 26. Their team features the league leader in sacks, Lorenzo Alexander, who has nine so far this season which doubles his total for his long career. Buffalo has the ninth most takeaways in the league and the third best turnover differential.

The Bills are 3-0 against the NFC West this season only giving up 16, 18 and 19 points in those games. Those all seem like possible scores for the Seattle who is struggling in red zone offense. The Seahawks are tied for 26th by teamrankings.com in red zone touchdown percentage at 47.62 percent. That is part of the reason why Russell Wilson has only thrown five touchdown passes in seven games.

Both teams will be missing one of their best defensive linemen and their top safeties. The Bills will be without their most talented defensive player Marcell Dareus and the Seahawks will be without Michael Bennett. As for the safeties, Kam Chancellor is not expected to play and the Bills best safety, Aaron Williams, was placed on injured reserve this week.

Even with the injuries on defense, you can expect this to be a low-scoring affair which may be settled on who wins the kicking game. A score of 16 -13 or 19 – 16 seems entirely possible so you should feel confident starting either one of these defenses.

I have both of them on my roster in one league and I am choosing to start Seattle because I generally start the defense on the team that I think will win the game when my defenses go head to head. With Seattle being at home, I think the 12th man will be the difference in this one and they will come away with a tight, low-scoring victory.