The Week 6 matchup between the New England Patriots and the Buffalo Bills features two teams battling for the top spot in the AFC East. We've got the fantasy projections for you courtesy of numberFire.
Fantasy football projections, Week 6: Patriots-Bills featuring Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and Sammy Watkins
We break down the Week 6 matchup between the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills.
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New England Patriots
After looking sluggish and out of sync against the Kansas City Chiefs two weeks ago, the Patriots put together a huge bounce-back effort against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 5. Quarterback Tom Brady completed 23 passes for 292 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He was able to use both of his tight ends to make a normally stout Bengals defense look average at best. Brady will again be in tough against a Bills defense that played a solid game against the Detroit Lions last week, but should be able to find his No. 1 target often.
That No. 1 target is tight end Rob Gronkowski, who scored a touchdown for the third straight week against the Bengals. He finished with eight receptions and 100 yards receiving, making it his first 100-yard game of the season. Although Gronk has definitely gotten off to a slow start in terms of receptions and yards totals, the main point is that he's healthy and still a good bet to score every week. Nothing should change that against the Bills in Week 6, so fantasy owners should feel free to start him.
Buffalo Bills
With sophomore passer EJ Manuel watching from the bench, veteran Kyle Orton stepped onto Ford Field in Detroit last week and led the Bills to an improbable come-from-behind victory. Orton completed 30 passes for 308 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He'll face a Patriots defense in Week 6 that has limited quarterbacks to the third-lowest fantasy totals in the league. Although Orton will be in for quite a challenge, he could put up numbers thanks to the sheer volume of passes he'll throw.
A lot of those passes will land in the direction of rookie wide receiver Sammy Watkins. Watkins caught seven of 12 targets last week for 87 yards, and while he didn't find the end zone, he made some great plays against the Lions to help lead the team to victory. Watkins will no doubt be counted on again this week as the one stand-out receiver on the Bills' roster. Fantasy owners should definitely start him, but also be aware that the Pats give up the fewest points to fantasy receivers in all of the NFL.
