Yeah... about that Fitzmagic. Last week, I wrote an article about how impressive Fitzpatrick was when he torched the Bills in Buffalo. He had arguable his best game that week, and optimism was rightfully high coming into Week 3.
All of that uplift evaporated after Fitzpatrick's dreadful performance against the Chiefs in a 24-3 loss. The final score was actually much better than it looked watching it in real time. The Jets' defense actually did a solid job limiting Alex Smith and the Chiefs to one offensive touchdown. 17 of the other 24 points came off of turnovers from the Jets.
Fitzpatrick accounted for 6 of the 8 turnovers, tallying 188 yards on 20/44 passing, and throwing a career-high 6 picks. It was obviously Ryan's worst performance of his career, but it was also one of the worst ever performances by a quarterback. According to Pro Football Focus, who gives out weekly grades every year for the last decade, Fitzpatrick had the lowest PFF grade ever with a 21.4 score. That's obviously not a good record to have.
After the dumpster fire that was Fitzpatrick's performance, people are beginning to call for his job, saying that either Geno, Petty or Hackenberg should start next week. Even though the Jets paid Fitz $8 million for one year of hopefully leading the Jets back to the playoffs for the first time since 2011, some think Week 3's performance is enough to merit him a spot on the bench.
However, I am not one of those people. Yes, as a fan it was infuriating watching Fitz throw three interceptions in the endzone. Yes, tried to force the issue and was terrible with the deep ball. In fact, I thought he should've been benched at halftime, just to let him settle his mind and focus on next weeks game. It was not Fitzpatrick's day, as seen in his pitiful stat line.
Even after all of these negatives though, the Jets should stick with Fitz. After all, it was only one loss. They are 1-2, which isn't the end of the world when put into perspective. There is still time for the Jets to recover and make a playoff push, most likely for a Wild Card spot at this point. Furthermore, the next game for Gang Green is at home against the Seahawks. If the Jets are serious about trying to make the playoffs, the last thing they need is either a rookie QB or Geno 'Inefficient' Smith to start.
Football is a game of inches. Most of Fitzpatrick's throws that ended up being intercepted were inches away from being perfect passes. Instead, they were deflected in the air, waiting to be picked off by a Chiefs receivers. While I'm not excusing his horrid performance, it goes to show that these sort of performances can quickly be shifted by the next week. After all, the narrative coming out of Week 2 was Fitzmagic was back, and he was rewarded with AFC Offensive Player of the Week for that effort.
Yet in the reactive environment that is the NFL, Week 3 is being looked at as the nail in the coffin for Fitz. I don't believe that this is the answer, and I still hold the hope that he can turn things around. After all, there's no way to go but up after a performance like that. All he needs is to be competent against the Seahawks and the Jets will have a chance at home. I think we can expect competent out of the man we brought back for just this year.
With the playoffs still a possibility, now is not the time to make a switch at quarterback. Therefore, it's onto Week 4 against a team in the Seahawks that hasn't been all that impressive this year either. Let's just hope that Fitztragic will turn back to at least Fitzpatrick, just when the Jets need him most.
