The Bills haven't swept the Patriots in a season series since the 1999 season. On Monday Night Football, they will get a chance to do just that and with the Patriots sitting on a 6-8 record and having been eliminated from playoff contention, it's fair to wonder just how motivated they'll be to keep that streak going. That's why our FanDuel Single-game lineup picks suggest that the Bills are the right side to own and that most lineups should have only one Patriot where possible.
With that said, we naturally have a 4-1 Bills-Patriots split in our lineups. We grabbed three of the top weapons in the Bills' passing game and their best RB to go along with the top Patriots pass-catcher. We were able to do this, in part, because one of the Bills' receivers is dirt-cheap. Of course, he'll need to be activated from IR before tonight's game, but he should have at least a chance to do that. As such, he's a great sleeper pick in this single-game contest and could earn us some lineup differentiation.
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FanDuel Single-Game Picks: Patriots vs. Bills
MVP (1.5x points): Josh Allen, Bills ($16,500)
We could go a number of different routes here, but Allen seems to be the best option for our lineup. We want exposure to all of the Bills' passing offense and as much of their run game as possible. Allen is highly involved in the run game thanks to his mobility and should generate all of the passing yards for Buffalo, barring a blowout, injury, or trick play. He is averaging 25.21 FanDuel points per game and he'll want to improve on the 13.46 point outing he had against the Patriots his first time around. Allen has posted 30+ FanDuel points in two of his last three games, so his upside here is sky-high. There's no downside to using him, as even if he struggles, he still will do enough to anchor this lineup, as the 13.46-point figure represents his floor.
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FLEX: Stefon Diggs, Bills ($15,500)
If we have Allen, we're going to want to have Diggs as well. Diggs is leading the NFL in receptions (111) and has posted 1,314 yards and five TDs on the year. He has a high floor and even though FanDuel uses only a half-point PPR format, he has only failed to exceed double-digit points twice in their scoring system through 14 games. He should do very well in this game, as the Patriots are without their top cornerback, Stephon Gilmore, so feel free to trust Diggs, who posted six catches for 92 yards the last time he played against the Patriots.
WEEK 17 STANDARD RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
FLEX: Zack Moss, Bills ($11,500)
The Bills really beat the Patriots with their ground game the last time these two teams squared off. That included 81 rushing yards for Moss and two TDs. It was easily Moss' most productive game of the year, especially considering that he has only four total TDs on the season. Moss should be able to run well against a Patriots team that couldn't contain Salvon Ahmed last week, and having him ensures that barring another long TD run by Devin Singletary, we'll have all the rushing scores for the Bills.
FLEX: Jakobi Meyers, Patriots ($11,000)
We had enough money to spend up for the Patriots' best weapon, so we did it. Meyers has been Cam Newton's favorite target since Week 7 and is averaging 5.3 targets per game during that span. He is fresh off a 111-yard outing against a strong Dolphins secondary, and he could find space and do similar damage against the Bills. He had six catches for 58 yards the last time these two teams met, but he was targeted 10 times. Meyers has as high a ceiling as any non-Cam Newton Patriot in this game, so if we need one for our lineup, he seems like the right pick.
WEEK 17 PPR RANKINGS:
Quarterback | Running back | Wide receiver | Tight end | D/ST | Kicker
FLEX: John Brown, Bills ($5,000)
Before going on IR with an ankle injury, Brown had posted back-to-back games with at least 10.2 FanDuel points. He remains on IR and must be activated before 4 p.m. ET to play in this game, but if he does, he should have a chance to put up some solid numbers. With the Patriots set to largely focus on Diggs, Brown could get lost in the shuffle a bit more. If he gets one-on-one opportunities deep, Allen could hit him for a big play. Brown had just one catch for 21 yards the last time he played the Patriots, but the Patriots have tapered off defensively since that game. All it will take is one deep shot play for Brown to pay off, so we'll use him as a bargain-bin lineup option to allow us to spend up for other top contributors. If Brown is inactive, pivoting to Gabriel Davis/N'Keal Harry combination instead of Meyers/Brown would be our preferred move.
