Fantasy football start/sit advice, Week 4: Bills vs. Texans

Two teams coming off their first losses of the season face off Sunday. Which one can get back to the good?

After hot starts, both the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans lost their first games of the season in Week 3. They've been very similar performers across the games so far, with the Texans scoring exactly two more points than the Bills, and the Bills allowing two more.

Sunday, the two teams play at 1 p.m. ET in Houston. There aren't many superstar fantasy options in this game, but there are some interesting names:

Bills

Start in every league: C.J. Spiller, Fred Jackson, Defense/special teams

Start if you're desperate: Sammy Watkins, Dan Carpenter

Bench: E.J. Manuel, Mike Williams, Robert Woods, Scott Chandler

This is where the fact that six teams are on a bye really comes into play. Neither Spiller nor Jackson really profiles as a must-start running back this season, but with Seattle, Denver, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Arizona and Cleveland off, someone has to fill that role. They're both solidly in RB2 territory. ... The Bills' defense barely produced anything in Week 3, but looks like a solid play against Houston.

Through three games, Watkins has only put up big numbers in one. We love his ability, but his quarterback is always going to keep him in check. ... Carpenter is fourth among kickers in fantasy scoring so far this season, though he did struggle more in Week 3.

An average of 14 fantasy points a game isn't truly terrible, but it's hard to imagine a way you'd use Manuel in fantasy. ... If an inaccurate quarterback hurts someone as talented as Watkins, the next level of guys like Williams, Woods and Chandler are definite stay-aways.

Texans

Start in every league: Arian Foster, Andre Johnson, DeAndre Hopkins, Defense/special teams

Start if you're desperate: Ryan Fitzpatrick, Alfred Blue, Randy Bullock

Bench: Garrett Graham

The injury concerns with Foster are troubling, but as it stands, it looks like he'll play Sunday, and if he does, you're using him in fantasy. ... Johnson didn't get many looks in Week 3, while Hopkins has been productive all three games. I have Johnson still ranked barely ahead of Hopkins, but both should be started this week. ... The Texans' defense put up 20 points in week one, then eight in Week 2 and negative-one in Week 3. That's a troubling trend. I'll give them one more week to be a top-flight unit, but it's worrying.

With so many quarterbacks on bye, Fitzpatrick, who has put up 44 fantasy points through three weeks, could be a QB2 or bye-week fill-in, but in general he's not someone you want to rely on. ... Blue's situation is binary: If Foster plays, he sits. If Foster sits, he plays. ... Bullock hasn't had a bad game yet, with at least five points each time out. He's a fine mid-level kicker.

Graham hasn't done anything for fantasy yet, and it's hard to see any reason to believe he'll start now.

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