Fantasy football projections, Week 3: Chargers-Bills featuring Philip Rivers, Antonio Gates and Sammy Watkins

The Week 3 matchup between the San Diego Chargers and the Buffalo Bills features two teams looking to build off of last week's victories. We've got the fantasy projections for you courtesy of numberFire.

The San Diego Chargers have to be riding high after beating the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks at home in Week 2. A big part of that win was veteran tight end Antonio Gates, who hauled in not one, not two, but three touchdown passes to lead the team in receptions, yards and touchdowns. Gates is a definite must-start against the Buffalo Bills this week, as the Bills' defense is a bit of a downgrade from that of the Seahawks.

When Gates is catching his passes in Buffalo, they'll be coming from a familiar face, quarterback Philip Rivers. Rivers struggled to get the offense going in Week 1, but looked like a different quarterback against the Seahawks. Not only did he find Gates in the end zone for all three of his touchdown passes, Rivers also found Keenan Allen for seven receptions on 10 targets, even with cornerback Richard Sherman covering on all of those pass attempts. Fantasy owners have to be feeling pretty good about Rivers' confidence going into Buffalo.

The feeling of euphoria in Buffalo hasn't been this high since the team went to four straight Super Bowls two decades ago. That's thanks to a new ownership group, a 2-0 start to the season, and the emergence of rookie wide receiver Sammy Watkins. Watkins managed 8 receptions for 117 yards and his first career touchdown against the Miami Dolphins last week. He was targeted 11 times by quarterback E.J. Manuel, which is a trend that should continue against the Chargers, a team that has given up the ninth-most fantasy points to wide receivers so far this season.

If the Bills are going to win on Sunday, Watkins will undoubtedly need the help of running back C.J. Spiller. Spiller returned a kick 102 yards for a touchdown last week and also added a healthy 5.8 yards per carry on just 12 rushing attempts. He'll probably get a slight edge in touches over Fred Jackson as the season goes along and given how well he played last week, we could see that shift starting to happen in Week 3 against the Chargers.