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Buccaneers-Eagles All-22: Why Ryan Fitzpatrick and Fitzmagic could be real

Quarterbacks (usually) don’t change. But the game can.
 
For the second straight week, Bucs quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was named the NFC's Offensive Player of the Week. [TAILYR IRVINE | Times]
For the second straight week, Bucs quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was named the NFC's Offensive Player of the Week. [TAILYR IRVINE | Times]
Published Sept. 19, 2018|Updated Sept. 20, 2018

It’s just a mirage.

At any moment now, Ryan Fitzpatrick will come crashing back to Earth. He’ll go back to being the Fitzpatrick of 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. Quarterbacks don’t turn 35 and suddenly become All-Pro players, even if they went to Harvard. Soon, he’ll be just another guy drinking chocolate milk and going to bed at 9 p.m.

All of that’s probably true. But it’s not that simple.

Fitzpatrick is indeed performing at a historic level, not just for him or for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but for football in America. No, it’s not sustainable. It’s possible, though, that he could continue playing at an above-average level. In fact, it’s more than possible. It’s realistic.

It’s easy to understand the skepticism. No one expected this. So we search for explanations. It’s the offensive line. It’s the receiving corps and the emergence of Chris Godwin and O.J. Howard. It’s offensive coordinator Todd Monken’s play-calling.

Again, all of that’s probably true. And again, it’s not that simple.

What if there’s something more to Fitzpatrick’s performance than the offensive line, the receiving corps and the play-calling? What if there’s something happening that’s greater than the team — something more than magic?

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Quarterbacks don’t change at this stage of their careers, not usually anyway. Here’s what can change: the game. In other words, don’t rate the player, rate the game.

What happened Sunday — across the league, not just in Tampa — was astounding. Fitzpatrick and the Bucs weren’t the only ones torching defensive backs. Chase Stuart of Football Perspective called it “the greatest passing day in NFL history.” It was, and no other day even comes close.

On Sunday, 28 quarterbacks combined to complete 70.7 percent of their passes, average 7.8 yards per attempt and throw 55 touchdowns to 16 interceptions. That comes out to a 105.1 quarterback rating. Stuart found that the best week by quarterback rating was Week 10 of the 2010 season. Quarterbacks posted a pathetic 94.8 that week. Twenty-three quarterbacks posted a better rating than that on Sunday.

It’s too early to call it a trend, but there are reasons to expect that it could be the start of one. Quarterbacks are safer in the pocket than ever, and NFL rules on contact are more stringent than ever. Defenses don’t stand a chance. Scoring will go up, and that’s just what the league wants because it knows that’s what you want.

Fitzpatrick’s afternoon still was special, special enough to earn NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second straight week. You couldn’t have just put anyone back there. He was legitimately great. The proof: his performance under pressure. By quarterback rating, he was actually better when passing under pressure than when passing from a clean pocket. From a clean pocket, he was effective, completing almost every one of his passes and averaging more than 13 yards per attempt. While the offensive line turned in a solid performance, the Eagles generated a high rate of pressure, hurrying Fitzpatrick on a third of his dropbacks, according to Pro Football Focus. He burned them anyway. Three of his four touchdown passes came when he was under pressure.

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Let’s look at his first touchdown pass, a 75-yarder to DeSean Jackson.

[NFL Game Pass]

Fitzpatrick recognized that the Eagles were going to send cornerback Ronald Darby on a blitz and rolled one of their safeties to cover Mike Evans on the left side of the field. Running back Peyton Barber picked up Darby, keeping pressure away from Fitzpatrick. Jalen Mills, the cornerback covering Jackson, was expecting help over the middle from safety Malcolm Jenkins, but Jenkins took a bad angle toward Jackson, leaving Mills all alone.

[NFL Game Pass]
[NFL Game Pass]

On his second touchdown pass, the defense nearly collapsed the pocket. It was easy to miss in real time, but two Eagles almost got their hands on the ball — linebackers Nigel Bradham and Jordan Hicks — before it got to Howard.

[NFL Game Pass]

To throw his third touchdown, Fitzpatrick had to scramble to his left to avoid All-Pro defensive tackle Fletcher Cox pushing right guard Evan Smith onto his lap.

[NFL Game Pass]

Fitzpatrick’s fourth touchdown almost never was. Eagles defensive tackle Haloti Ngata clubbed right guard Caleb Benenoch, clearing a path to the quarterback. Fitzpatrick quickly set his feet and zipped a pass to Evans just before Ngata swallowed him.

Make no mistake: While there is talent around Fitzpatrick, he is executing at an elite level. There are two main reasons for this: 1.) He’s making quick decisions. He’s beginning his passes fractions of seconds sooner than even Tom Brady. 2.) He’s taking care of the ball. He hasn’t forced passes into double or triple coverage, and when he doesn’t see an opening, he takes off and runs.

It’s cliche, but it’s true: Nothing changes games more than turnovers. In Fitzpatrick’s five starts with the Bucs, he has thrown 11 touchdowns to two interceptions, and one of those interceptions — the one Sunday against the Eagles — was the result of a defender popping the ball out of Howard’s hands. It’s no coincidence the Bucs are 4-1 in those games.

“The biggest thing with all the quarterbacks is not turning it over, and that’s what we didn’t do,” Monken said after the preseason. “That’s the No. 1 thing. There’s no stat for how many 5-yard or 10-yard completions you get that gives you a chance to win. It’s the turnovers that kill you and they’ve done a great job. That’s a carryover from practice.”

Protect the ball, and wins won’t seem magical any longer. They’ll be real.

Contact Thomas Bassinger at tbassinger@tampabay.com. Follow @tometrics.