Cincinnati Bengals at Buffalo Bills Matchup Preview 9/22/19: Analysis, Depth Charts, Daily Fantasy

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Even though the Bills come into this game at 2-0 and the Bengals are 0-2, this matchup is still one to watch for this week. The Bills have a chance to solidify their standing as legitimate candidates for the playoffs and the Bengals have a chance to begin their push for the playoffs. The Bills offense has been solid so far, but the defense has carried the team to wins in the first two games. Against the Bengals leaky defense, the Bills offense can prove how explosive they can be. For odds movement and full matchup history, visit the Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills matchup page.

TV Schedule

Date: Sunday, September 22nd, 2019
Time: 1:00 ET
Location: New Era Field – Orchard Park, NY
Coverage: CBS

Injury Report

Cincinnati Bengals: TE C.J. Uzomah (Q) – Foot, DE Kerry Wynn (Q) – Concussion, CB B.W. Webb (Q) – Forearm, T Cordy Glenn (Q) – Concussion, WR A.J. Green (O) – Ankle, DT Ryan Glasgow (Q) – Thigh, G Michael Jordan (O) – Knee, DE Carl Lawson (Q) – Hamstring, T Andre Smith (Q) – Groin

Buffalo Bills: TE Tyler Kroft (Q) – Foot, CB Taron Johnson (Q) – Hamstring, WR Andre Roberts (Q) – Quad, RB Devin Singletary (Q) – Hamstring, CB Tre’Davious White (Q) – Neck

Cincinnati Bengals Analysis

Last week was embarrassing for the Bengals. They were blown out by the 49ers 41-17 in Cincinnati. It has not been an ideal start for first year head coach Zac Taylor. The Bengals did look good in week 1, exiting Seattle with a 21-20 loss in a game they could have easily won. Andy Dalton threw for 418 yards and two touchdowns while the defense held Seattle’s offense to only 232, but 3 fumbles from Cincinnati ultimately cost them the game. Last week against the 49ers, the passing offense still looked good, but the Bengals could not get the run game going and the defense could not stop anything. The Bengals have a chance to get a win in Buffalo this week, but their defense needs to show up if they want to make this a close game.

The Bengals have been without A.J. Green to start the season, and he will also miss this game. In his place, John Ross and Tyler Boyd have done very well. In the last two games, John Ross has had 11 receptions for 270 yards and 3 touchdowns, and Tyler Boyd has had 18 receptions for 182 yards and 0 touchdowns. John Ross is a deep threat that can stretch the field, as all 3 of his touchdowns have been passes of 33 yards or longer. He will not be able to make many big plays against the Bills secondary, which has only allowed 3 pass plays of 20+ yards this season, with the longest pass allowed being 33 yards. Since most of his fantasy production comes from big plays, and the Bills defense does not allow many big plays, he will probably not have another outstanding fantasy performance this week. Tyler Boyd will have a good game for fantasy football because he has been targeted 22 times in the first two weeks and has had consistent production. While the Bills pass defense is good, they still cannot stop a receiver from doing well if they get a steady stream of targets. In week one, the Bills allowed 14 receptions for 99 yards to Jamison Crowder, and will likely allow a similar statline to Tyler Boyd.

Cincinnati Bengals Depth Chart

QB: Andy Dalton
RB1: Joe Mixon
RB2: Giovani Bernard
WR1: A.J. Green
WR2: John Ross
WR3: Tyler Boyd
TE: C.J. Uzomah

Buffalo Bills Analysis

The Bills defense has carried the team to a 2-0 start after allowing just 30 points in the first two games of the season. The offense has shown a lot of promise as well, averaging 379 YPG so far. Against the Bengals, the running game will do very well. The Bengals rush defense has been poor, as they allowed 259 rushing yards to the 49ers last week and rank 30th in the league in rushing yards allowed. The Bills running game has been solid through two weeks. They have run for 279 yards to start the season and they have a favorable matchup this week. Frank Gore looks like he will shoulder the load this week after Devin Singletary exited last week’s contest with a hamstring injury. He carries a questionable injury designation for this week, but will probably play on a reduced snap count. In week 1, Singletary was on the field for 70% of offensive snaps, but was on the field for only 33% of snaps in week 2. Gore is still a viable running back, and he showed it last week, carrying the ball for 68 yards and 1 touchdown while playing for only 59% of snaps. Expect the carries to be more evenly split as the Bills deal with Singletary’s injury.

The passing attack for the Bills has been good this year also. Josh Allen has spread the ball around well as the quarterback. John Brown in the WR1 on the depth chart, and has put up good numbers to start the season. He did put up 123 yards and 1 touchdown in week 1, and had 72 yards in week 2. While Brown has been good, he still is rotated out of the offense often. While he is the WR1, he only was on the field for 79% of offensive snaps last game. The Bills like to rotate all of their receivers into the game, so I would be wary of starting Brown for fantasy football this week. The Bills will likely rely more on their rushing attack, so John Brown may not be getting a lot of targets.

Buffalo Bills Depth Chart

QB: Josh Allen
RB1: Frank Gore
RB2: Devin Singletary
WR1: John Brown
WR2: Zay Jones
WR3: Cole Beasley
TE: Tyler Kroft

Daily Fantasy:

Josh Allen (DK: $5,900, FD: $7,500) is poised to have a big game this week. Allen has averaged 20.1 FPPG and we will likely see that trend continue against one of the worst defenses in the league. Also for the Bills, I like Frank Gore (DK: $4,400, FD: $5,700). He saw an increased workload last week because of Devin Singletary’s injury and will see another solid workload this week. Devin Singletary (DK: $4,300, FD: $5,800) is injured, but he will likely play in this game and split carries with Frank Gore. Even if the two backs are splitting carries, they will both have good games, as the Bengals allowed 204 rushing yards to the duo of Matt Breida and Raheem Mostert last week. Both Gore and Singletary are cheap for this week and will put up solid numbers. For the Bengals, I really like Tyler Boyd (DK: $6,500, FD: $6,600) this week. He has gotten the most targets out of all Bengals receivers so far and will still produce against a tough defense (there is more detailed reasoning for this in the Cincinnati Bengals Analysis section). I do not like John Ross (DK: $5,100, FD: $6,700) for this week because most of his production this season has come from big plays, and the Bills secondary has not allowed many big plays so far.