Ryan Fitzpatrick Will Not Repeat Last Week’s Success
By Luke Sims
Ryan Fitzpatrick had an historic day last week for the Houston Texans. He tossed six touchdown passes to five different receivers while crushing the soul out of the Tennessee Titans.
These weren’t just great touchdown tosses, he also drove the ball well all game, amassing 358 yards and completing 72% of his 33 passes. That’s some pretty fantastic football.
So fantastic, in fact, that it’s doubtful Fitzpatrick will find that kind of success again against the Jaguars. Or ever, really.
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Fitzpatrick hasn’t come close to that level of output so far this season. Last week was a major outlier. He’s only had two touchdown performances in 2014, making Sunday’s game nothing more than a fluke. Also on 2014, he has failed to follow up a multiple touchdown performance with another. In fact, his only years stringing multiple touchdown performances together were with the Buffalo Bills.
As the Jags gear up to take on Fitzpatrick and the Texans on Sunday, they should be comfortable knowing that the weight of history is on their side.
It also helps that the Jags have only allowed 20 passing touchdowns so far this season. That’s slightly less than two a game and a lot lower number than many of us who have seen our secondary play would have imagined.
Fitzpatrick’s inconsistency after high yardage games also helps when looking toward Sunday. Fitzpatrick has never managed back to back 300+ yard games in his career, meaning the Jags will likely be able to bring down him back to his own reality this week.
I mention all of this to let our Houston Texans fans down gently well in advance of Sunday’s game. It’s time to keep in mind that Fitzpatrick is not the hero passer from last week, but rather the erratic passer he has proven to be in his long, journeyman career.
I also mention this to give heart to us Jags fans as the team tries to string together back to back victories for the first time this season.
Good luck on Sunday, but expect it to be a bit less like Madden and a bit more like reality.