Ryan Fitzpatrick has worn a lot of helmets over the course of his NFL career and he’s had his share of good moments, but he’s never had a two-game run like the one that’s kicked off this season.
Fitzpatrick threw four touchdown passes for the second straight week, something only Drew Bledsoe had done to start a season, and the Buccaneers held on for a 27-21 win over the Eagles in Tampa.
Fitzpatrick, who had started for five other teams against the Eagles over the course of his career, started the game with a 75-yard touchdown to DeSean Jackson and then added another 75-yarder to O.J. Howard later in the first half. Chris Godwin and Mike Evans caught the other touchdowns and Fitzpatrick ended the day 27-of-33 for 402 yards to continue as improbable a storyline as we’ve got through two weeks of games.
The Eagles found themselves down 27-7 after Evans’ score and they were playing without several offensive pieces thanks to injury, but Nick Foles was able to rally them back within a score by throwing a touchdown to Nelson Agholor with just under three minutes to play. Fitzpatrick hit Jackson and Evans for first downs on the next drive, however, and the Eagles lost their first game of the year.
A report on Sunday indicated that Foles won’t be starting their next game as Carson Wentz is on the verge of returning to action. If that’s the case, he’ll go out on the back of completing 35-of-48 passes for 334 yards and that touchdown to Agholor.
Jameis Winston will definitely be missing one more game for the Buccaneers because of his suspension and it’s going to be awfully difficult for the Buccaneers to justify pulling him out of the lineup unless Fitztragic replaces Fitzmagic against the Steelers next Monday night.
