All we've been begging for is average QB play and folks are complaining?

I dont necessarily disagree with this but at the same time Fitzpatrick deserves a lot of credit for that game winning drive that this post isn't giving him. Up 10-7 it would've been easy to try to pound the rock against that 8 / 9 man front, waste clock and punt it away - - they might've lost with that.

Its especially impressive because the calls from the booth were to do that very thing.. .running plays. Fitzpatrick would see the stacked box, call an audible and find his receiver on the outside, unphased by the situation. Its been awhile since we've had a QB do that. and that throw to Enunwa was very impressive.. basically winning the game right there. You have to give him some credit for delivering that strike when it counted.

You are right though- there will be games where Fitzpatrick's failings will hurt this team. He will leave points off the board that other QBs won't. He will miss receivers and he won't consistently deliver passes like that one to Enunwa late last night. But at the same time he offers things like the decisions late in that game that get overlooked. He's going to keep the offense steady.

Also, its important to put in context what we have here. You can talk about Fitzpatrick's issues that's fine. and you are right there is a reason he's on his 6th team. He left points on the board. I have myself been very critical of Fitzpatrick. But look at the alternative right now. DO you think we win that game with Geno Smith? I don't. Is Fitzpatrick the future here? No, of course not. But he's not being paid like it and everyone in the organization knows he's not the future.

So I personally am not going to worry about "winning ugly" in the short term like last night. If we were working in a young QB and he made the mistakes that Fitzpatrick made last night I might feel differently but we know what we have in Fitzpatrick. Everyone knows he's not a pro bowler. If we can win like they did last night, hell, I'm not gonna bitch

 

This team would be nasty with a top 10 QB.

 

It's like Chan didn't think anyone would notice that he dusted off his old Fitz playbook from buffalo.

 

QB play has definitely been decidedly average, Fitzpatrick's game is very limited, guy can't throw the deep ball at all.

 

Which proves my point, Stokes. You can win without a franchise Qb. And shouldn't be constantly spending all of your groceries on one. Now don't you think that drafting Pryor was pretty smart. The guy in his natural position is a playmaker on D. Like Laron Landry a huge hitter who causes turnovers. They drafted him basically to replace Landry and he's doing that job this year.

 

Better than a Quigley punt

 

If Fitz can be a one turnover a game guy I'll take it. And his picks have not been horrible they've been on close plays. But don't think if he doesn't play well that Bowles wouln't think twice about benching him. Hopefully no more BS with the Qb position and playing guys who turn the ball over and don't well play (like with Mark and Geno). Give it the Terry Collins approach: if you play well you're in the lineup. If you don't you don't play.

 

any jets fan complaining about fitz right now simply just enjoys misery and doesn't know how to let themselves be happy.

Fitz is precisely what this team needs and their record reflects it.

 

It was great to see a QB with a confident command of the offense.....

..... He's still the Fitzpatrick we've seen get juggled around over the years and has his serious limitations. The arm's not there, and that's why there's no touch on the deep ball. He has to just HUCK it. The JETS were playing the equivalent of their own secondary from last year.

That being said, if he can just safely manage the game, it's an improvement, but like byz and Dierking mentioned, there can be some ugly moments when they need to put up some points against high scoring teams.
Hopefully the return of Richardson and Mauldin can be the equalizer, and being "game manager" is all they'll need

 

I though Gailey went deep too many times esp when the shorter routes were working last night. But maybe they have a long range plan and just want to keep the defenses honest. Plus the guy who might be more successful on deep patterns is Devin Smith if he's anything like he was at Ohio State. Watching the OSU season opener one of the commentators said that Devin's ability to change direction on long patterns was legendary. I'll take that esp with a Qb who doesn't have a huge arm. If we could get one of those a game that would be pretty good.

 

This team couldn't afford a top 10 QB.

 

Wow the Smith Fans are really unhappy. I love it!

Breaking down the game, I think a couple of comments not made previously are worth considering:

Enumwa's 4th qtr catch was a huge help given the game situation. But he also dropped two earlier, that would have helped big time at the time, and added to Fitzpatrick's completion percentage.

There were also two pass attempts to Decker that the much maligned Colts secondary members actually made really good plays on. One was that post to the end zone, similar to Decker's TD last week. Same here on Fitz's stats.

Devin Smith would have been a big help here. With Kerley's being AOL, the receiver corps is not that deep, and TE was a non-existent factor. I would love to see Owazu step it up, but he didn't do much. Fact is for the complaints about Fitz's arm strength that the Jets did not have much of a deep ball threat at receiver. Maybe we see more downfield completions when Smith gets in there? Call me crazy.

The CS has obviously told Fitzpatrick he can audible a the line, including tossing the conservative play called for a more aggressive one if the D is loading the box. I couldn't see them doing that with Smith. This is a huge factor in why Fitzpatrick is the better fit. The Jets want to emphasize the running game for good reason. Hell even more so if Smith was the qb. But Fitz gives them the better option of picking spots to audible out and take a shot downfield, even on 3rd and not so long.

Finally and I know that the Jets seemed to have made good use of the time after Smith got punched by IK to get Fitz ready. But let's not forget he was new to all the players on O, learning how to have chemistry with them, in the aftermath of the Smith fiasco, when the O was also learning to rejiggle the receiver corps making Marshall the no 1 option. It would have been a tough challenge if Fitzpatrick and the Jet O had all camp and pre-season to learn Gailey's O and work with a new starting Qb. Fitz has not had that luxury, but still looks like he's fast developing chemistry with the O.

No wonder the Smith Fans are unhappy.

 

I saw Cumberland on the field but in terms of offense he had no targets. And I don't think he had any last week, either. We know Enunwa is mostly a blocking receiver although they threw to him I think 3 times and he had one very nice reception. Also during the game Gruden said after a drop by Quincy that if he keeps dropping balls he'd be out of the lineup. But then later I think maybe it was Tirico who said the reports out of Jets camp were that Quincy was a very good and smart player and they think he has a high limit. Maybe Gailey is just trying to play possum with Cumberland and will use him in a future game as a surprise weapon. When you see the production of tight ends in the NFL you have to wonder why Gailey doesn't use him. Also two other guys who were just on the field for blocking but played downs were Kellen Davis and Bohannon, who was pretty much a starter. They are obviously limiting their offensive weapons to their best players on offense like Marshall and Decker and Ivory and Bilal. Kerley, I didn't see on any offensive plays only on punt returns which is a mistake and probably will change if Decker is injured.

 

Yes we should get credit for a great win. But let's be real also. The Colts D is not very good. They where missing 3 of there top CB's going into the game and then lost there best CB in the game.

 

Everyone knows the third year is the year you can really evaluate the quarterback position , except when they play well their first or second year. Third year is the key. Better get Geno in there to evaluate him during the regular season when we have a winning record. Real QB's need a leg up over .500 for evaluation. Real.

 

Reviewing the tape this morning, the Jets will see that Fitz WAS ACCURATE. Out of 35 dropbacks:

21 were clean reads and VERY accurate throws. Intermediate throws crisp and on target. Dump offs were on point but generally unsuccessful in gaining yards as the Colts defended these well.
8 passes were accurately thrown but were either dropped (Enunwa twice, Decker once) or defended (the Decker catch knocked out in the 4th at the 10.)
So 29 of 35 passes were good reads and accurate throws by Fitz. I'll take that any day of the week.

Of the remaining 6 passes, 2 were deep balls Fitz threw under pressure that didn't have a chance of a catch or interception (not bad decisions), 1 was an inaccurate throw to Marshall along the sideline, and three were forced deep balls that were accurate but questionable decisions. The Marshall INT, the next series where Fitz threw the same route to Marshall that was double covered and almost picked off again, and a deep ball to Uwusu in that 4th quarter scoring drive that was accurate but was in double coverage and Uwusu couldnt come down with it. Too risky of a throw with the game on the line. But looking at Fitz' accuracy, only one pass in 35 could have been considered badly thrown. Thats just a great job by the QB.

The offense sputtered last night because the running game wasn't working. Several drives were stopped on 3rd and 2 run plays that the Jets usually convert, and several drives were stopped on 3rd and 8 plays after 2 unsuccessful running attempts. The play calling at times was suspect, we should have thrown more given the weak secondary and accurate QB, but a win is a win and Fitz deserves alot of credit for engineering that 4th quarter scoring drive that put the game out of reach.

I think Fitz is doing very well. He just needs to check his throwing deep into double coverage. Once Smith comes back and Deck is healthy, I expect better things from the passing offense as they are still installing their packages and the young guys continue to improve.

 

Fitzpatrick is clearly the best available option for this team. When a better one comes along, let me know.