Ryan Fitzpatrick Held to Under 150 Yards, Still Beats Jags

Ryan Fitzpatrick, you genius quarterback you.

Putting up  six touchdowns to get everyone worried you may finally be a high caliber QB, then following it with virtually nothing as you laugh after every time you hand the ball off to Arian Foster.

Ryan Fitzpatrick finished the day with just eight more yards than his star running back. He tossed the ball five less times than Arian Foster had rushing attempts.

Final stat line for the QB with the win on his resume? 13 of 19, 135 yards, not touchdowns, no picks.

That’s managing a game to perfection.

The Jacksonville Jaguars defense couldn’t stop Arian Foster (24 attempts, 127 yards, one TD) and the Texans were more than happy to keep using one of the best running backs in the league to hand the Jags a loss. Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, completed some nice passes to DeAndre Hopkins in the second half and to a handful of other receivers throughout the game. Andre Johnson was getting a lot of looks early but was forced out of the game due to injury.

The Jags, meanwhile, couldn’t find a way to force the game on Fitzpatrick’s arm. Whether it was Foster or Alfred Blue (one touchdown, 15 yards, nine attempts), the Jags just couldn’t figure out how to stop the running game. Foster eclipsed 1,000 yards on the season in the game.

Perhaps most importantly, Foster allowed the Texans to eat up clock seemingly all day. Their eight and a half minute drive in the third quarter was particularly strong. The Jaguars just couldn’t seem to slow them down as the Texans methodically picked up yards. The home run potential of Foster (long of 51 on the day) and the dedication to feeding him the ball should have allowed the Jags defense to focus on the running game almost exclusively. Defensive coordinator Bob Babich didn’t seem willing to do that, however as the “major threat” that is Fitzpatrick threatened to light up the scoreboard.

All in all, the Jags looked confused on how to combat a running attack on the day. They weren’t able to stop Foster in the first half and they let him continue to exert his will in the second. While the defense gets a lot of credit for taking over the game against the New York Giants a week ago, they also failed to stop running back Rashad Jennings then. It is becoming a serious concern for the defense that could lead to another collapse in any of the final three games.