Buffalo Bills - Fantasy News

Who to Start: Tyrod Taylor or Jay Cutler?

by Mike Rose

12/29/17

NFL

Buffalo Bills

Tyrod Taylor

A meaningless AFC East matchup will take place at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL, on Sunday afternoon when the Miami Dolphins welcome the Buffalo Bills for the second matchup between the division foes in three weeks.

After losing to the Bills in Buffalo, Miami will look to split the season series as Jay Cutler looks to bounce back from his three-interception game against the Bills last time out, while Tyrod Taylor hopes to end the season on a high note and possibly squeeze into the playoffs.

Fantasy Matchup: Tyrod Taylor (16.0 PFP) vs. Jay Cutler (13.0 PFP)

Taylor has averaged 14.79 Dober Fantasy Points per game, a mark that is higher than Cutler to date, so he enters this Week 17 matchup as a three-point favorite. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise as he’s only thrown one interception over his last five games. How many has Cutler thrown in that span? Well, he’s thrown eight picks—more than the amount of touchdowns he has (7).

For the season, Taylor has thrown for 2,595 yards with 13 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He’s also played to a QB rating of 100-plus four times, and he is averaging a completion percentage of 62.1 and 185.4 yards per game through the first 16 weeks. Now he’ll face a Dolphins defense that ranks No. 20 against quarterbacks. They’ve also allowed 227.8 passing yards per contest (No. 17).

The No. 16 fantasy quarterback recorded a double dip against Miami two weeks ago as he threw for a touchdown and scampered for another. Taylor is projected to log 16.0 Dober Fantasy Points and the Dolphins defense has allowed 16.6 fantasy points per game to quarterbacks over the past few weeks. Keep that in mind when looking at this matchup for your Dober Play Card.

Meanwhile, Cutler has been the same inconsistent gunslinger that we’ve all come to know through the years. He’s passed for 2,660 yards on the campaign with an awful touchdown-to-interception ratio of 19-to-14. He’s barely managed a passer rating of 80 as he sits at 80.9 for the year. As the No. 26 quarterback in fantasy, he’ll get to face a Bills unit that ranks No. 3 against quarterbacks as well as No. 18 in passing yards allowed (228.3).

This same Bills defense throttled him in the first meeting. As a unit, the Bills intercepted three of his passes and limited his passer rating to an atrocious 25.1. Don’t trust Cutler at all in this matchup.

Smokin’ Jay should have stayed in the broadcast booth. Despite showing some moments of hope for the Dolphins—including that convincing win over Tom Brady and the Patriots—he failed to get Miami to the playoffs. He has a decision to make about whether or not he wants to play another season, but in this Dober matchup, go with Taylor as he attempts to land the Bills that final playoff spot in the AFC.

Week 17 Fantasy Projection: Tyrod Taylor (-3) vs. Jay Cutler