Fitzpatrick was a steady influence through the Greg Williams blitz-storm
The Miami Dolphins are 7-4 after their win over the New York Jets and are in the hunt for a playoff spot with the 7th seed. Despite the Jets being winless, they challenged the Phins offense with a blitz-storm from defensive coordinator Greg Williams. While the ‘return of Fitzpatrick’ wasn’t spectacular on the stat sheet, his poise under intense pressure was key in the Dolphins picking up the critical win.
The Jets blitzed, blitzed, and blitzed some more
Yes, the Jets have a terrible record… but this means little in a division games on the road. Just ask the Patriots about their division games against bad Dolphins teams over the years. The Jets are underachievers because of the erratic guidance of former Dolphins Head Coach Adam Gase, who isn’t qualified for his job. Gag-green’s roster is as good as the 2019 Phins roster, there was way more meat on this bone for them in 2020. Clearly, if our staff had their roster things would have a different record. Add in DC Williams, who won a Super Bowl, along with some good talent on the defense, and this was a very good win for Miami.
With excellent interceptions by the Phins defense offset by fumbles on offense, the game was decided by Jest screw-ups and Fitzpatrick standing strong under intense pressure all day…
… And let me tell you it was intense. In fact, it was the most pressure of the season.
Coach sums it up with a nice, red bow.
Sometimes good media guys don’t know what they’re saying
Look at the video below… ALL this pressure and blitz-feast were just on the first drive! And for Fitzpatrick, it was an entire day of this.
Then you get this?!
I like and read every one of these guys… But, you can’t be serious! You just can’t! Everyone loves Tua and wants him to succeed, but this isn’t about Gailey calling a better game for Fitz than Tua. This was about Fitzpatrick being an excellent quarterback for a franchise starved for two decades to have this kind of signal-caller. Tua saw a third of the pressure and blitzes against the Broncos and froze. After the game, Tua even said he didn’t see the open receivers that Fitzpatrick did.
This isn’t hating, it’s the truth.
This isn’t a knock on Tua either. He’s a rookie– ROOKIE–and rookies need time to develop and no two rookies develop the same. Dan Marino is one type of rookie who six games into his rookie season took off… well after an ugly earlier go where fans were calling for him to be pulled. Tom Brady is another type, who sat for a year and a half and then was a game manager for near half a decade before he became “the Brady” we know today.
Both quarterbacks took different roads, both are Hall of Famers. So if Tua takes his time to get it right… it’s all good. But, along the way, let’s not blow sunshine from our arse on the situation.
Tua IS the future, but Fitz IS the best Phins QB since Marino
All that matters is this kid becomes the best he can be… even if it takes some time. You can bet with the pay per head services that no sane person thinks Tua isn’t talented enough to be successful. But, only time will tell what that road is.
It’s clear that Tua needs time to move his brain from the college game to the pros. The problem is opposing defensive coordinators smell blood and won’t let up the pressure until he proves he can beat the heat. That’s okay! It’s about the destination. Will it take a week, a month, or a season? It will come when it comes.
Baker Mayfield was hot his first season and then faded. Tua was supposed to be injury-prone and Joe Burrow was lost for the year. We all want him to be a star sooner rather than later, but you can’t rush the process or minimize what Fitzpatrick is doing for this franchise.
Ryan Fitzpatrick is the best Phins QB since Dan Marino… by a longshot! Fitzpatrick clearly has a limited shelf life and isn’t the future. But come on and just stop. Fitzpatrick went 24 of 39 with a handful of drops from receivers for 257 yards and 2 TDs with only 50 yards of rushing through the first 3 quarters. And, this was in the face of relentless pressure after being a backup for a month and not getting full snaps in practice this week…
… And it was nothing special?
Phins fans and Phins media… just enjoy our time with Ryan Fitzpatrick. These are good times after trudging through garbage for 25 years. Give the man his due. We’ve waited so long for this kinda’ play a quarterback. Let’s remember where we’ve come from and give thanks because nothing about tomorrow is a given… ask the Bengals. Go Phins!!!