Jets Passing Offense Film Review – Week 4 (Seahawks) Bad Magic

[JetNation]

This past Sunday saw Ryan Fitzpatrick continue his bad season so far against the Seattle Seahawks.  The offense looked powerless for the most part, and if not for a fluke TD, would have been held to ten points.   Let’s see what went wrong with Fitzpatrick:

Bad Magic:

1) 

This is a second and five play in the first quarter that has a successful completion to Enunwa.  So why is this bad?  The pre-snap by Fitzpatrick is horrible on this play, and misses a wide open TD pass to Brandon Marshall.   The pre-snap movement indicated that the defense was in zone coverage, with a single high safety.  The Jets have Powell, Marshall, and Peake to the left of the formation, with a single high safety.  The read on this play should have been the safety in the middle because he can’t cover Marshall and Peake going deep on this pass in zone coverage.  This is an absolute mistake by the Seattle defense, and the Jets didn’t capitalize because Fitzpatrick is locked into Enunwa from the start of this play.  While this is a completion, the Jets really had a chance to set the tone in this game, and they missed it.  The Jets eventually settled for a field goal on this drive, but it should have been more because good defenses rarely make mistakes like this, and it’s imperative that the offense took advantage.

2) 

This is a first and twenty play in the second quarter with the Jets in their own territory.  The Seahawks are in single high safety coverage with man coverage on the receivers.  Brandon Marshall makes a good move on Richard Sherman, and gains separation on him but Fitzpatrick just misses the throw.  There is a case to be made that Sherman might be holding Marshall on this play, but this is a pass that Fitzpatrick has to hit, and he’s not even close.  This is another pass where he was locked into Marshall from the start, and he misses badly on this pass.  For an elite corner, Brandon Marshall abused Sherman this week, but bad QB play made the Pro-Bowl CB have decent stats.

3) 

The pre-snap read on this play clearly indicates that this is going to be zone coverage with single high safety again.  Brandon Marshall has a very good route on this play, and there is the possibility of a TD on this play if Fitzpatrick makes the right throw.  However, the lack of arm strength shows here because it’s too risky of a throw for him, so he pulls down the ball, and moves up in the pocket.  Fitzpatrick tries to pass to Robby Anderson, but it’s a wide throw that the young receiver can’t bring in.  This is a horrible example of playing QB, because Fitzpatrick is staring down Brandon Marshall from the start, and when there is a chance that he could be open, decides not to take it, and turns it into an incomplete pass.  This is a great route concept with only a deep safety because Sherman was going to be running the wrong way when Marshall cut outside, which should have made for a TD throw.  Furthermore, because Fitzpatrick was locked in on Marshall to begin with, he missed Robby Anderson open for about a seven yard pass to the right side.

4)  

When the Jets drafted Christian Hackenberg, it was presumed that he would learn under the veterans in his first year.  One of his biggest weakness is the inability to throw good screen passes to RBs and WRs, so he probably should be excused from the room before reviewing this play.  This is a 3rd and 15 play deep in their own territory, so the Jets call for a screen as a safe option to get some yards.  You can see that it’s a screen the whole way, as everyone else goes to block for running lanes instead of running routes.  However, Fitzpatrick makes a horrible throw here because a defensive lineman decides to get in middle of the passing lane.  This is the type of interceptions we saw from Mark Sanchez and Geno Smith in the past, and Fitzpatrick almost makes a monumental mistake near his own goal line.  Fitzpatrick isn’t even facing much pressure on this play, and has an option to run towards where the pass needs to go, but hops sideways to the left and throws this pass while running backwards.  Fortunately for the Jets, it falls as an incomplete pass, but this is just a horrible execution of what should have been a safe play to get a few yards for a punt.  While Powell may not have gotten a first down, he should have at least turned up field for a few yards here.  This is the type of mistakes made by Fitzpatrick, that lead to his high interception totals.

5) 

From one almost interception to another one.  This is the Seattle defense absolutely screwing with Ryan Fitzpatrick’s head.   There is absolutely no reason for Fitzpatrick to make this throw, even though it’s a blitz and he needs a quick throw.  The Jets line up in a three receiver stack on the right, with Marshall on the left side.  However, the safety is shading over to Marshall’s side, meaning he is all but double covered on this play.  The Jets have a bubble screen called to the other side of the field, which seems like the perfect call for a blitz, but Fitzpatrick ignored that side completely and lobs a pass to Brandon Marshall.  The screen pass should be the hot read to a blitz in this situation, so this seems like a throw Fitzpatrick decided to make on his own.  Robby Anderson on the other side is set up to run down the field for a few yards at worst.   Earl Thomas has a great chance at picking this pass, but he drops the ball, otherwise it would have been a pick six.  The defense baited Fitzpatrick into a throw they knew he was going to make, as you can see the safety breaking on the passing route well before Fitzpatrick has begun his throwing motion.  In a blitz situation, you have to turn to your hot routes and they failed here.

6)  

This is the very next play after the almost interception, as it’s 3rd and 8 now, with the defense showing a single high safety.  They show a second safety for a bit, to try and bait a quick throw to the RB, but the second player quickly attacks the line of scrimmage, returning to a single high safety look.  Ryan Fitzpatrick isn’t fooled this time and makes a great read.  However, he makes a horrible throw that ends up being an incomplete pass.  Robby Anderson runs a great route here, and is open for a TD pass if Fitzpatrick can lead him.  Notice the double move by Anderson on the CB, because he gets off the line with a stutter step, and then repeats it about 4 yards down the field, because the defense is concerned about the intermediate routes.  This secondary move allows him to blow right past the CB as he gains separation, but the throw hangs up in the air, forcing Anderson to slow down and try to make a contested catch, which he can’t accomplish.  While Anderson does get his hands on the ball, it would have been a highlight catch if he did bring it in.  The failure of this play falls upon the QB, as Anderson has created separation, but Fitzpatrick can’t throw the deep pass without the ball hanging up in the air.  Another big missed opportunity for the Jets in this game.

7)  

The interception by Richard Sherman, early in the 4th quarter.  The Jets were driving trying to get back in the game when Fitzpatrick makes a horrible throw.  Sherman is slightly behind Marshall on this play, but he knew this pass was coming.  He turns around for the ball faster than Brandon Marshall because this is the big weapon in Fitzpatrick’s arsenal.  His rock to slay Goliath’s defense, and they knew it was coming.  Marshall is perfectly covered on this play, so Fitzpatrick should have gone elsewhere, but he stared down the receiver again, and makes a horrible decision.  There is no excuse for this poor pass.

8) 

This is a 3rd and 5 play, in the 4th quarter with the Jets in desperate need for points.  One of the biggest examples of Fitzpatrick not scanning the field, nor having confidence in his arm.  The Jets need points badly, and he misses on a quick pass to a covered Forte, because he’s staring him down the entire way.  Notice the defense is in single high safety again, and they are playing zone coverage.  The Jets have two deep routes going down the middle, so the safety has to choose one or the other.  It’s a perfect opportunity to take a shot deep and try to get some points because the single safety can not cover both guys running down the field.  However, Fitzpatrick doesn’t even look their way, decides at the line that this pass goes to Forte no matter what, and it ends up being an incomplete pass.

9) 

Remember the interception by Richard Sherman?  He goes to the well again on the back shoulder pass, but Brandon Marshall is running a go route.  Marshall gains separation on this play and if Fitzpatrick can lead him on this throw, this should be a long completion.  The Jets need to take more shots down the field because these defenses are not respecting the deep passes at all.  Fitzpatrick just makes a horrible throw on this one.  During the broadcast, it looked like there might have been some miscommunication, but it’s pretty clear that if this was a back shoulder pass, then it would have been intercepted again by Sherman.  Another example of Fitzpatrick staring down the receiver.

10) 

More deep pass failure from Ryan Fitzpatrick.  Another pass that should have gone for a TD, which ended up being incomplete.  On this play, the defense is again in single high safety man coverage, and Fitzpatrick correctly recognizes the one on one coverage with Robby Anderson on the outside.  Anderson leaves Richard Sherman in his dust as he races down field for an easy TD, but Fitzpatrick throws the ball too far, just out of the reach of Anderson.  This would have been a spectacular catch if Anderson could bring it in, but it hit him on the tip of his fingerprint during broadcast replays.  You can see why Seattle defense didn’t respect deep passing threat from the Jets because when given the opportunity for big plays, we failed consistently.

11)  

On this play, late in the 4th quarter, the defense is in a two safety look to prevent long passes since the game is all but over.  There seems to be some miscommunication on this play, but Fitzpatrick is throwing this pass into triple coverage.  Marshall looks like he gives up on the play when he sees the guys around him and seems surprised the ball was thrown his way.   This is actually a play where Fitzpatrick went through his reads, even looking towards Charone Peake, who is open for a decent gain on this play, before deciding to throw the pass to Marshall.  Even in desperate situations, it’s never prudent to throw the ball into triple coverage, and he’s lucky to have this pass fall incomplete instead of another interception.  Just a horrible read from Fitzpatrick, and a terrible throw.

12)  

Christian Hackenberg, please leave again.  Another screen pass that Fitzpatrick makes a mistake on, and throws it into the ground.  It’s probably a good thing because the defense knew that he was going to throw this screen pass, as you can see the LB running towards the ball to pick off the pass if it reached Powell’s vicinity.  This is not a great play call to begin with, but just poor execution again with Fitzpatrick.

13) 

The final pass of the night and another interception.  On broadcast, this also looks like miscommunication, but Brandon Marshall is wide open for this pass.  An accurate deep pass very well could result in a TD on this play as the safety is too far away to catch this pass and Marshall has a chance to run for the TD.  Instead, throws it at his back hip, which means that in the best case scenario Marshall has to stop, spin around, and make a diving catch.  What is the thinking behind this throw?  It absolutely makes sense to throw the ball deep because it’s wide open, but Fitzpatrick goes with a horrible decision that leads to another interception.  Another instance where Marshall got the better of Richard Sherman, only to have the latter get the reception.

Conclusion:

This was just a horrible game from Ryan Fitzpatrick, missing countless opportunities to pass the ball deep.  The Seattle defense dared the Jets to beat them deep, and they failed over and over again.   Seattle is a good defense, but it isn’t without flaws, but Fitzpatrick is not talented enough to take advantage because he’s limited on deep passes.   Fitzpatrick improved from last week, but he looked horrible again this week.  He had some bad drops during this game, while also making a few good throws, but this was a bad game for the Jets QB.

Thank you for reading our Film Breakdown Series for Week 4.  Please check back next week for our article, where hopefully the “Bad Magic” one will be a lot shorter.

Fitzpatrick Grade:  D+

Forum Questions:

A.  On the last interception (Bad Magic 13), can someone explain the logic behind the throw?

B.  Who won the match up between Marshall and Sherman?  

C.  Fitzpatrick has a bad habit of staring down receivers on passes, willing to take suggestions on a term for this, instead of writing “Fitzpatrick stares down another WR”.  Snake eyes?

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[JiFtheOracle]

Thanks for posting.  I definitely appreciate the effort.  It cant be easy to cut that up and not walk away frustrated as hell.  That's just absolutely disgusting to watch and I laugh at the idea of this guy helping to develop any young QB's.  He literally has all the terrible habits of a rookie, yet much worse considering what we've seen from rookies this season. If anything, they're learning exactly how to not play the position.

A. I think Fitz gives up at a certain point in the game when they're down and just starts throwing prayers and hoping they stick.  Many of us saw it last year, just throwing up jump balls and hoping Decker or Marshall comes down with it.  I think that cavalier attitude gets worse when he's down and pressing to make a play. 

B.  Marshall absolutely abused Sherman the entire game.  You showed numerous routes where he was wide open and just doesnt have a QB to get him the ball.  He was beating him like a drum.  It was there all game long.  It's pretty much there every game.  This is just another game where he missed Brandon numerous times.  

C.  He's a one read QB.  He's not a QB that can go through his progressions.  He's creating pressure, that isnt even there.  I dont know what you want to call it but it's currently the worst QB'ing in the league.  That's for sure. Fitzstaredown?  Idk. 

I do wonder if Bowles and Rodgers ever watch the offensive tape because Seattle, is playing the exact type of zone overages that the Jets refuse to employ and Seattle has 100x better secondary.  Bowles wants to line up and play man every single down.  And apparently based on his latest presser, he believes he has the personnel to keep doing despite the overwhelming evidence he in fact, does not. 

[win4ever]

4 hours ago, JiF said:

Thanks for posting.  I definitely appreciate the effort.  It cant be easy to cut that up and not walk away frustrated as hell.  That's just absolutely disgusting to watch and I laugh at the idea of this guy helping to develop any young QB's.  He literally has all the terrible habits of a rookie, yet much worse considering what we've seen from rookies this season. If anything, they're learning exactly how to not play the position.

A. I think Fitz gives up at a certain point in the game when they're down and just starts throwing prayers and hoping they stick.  Many of us saw it last year, just throwing up jump balls and hoping Decker or Marshall comes down with it.  I think that cavalier attitude gets worse when he's down and pressing to make a play. 

B.  Marshall absolutely abused Sherman the entire game.  You showed numerous routes where he was wide open and just doesnt have a QB to get him the ball.  He was beating him like a drum.  It was there all game long.  It's pretty much there every game.  This is just another game where he missed Brandon numerous times.  

C.  He's a one read QB.  He's not a QB that can go through his progressions.  He's creating pressure, that isnt even there.  I dont know what you want to call it but it's currently the worst QB'ing in the league.  That's for sure. Fitzstaredown?  Idk. 

I do wonder if Bowles and Rodgers ever watch the offensive tape because Seattle, is playing the exact type of zone overages that the Jets refuse to employ and Seattle has 100x better secondary.  Bowles wants to line up and play man every single down.  And apparently based on his latest presser, he believes he has the personnel to keep doing despite the overwhelming evidence he in fact, does not. 

Thanks.  This took awhile to type up, and I had to step away for a bit because it was frustrating to watch the same stare down over and over again.  Every play, one read and throw, no progressions, no ability to move from one receiver to the next.  Let's just say, I'm not holding my breath on improving next week either.  

A.  I have no idea with Fitz because he does this from the first drive on.  At this point, I'm starting to think he just doesn't have much of an ability to make the reads, because it's one play after another with this guy.   He gets bailed out so many times with Marshall/Decker because while they have size/speed, they are exquisite route runners that can get open.  Even Enunwa this year is a match up nightmare, yet we can't consistently score.  

B.  This one was a bit more complicated for me to decipher.  Marshall abused him on the routes that he ran.  But was Sherman playing Marshall or the QB?  I felt like the entire defense was geared towards just taking away the intermediate routes with Fitzpatrick, and conceding the long pass.  I felt like Marshall could abuse him one on one, but Sherman was allowing him to run deep more often than not because he knew Fitz couldn't get the ball down the field that far?  I kept going back and forth on that one.  I guess it's sort of the playing with your friends theory, where you let the guy run the deep pass because you know the QB isn't talented enough to drop it over your head consistently and you just jump the inside routes.  

C.  It's so frustrating watching him play, because there are people open and you can read it from the line.  I have no idea with what to call it, lol. 

Seattle has a whole system down, but Bowles comes from Arizona and heavy blitzing.  They can get away with it because they have an in-prime Peterson, and Honey Badger in the back end, and Deon Buchanon in the middle.  All three of them have great range, so he can afford to throw blitzes because QBs can't lob it up to certain spots.  I have no idea why David Harris is out covering people, or Sheldon Richardson is running down the field.  

[JiFtheOracle]

9 minutes ago, win4ever said:

Thanks.  This took awhile to type up, and I had to step away for a bit because it was frustrating to watch the same stare down over and over again.  Every play, one read and throw, no progressions, no ability to move from one receiver to the next.  Let's just say, I'm not holding my breath on improving next week either.  

A.  I have no idea with Fitz because he does this from the first drive on.  At this point, I'm starting to think he just doesn't have much of an ability to make the reads, because it's one play after another with this guy.   He gets bailed out so many times with Marshall/Decker because while they have size/speed, they are exquisite route runners that can get open.  Even Enunwa this year is a match up nightmare, yet we can't consistently score.  

B.  This one was a bit more complicated for me to decipher.  Marshall abused him on the routes that he ran.  But was Sherman playing Marshall or the QB?  I felt like the entire defense was geared towards just taking away the intermediate routes with Fitzpatrick, and conceding the long pass.  I felt like Marshall could abuse him one on one, but Sherman was allowing him to run deep more often than not because he knew Fitz couldn't get the ball down the field that far?  I kept going back and forth on that one.  I guess it's sort of the playing with your friends theory, where you let the guy run the deep pass because you know the QB isn't talented enough to drop it over your head consistently and you just jump the inside routes.  

C.  It's so frustrating watching him play, because there are people open and you can read it from the line.  I have no idea with what to call it, lol. 

Seattle has a whole system down, but Bowles comes from Arizona and heavy blitzing.  They can get away with it because they have an in-prime Peterson, and Honey Badger in the back end, and Deon Buchanon in the middle.  All three of them have great range, so he can afford to throw blitzes because QBs can't lob it up to certain spots.  I have no idea why David Harris is out covering people, or Sheldon Richardson is running down the field.  

I'm not going to try to figure it out with Fitz.  It's been 12 years of this and some how this team was fooled by a statistical year that was great on paper but when seen on the film, was clearly a fluke.  The breakdowns in the offseason of how lucky and how many interceptions he should have thrown were spot on but largely laughed at here.  Well, here we are.

I get Bowles is a blitz heavy guy but you have to adjust to your line up.  Nobody can play man on this team.  Nobody.  But that said, he's got guys with range who can play the LOS and cover.  Rontez Miles plays like his hair is on fire and I personally like him better than Pryor.  He doesnt get run.  Henderson is right now, the better player than Harris and has more speed and range, yet Harris doesnt come off the field and Henderson is in on run packages.  They picked up Antonio Allen who plays that tweener role like a boss. He's barely seen the field.  What happened to those "Big Dime" packages?  Those guys would be perfect in that type of package. 

The roster is managed like sh*t, they dont game plan, they dont switch things up, they dont rotate players well, they have substitutions issues, they have communication issues, they have coverage breakdowns - it's a cluster **** of gigantic proportions. 

[JetBlue]

14 minutes ago, JiF said:

I'm not going to try to figure it out with Fitz.  It's been 12 years of this and some how this team was fooled by a statistical year that was great on paper but when seen on the film, was clearly a fluke.  The breakdowns in the offseason of how lucky and how many interceptions he should have thrown were spot on but largely laughed at here.  Well, here we are.

I get Bowles is a blitz heavy guy but you have to adjust to your line up.  Nobody can play man on this team.  Nobody.  But that said, he's got guys with range who can play the LOS and cover.  Rontez Miles plays like his hair is on fire and I personally like him better than Pryor.  He doesnt get run.  Henderson is right now, the better player than Harris and has more speed and range, yet Harris doesnt come off the field and Henderson is in on run packages.  They picked up Antonio Allen who plays that tweener role like a boss. He's barely seen the field.  What happened to those "Big Dime" packages?  Those guys would be perfect in that type of package. 

The roster is managed like sh*t, they dont game plan, they dont switch things up, they dont rotate players well, they have substitutions issues, they have communication issues, they have coverage breakdowns - it's a cluster **** of gigantic proportions. 

Also what happened to Bruce Carter?  Is he hurt?  He is much better in coverage than Harris has ever been.

[JiFtheOracle]

15 minutes ago, JetBlue said:

Also what happened to Bruce Carter?  Is he hurt?  He is much better in coverage than Harris has ever been.

Good question, to date it looks like he's played a grand total of 4 snaps. 

[Mike135]

A few points:

1. We need to keep an eye on @win4ever.  It can't be easy going through this crap.  PTSD can't be too far behind.
2. I think we've figured out why our secondary has been so bad this season.  They haven't practiced vs an NFL worthy QB in years.  It's taking its toll.
3. Great write up as always.  These can come in handy for anyone trying to lose some weight.  Tough to review Fitz w/o becoming nauseous.  We can all become bulimic.

A.  Don't think there is a logical explanation.  Fitz just sucks.

B.  Clearly Marshall abuses Sherman most of the day.  But it's not really Sherman vs Marshall.  I'm sure any good corner takes into account the QB and not just the WR.  So in that battle Sherman wins vs Marshall/Fitz.

C.  How about a term including a reference to a famous blind dude?  Because even though Fitz usually only makes one read, even if it's bad, he'll still throw it.  He doesnt seem to actually see what's in front of him, much like Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder would do.  I like the sound of Fitz-Wonder better than Fitz-Charles.

[Lith]

47 minutes ago, JetBlue said:

Also what happened to Bruce Carter?  Is he hurt?  He is much better in coverage than Harris has ever been.

He was dealing with an ankle injury last week -- he was limited in practice during the week.  He was active Sunday, but the injury may have impacted his snap count.  Not sure how many plays he was in there for.

[Jetdawgg]

Great job as usual bro. I think Sherman beat Marsh/Fitz on Sunday. The pick sealed it. It was close and if Fitz was any kind of QB, Marsh would have severly exposed Sherman. 4/11 is terrible and the pick kills the Jets.

i would have given Fitz an F at best. 3 picks in the 4th is a clear choke job, again. He is fast becoming the Jets version of the 81 Yankees staring as Dave Winfield (1-22). 

[whodeawhodat]

ugh... my eyes!!!

[phill1c]

1 hour ago, Mike135 said:

He doesnt seem to actually see what's in front of him, much like Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder would do. 

HEY!! HEY!!!

You have the ******* nerve to include two iconic soul singers to reference this incredibly stinking pile of cow pie?!

Not cool man!!

[Mike135]

20 minutes ago, phill1c said:

HEY!! HEY!!!

You have the ******* nerve to include two iconic soul singers to reference this incredibly stinking pile of cow pie?!

Not cool man!!

Ha, my bad man.  Apologies to anyone offended.

I myself was blinded by how much Fitz sucks.  Never should have made the connection to iconic greats.

How 'bout Fitz-Foster?  In reference to Gary Foster.  The legally blind CitiBank exec convicted of embezzling millions.  That seems to fit even better.

https://www.google.com/amp/nypost.com/2011/09/06/ex-citigroup-exec-pleads-guilty-to-embezzling-22m/amp/?client=ms-android-att-us

[win4ever]

3 hours ago, JiF said:

I'm not going to try to figure it out with Fitz.  It's been 12 years of this and some how this team was fooled by a statistical year that was great on paper but when seen on the film, was clearly a fluke.  The breakdowns in the offseason of how lucky and how many interceptions he should have thrown were spot on but largely laughed at here.  Well, here we are.

I get Bowles is a blitz heavy guy but you have to adjust to your line up.  Nobody can play man on this team.  Nobody.  But that said, he's got guys with range who can play the LOS and cover.  Rontez Miles plays like his hair is on fire and I personally like him better than Pryor.  He doesnt get run.  Henderson is right now, the better player than Harris and has more speed and range, yet Harris doesnt come off the field and Henderson is in on run packages.  They picked up Antonio Allen who plays that tweener role like a boss. He's barely seen the field.  What happened to those "Big Dime" packages?  Those guys would be perfect in that type of package. 

The roster is managed like sh*t, they dont game plan, they dont switch things up, they dont rotate players well, they have substitutions issues, they have communication issues, they have coverage breakdowns - it's a cluster **** of gigantic proportions. 

I argued against signing him the whole off season saying he's not worth the extra 12 million.  I would much rather have someone we could get with that money plus Geno because Fitzpatrick's stats were lucky.  I even said his stats were lucky, referenced the film breakdowns from last year, and people said stats don't lie.   

It's the same with Fitz, he doesn't seem to like having to replace his vets in key situations.  Other guys seem to fit better in the scheme, but it's a horrible example of coaching.  It's the same thing over and over again.  I think I asked this question in the game day thread as well.  We didn't call time out before the two minute warning, and lost 9 seconds or so for no reason.  It's little things like that where I don't see any improvement from him.  

One of the worst parts was that, right before the Christine Michael TD, we called a time out to plan out a defense, and then ended up with a wide open TD to a RB.  

2 hours ago, Mike135 said:

A few points:

1. We need to keep an eye on @win4ever.  It can't be easy going through this crap.  PTSD can't be too far behind.
2. I think we've figured out why our secondary has been so bad this season.  They haven't practiced vs an NFL worthy QB in years.  It's taking its toll.
3. Great write up as always.  These can come in handy for anyone trying to lose some weight.  Tough to review Fitz w/o becoming nauseous.  We can all become bulimic.

A.  Don't think there is a logical explanation.  Fitz just sucks.

B.  Clearly Marshall abuses Sherman most of the day.  But it's not really Sherman vs Marshall.  I'm sure any good corner takes into account the QB and not just the WR.  So in that battle Sherman wins vs Marshall/Fitz.

C.  How about a term including a reference to a famous blind dude?  Because even though Fitz usually only makes one read, even if it's bad, he'll still throw it.  He doesnt seem to actually see what's in front of him, much like Ray Charles or Stevie Wonder would do.  I like the sound of Fitz-Wonder better than Fitz-Charles.

Lol, it's usually the worst on gameday when I see the play.  It's better breaking down the coaches film because it's a day later and I've calmed down.  

Lol, they seem to be playing as if every deep pass is going to be under thrown.  

Thanks, I appreciate it.  

A.  I wonder why the coaching staff or Gailey hasn't gotten him to go through progressions more.   

B.  Yeah, that's the issue, he beat him personally, but Sherman beat Fitz more often than not, so it seems like a mixed bag match up.

C.  Lol, I thought about it, but I couldn't come up with anything that made sense.   I want to include a counter on these so I can say "Staredown: 1, Staredown: 2 etc" so I don't have to keep typing it, and can be easily added up during the season.  

1 hour ago, Jetdawgg said:

Great job as usual bro. I think Sherman beat Marsh/Fitz on Sunday. The pick sealed it. It was close and if Fitz was any kind of QB, Marsh would have severly exposed Sherman. 4/11 is terrible and the pick kills the Jets.

i would have given Fitz an F at best. 3 picks in the 4th is a clear choke job, again. He is fast becoming the Jets version of the 81 Yankees staring as Dave Winfield (1-22). 

Thanks.  

Yeah, that's why I asked the question because it seemed obvious Marshall was killing Sherman but Fitz played right into Sherman's play.  It's horrible.   

I gave him a D because he did make some throws, and one of the interceptions wasn't his fault.  But he had about three others that could have been intercepted, so he played badly. 

1 hour ago, whodeawhodat said:

ugh... my eyes!!!

Lol

53 minutes ago, phill1c said:

HEY!! HEY!!!

You have the ******* nerve to include two iconic soul singers to reference this incredibly stinking pile of cow pie?!

Not cool man!!

Yeah, don't want to taint good people with this one, lol.  

33 minutes ago, Mike135 said:

Ha, my bad man.  Apologies to anyone offended.

I myself was blinded by how much Fitz sucks.  Never should have made the connection to iconic greats.

How 'bout Fitz-Foster?  In reference to Gary Foster.  The legally blind CitiBank exec convicted of embezzling millions.  That seems to fit even better.

https://www.google.com/amp/nypost.com/2011/09/06/ex-citigroup-exec-pleads-guilty-to-embezzling-22m/amp/?client=ms-android-att-us

Lol I thought about Fitz-oculars, but just didn't fit.  

[fltflo]

Thanks for the hard work and excellent breakdown.
Like last year Fitz makes so many throws that the receivers bail him out on with great receptions. We saw it all last year, the problem was most of that yardage was attributed to the QB and not the receivers.
Our opponents this year have plenty of film of us playing against poor competition from last year, to defend against it with the stronger defenses we have to face this year.
The answer to this is one many here do not wish to hear. A QB who can make the deep throws and who can scramble and run add more problems for a defense to deal with. We at this point are almost one dimensional and easy to defend.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sperm Edwards]

7 hours ago, win4ever said:

Thanks.  This took awhile to type up, and I had to step away for a bit because it was frustrating to watch the same stare down over and over again.  Every play, one read and throw, no progressions, no ability to move from one receiver to the next.  Let's just say, I'm not holding my breath on improving next week either.  

A.  I have no idea with Fitz because he does this from the first drive on.  At this point, I'm starting to think he just doesn't have much of an ability to make the reads, because it's one play after another with this guy.   He gets bailed out so many times with Marshall/Decker because while they have size/speed, they are exquisite route runners that can get open.  Even Enunwa this year is a match up nightmare, yet we can't consistently score.  

B.  This one was a bit more complicated for me to decipher.  Marshall abused him on the routes that he ran.  But was Sherman playing Marshall or the QB?  I felt like the entire defense was geared towards just taking away the intermediate routes with Fitzpatrick, and conceding the long pass.  I felt like Marshall could abuse him one on one, but Sherman was allowing him to run deep more often than not because he knew Fitz couldn't get the ball down the field that far?  I kept going back and forth on that one.  I guess it's sort of the playing with your friends theory, where you let the guy run the deep pass because you know the QB isn't talented enough to drop it over your head consistently and you just jump the inside routes.  

C.  It's so frustrating watching him play, because there are people open and you can read it from the line.  I have no idea with what to call it, lol. 

Seattle has a whole system down, but Bowles comes from Arizona and heavy blitzing.  They can get away with it because they have an in-prime Peterson, and Honey Badger in the back end, and Deon Buchanon in the middle.  All three of them have great range, so he can afford to throw blitzes because QBs can't lob it up to certain spots.  I have no idea why David Harris is out covering people, or Sheldon Richardson is running down the field.  

The absurdity was for months between midseason 2015 through this past offseason reading arguments that what made Fitz so superior to Geno (who has serious problems of his own) was that despite his physical disadvantage that Fitz makes up for it by actually going through his progressions because he's so smart, where Geno's too stupid to do that.

Yes, the floated idea was that Fitz was the all-seeing, progression-shifting QB and Geno the one-read QB. The opposite couldn't be more true (and is likely the reason Geno takes too many bad sacks because he's the anti-Fitz and doesn't get rid of it even when it's obvious he should and he has time). Now, floating the idea that Geno runs through them too slowly is valid, but the idea that Capt Harvard is book smart & therefore he must do things smart QBs do was and is preposterous. It also means so many fans just look at the numbers or the completed pass itself, and are oblivious to the way this guy almost never shifts his downfield gaze after the ball is snapped.

On the rare occasion Fitz goes through any type of progressions they typically go like this: (1) initial downfield target --> (2) checkdown RB/target --> (3) run

What is so much more frustrating about all this is that surely the offensive coaches (which excludes Bowles) see all this on tape because they are the ones drawing up and coaching the plays beforehand. For them to see these plays work, only to have them end in failure because of the one-read limitations of the anointed QB, and then read about how they're doing a bad job of play design, must be infuriating. 

Oh, and once again thanks for wrapping this up so neatly for us. Very convenient.

[Mike135]

13 minutes ago, Sperm Edwards said:

What is so much more frustrating about all this is that surely the offensive coaches (which excludes Bowles) see all this on tape because they are the ones drawing up and coaching the plays beforehand. For them to see these plays work, only to have them end in failure because of the one-read limitations of the anointed QB, and then read about how they're doing a bad job of play design, must be infuriating. 

Sure, it must be frustrating for them, but at this point I don't feel bad for them.  They need to be speaking up and doing whatever is necessary to put Fitz on the bench.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of a horrible QB is for good men to do nothing.”

[Sperm Edwards]

3 minutes ago, Mike135 said:

Sure, it must be frustrating for them, but at this point I don't feel bad for them.  They need to be speaking up and doing whatever is necessary to put Fitz on the bench.

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of a horrible QB is for good men to do nothing.”

Who says they haven't spoken up? Just because they haven't bitched about him to the media doesn't mean they haven't to their boss(es).

[Mike135]

Just now, Sperm Edwards said:

Who says they haven't spoken up? Just because they haven't bitched about him to the media doesn't mean they haven't to their boss(es).

Good point.  And I hope it's happening.  Eventually though, the bitching has to get louder.  Enough so we at least hear pieces of it.  Continually hearing Bowles' typical idiotic comments about the QB situation is infuriating.

[Charlie Brown]

How anyone in their right mind could think Fitz should be playing after these videos is NUTS!!!!!!

I for one don't catch all that happens in the game real time but the fact that Fitz missed WIDE OPEN TDs because he is LOCKING ON WRs is DISGRACEFUL!!!!!!

I can't believe that anyone can defend this crap!!!

The video also shows that Gailey is also calling a great game in general but he can't make up for HORRIBLE QB PLAY!!

And please stop with the "Tom Brady threw 6 INTS in  game" or "Brady has missed reads as well";.......

Well guess what?

Fitz aint Brady, Montana or Namath, he is just a guy, whom I like, who is helping to flush the Jets season down the toilet bowl and this video proves it!!!

[win4ever]

2 hours ago, fltflo said:

Thanks for the hard work and excellent breakdown.
Like last year Fitz makes so many throws that the receivers bail him out on with great receptions. We saw it all last year, the problem was most of that yardage was attributed to the QB and not the receivers.
Our opponents this year have plenty of film of us playing against poor competition from last year, to defend against it with the stronger defenses we have to face this year.
The answer to this is one many here do not wish to hear. A QB who can make the deep throws and who can scramble and run add more problems for a defense to deal with. We at this point are almost one dimensional and easy to defend.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you.  

Last year, the bad defenses didn't adjust as much either because there were a lot of scenarios where you could look at the line pre-snap (assuming you knew the routes) and predict success or failure, so it was one read plays.  People respected Marshall/Decker enough that they thrived in the intermediate routes.  Now teams are taking away intermediate routes, forcing everything down, and daring us to beat them deep and we just can't do it.  

I said this a bunch of times in the off-season but a spread offense works best when the QB is mobile (which Fitzpatrick actually is, he does run a bit, enough to keep people honest, but Geno is a better athlete) and can throw the deep pass.  The whole concept of stretching a defense horizontally is to weaken them vertically.  Either they have to step back more to keep angles the same, or they have to risk deep passes where they'll have bad angles.  If they step back, the intermediate game becomes open.  If the LBs drop back, a mobile QB can wreck havoc.  The whole system thrives on this, yet we somehow pick out the guy that can't throw deep passes.  And I know the stats say Fitz is a good deep passer, but it's just not the case.  Off the top of my head, can attest to two passes to Marshall that qualify as deep passes that were horrible passes in reality (Washington and the Miami game in London) that ended up being caught.  

I'm not even arguing for Geno, I just want someone else that fits the team better.  

49 minutes ago, Sperm Edwards said:

The absurdity was for months between midseason 2015 through this past offseason reading arguments that what made Fitz so superior to Geno (who has serious problems of his own) was that despite his physical disadvantage that Fitz makes up for it by actually going through his progressions because he's so smart, where Geno's too stupid to do that.

Yes, the floated idea was that Fitz was the all-seeing, progression-shifting QB and Geno the one-read QB. The opposite couldn't be more true (and is likely the reason Geno takes too many bad sacks because he's the anti-Fitz and doesn't get rid of it even when it's obvious he should and he has time). Now, floating the idea that Geno runs through them too slowly is valid, but the idea that Capt Harvard is book smart & therefore he must do things smart QBs do was and is preposterous. It also means so many fans just look at the numbers or the completed pass itself, and are oblivious to the way this guy almost never shifts his downfield gaze after the ball is snapped.

On the rare occasion Fitz goes through any type of progressions they typically go like this: (1) initial downfield target --> (2) checkdown RB/target --> (3) run

What is so much more frustrating about all this is that surely the offensive coaches (which excludes Bowles) see all this on tape because they are the ones drawing up and coaching the plays beforehand. For them to see these plays work, only to have them end in failure because of the one-read limitations of the anointed QB, and then read about how they're doing a bad job of play design, must be infuriating. 

Oh, and once again thanks for wrapping this up so neatly for us. Very convenient.

Thanks. 

One of the biggest reasons why I started to write these was because there was such a stark difference between the last offensive system and this one.  It was almost night and day, where last year we had multiple players open on plays.  It was around the same time people were complaining that Gailey was over the hill, was a failure in Buffalo, but I remember seeing the tape and going, these are some exquisite designs.  

I agree completely, I was blindsided by the amount of people that think Fitz is a genius out on the field like when he's dropping back, he's somehow calculating the wind effect across the stadium, and how to adjust his pass to counteract it while aiming for the back shoulder.  Like a football version of Limitless every time he rolls back.  He might be a very smart dude, but he's not doing quite as much on the football field.  I'm sure my doctors are really smart people as well, but that doesn't say much about their ability to read a blitz.  In retrospect, I wish I wrote more about the locked in syndrome last year, but I felt like it was repetitive.  

Geno isn't the smartest cookie, and on pure IQ levels, Fitz is head and shoulders above him.  On the football field, they are both bad.  Fitz locks in and just throws it to his receiver regardless.  Geno starts to panic when his read isn't there, but it also might be a form of the system.  The Air Raid in college, is similar to the Gailey system in it's reads.  They don't run a whole book of plays, they have a decent amount of base plays that they audible out from at the line, and the QB is given full autonomy in changing each route pattern.  The reads are simple in his case in college, with the offensive talent around him.  Then he's in Marty's system, which is based completely on timing, and much harder to change plays at the line because the audible also has to match up with timing on these plays.

In the off-season, when Fitz was unsigned, I wanted to post a game article called "Guess which option", where I would pull the game tape of games from Geno's past, freeze it at the top of his drop back, and everyone has a bird's eye view, and ask them to guess which option they would throw to.  Then maybe a week later, show the full plays in motion, and see which ones open up.  In most cases, the options were extremely limited.  There were a couple of games (Ravens, Lions) that I just looked at and could only find a handful of receivers open in an entire half.  When Fitz got signed, I shelved the idea because it was too much work for a pointless exercise.  However, if Fitz is benched, I'll write it up when people are freaking out.  

Gailey must be going crazy because resigning Fitz directly led to him being canned in Buffalo, and the whole story is repeating again.  

29 minutes ago, Mike135 said:

Good point.  And I hope it's happening.  Eventually though, the bitching has to get louder.  Enough so we at least hear pieces of it.  Continually hearing Bowles' typical idiotic comments about the QB situation is infuriating.

I'm appalled at Bowles for not even hinting that Fitz is under the microscope.  It's almost like the Rex Ryan days, where some guy would get beat like a drum for three weeks like Kyle Wilson, and Rex would stand up there proclaiming how he has faith in him and he'll turn it around.  Ryan of course had more character, but I would atleast like to hear "Fitz is struggling right now, he needs to improve and up his play" instead of "He had a great season last year, I have no reason to worry, we stand behind him".

21 minutes ago, Charlie Brown said:

How anyone in their right mind could think Fitz should be playing after these videos is NUTS!!!!!!

I for one don't catch all that happens in the game real time but the fact that Fitz missed WIDE OPEN TDs because he is LOCKING ON WRs is DISGRACEFUL!!!!!!

I can't believe that anyone can defend this crap!!!

The video also shows that Gailey is also calling a great game in general but he can't make up for HORRIBLE QB PLAY!!

And please stop with the "Tom Brady threw 6 INTS in  game" or "Brady has missed reads as well";.......

Well guess what?

Fitz aint Brady, Montana or Namath, he is just a guy, whom I like, who is helping to flush the Jets season down the toilet bowl and this video proves it!!!

It's sad because I initially thought the Seattle team just out-played us.  But they out-foxed Fitz and defended his strong suit areas.  A decent armed QB, and we score atleast two more real touchdowns (The Peake score is just a luck play, so at least 24 points) which would have made the last drive very interesting.  Robby Anderson alone had two touchdown worthy routes that ended up with no stats.  

[Snell41]

People are trying to blame Forte, defense, coaching.....our problem starts and ends at the QB position. For all the shortcomings at other areas, we could've won every game if our QB was even remotely competent. People saying Geno/Petty/Hack are worse.....there is no worse. Fitz is playing the worst possible level of QB. Brooks Bollinger was better than this sh*t.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Charlie Brown]

42 minutes ago, win4ever said:

It's sad because I initially thought the Seattle team just out-played us.  But they out-foxed Fitz and defended his strong suit areas.  A decent armed QB, and we score atleast two more real touchdowns (The Peake score is just a luck play, so at least 24 points) which would have made the last drive very interesting.  Robby Anderson alone had two touchdown worthy routes that ended up with no stats.  

I think that if the Jets score two TDs they get even more because the defense would be forced to adjust instead of dictating. 

This kind of QB play is just killing the Jets plain and simple and NO QB should be on the field who is playing like this period.......

[hokiejetfan92]

A) If you guys remember from the Lynch kept bringing up how Fitzy was consistently hitting Marshall back shoulder, on the touchdown and Sherman's game changing first interception. It seems like Fitzy is going back shoulder to Marshall (before he is ready) and Sherman read it the whole way. The pass also seems underthrown. I think Fitzy would have been better off putting the ball on a line over Marshall's left shoulder here.

B ) You gotta call it a tie. Marshall certainly had his plays, but Sherman's first pick showed  how cerebral he adjusting to Fitzy forcing the back shoulder to Marshall. It was a great battle to watch though

[win4ever]

1 hour ago, Charlie Brown said:

I think that if the Jets score two TDs they get even more because the defense would be forced to adjust instead of dictating. 

This kind of QB play is just killing the Jets plain and simple and NO QB should be on the field who is playing like this period.......

Besides the super stars, I can't really think of any situation where a middle of the road at best QB wouldn't be benched or very close to being benched.  Remember in 2014, people clamoring to bench Geno Smith after a 1-3 start?  

Geno's stats after 4 games (Result 1-3)

60% completion rate

230 yards/game

4 TDs

5 INT

75,1 QB rating

6.78 Y/A

----- 

Fitzpatrick

55.8%

253 yards/game

4 TD

10 INT

57,6 rating

6.57 Y/A

Geno got benched in the next game for Vick,  Yet, it's blasphemous to talk about a Fitzpatrick benching.  

[win4ever]

38 minutes ago, hokiejetfan92 said:

A) If you guys remember from the Lynch kept bringing up how Fitzy was consistently hitting Marshall back shoulder, on the touchdown and Sherman's game changing first interception. It seems like Fitzy is going back shoulder to Marshall (before he is ready) and Sherman read it the whole way. The pass also seems underthrown. I think Fitzy would have been better off putting the ball on a line over Marshall's left shoulder here.

B ) You gotta call it a tie. Marshall certainly had his plays, but Sherman's first pick showed  how cerebral he adjusting to Fitzy forcing the back shoulder to Marshall. It was a great battle to watch though

Fitz goes to the back shoulder consistently.  It was his main weapon in the game against the Bills, but much like Rex Ryan defenses of past, they didn't adjust at all.  Every other team plays the back shoulder with the Jets, and once that is gone, Fitz is in trouble.   Fitz needs to throw the ball deep so the defense respects it, but he can't do it accurately.  Robby Anderson is a good prospect, but he shouldn't be running free from a Pro-Bowl guy like Sherman more than once, but they had no respect for the deep game so they hedged their bets on stopping the intermediate throws and funneling everything down low so they could tackle in space.   

Yeah, that was just an interesting chess match between the players, wish we had a better QB.  

[Jetdawgg]

Win4ever, your intellect shows?

[YankeeJet22]

Great job Win.  If Ryan Fitzpatrick were playing somewhere else and sucking as usual, we all would be wondering how he even has a job in this league, and laughing at his incompetent teams hierarchy.  He is just not any good.

[Sperm Edwards]

6 hours ago, win4ever said:

Fitz goes to the back shoulder consistently.  It was his main weapon in the game against the Bills, but much like Rex Ryan defenses of past, they didn't adjust at all.  Every other team plays the back shoulder with the Jets, and once that is gone, Fitz is in trouble.   Fitz needs to throw the ball deep so the defense respects it, but he can't do it accurately.  Robby Anderson is a good prospect, but he shouldn't be running free from a Pro-Bowl guy like Sherman more than once, but they had no respect for the deep game so they hedged their bets on stopping the intermediate throws and funneling everything down low so they could tackle in space.   

Yeah, that was just an interesting chess match between the players, wish we had a better QB.  

The idea that they were comfortable playing 1 safety deep to cover two deep routes on opposite sides of the field simultaneously - which is a sure TD vs an average QB - and weren't made to pay for it because one of those routes isn't being run by Brandon Marshall or Eric Decker, is sickening. "Here. Here's an easy TD deep because we know you won't even look because you'll be locked in on Marshall's/Forte's/Powell's short or intermediate route." 

I knew he was locking in on one target all last year (we merely played a disproportionate amount of easy matchups for him and mostly kept him out of late, multiple-score, catch-up situations where his handicap is magnified). Also when passes are completed for first downs to a stud WR, the in-game replays only rarely show someone else open for an even bigger play. What I didn't know without the coach's film was just how many people were open for TDs while he locks in on only his first read right from the snap. 

He may be able to identify switching from Marshall being his first read to Decker at the line (or from either of them to D.Smith or Enunwa or whomever), based on what the D is showing pre-snap, but once the ball is snapped it's a strain to prove he's dramatically better than a rookie who only has 2 route trees truly memorized cold for a given play (with one of the two being his checkdown option). I'm amazed at not just the big plays he didn't take advantage of, since I'm sure every QB misses some, but rather & more importantly that he should have known they'd be there from before the snap (or at the latest, first thing to see what the safeties are doing - and not doing - as he's merely 1 step into his dropback).

[southparkcpa]

35 minutes ago, YankeeJet22 said:

Great job Win.  If Ryan Fitzpatrick were playing somewhere else and sucking as usual, we all would be wondering how he even has a job in this league, and laughing at his incompetent teams hierarchy.  He is just not any good.

Buffalo fans I know here in Charlotte are laughing their collective arses off. they clearly knew this would happen. So did I,  Joewilly and a few others. Fitz winning percentage is lower than 20 percent against teams above 500.

[YankeeJet22]

12 minutes ago, southparkcpa said:

Buffalo fans I know here in Charlotte are laughing their collective arses off. they clearly knew this would happen. So did I,  YankeeJet22, Joewilly and a few others. Fitz winning percentage is lower than 20 percent against teams above 500.

fixed.

[southparkcpa]

9 minutes ago, YankeeJet22 said:

fixed.

AMEN Brother.  Just wait..a certain poster here will start foaming at the mouth that we are big GENO Lovers.  You know, you cant dislike the FITZ move independently.

[Sperm Edwards]

35 minutes ago, southparkcpa said:

AMEN Brother.  Just wait..a certain poster here will start foaming at the mouth that we are big GENO Lovers.  You know, you cant dislike the FITZ move independently.

As bad as this is - and it's bad - what's even worse is the coaching staff didn't pressure the GM into finding another starting at QB, and not just some project that needs to relearn all his reinforced bad mechanics from his two most recent college seasons, and relearn them well enough to make them 2nd nature, which could take the entirety of his first 2 NFL seasons if we're incredibly lucky.  On the contrary, the HC got up on that podium after his week 17 meltdown and anointed him the 2016 starter even before he was under contract.

It suggests they are either oblivious to or willfully ignorant of how bad their own QB situation was, and what's worse is this is before they were aware of any tangible improvement from Petty (if such improvement itself isn't just the easy preseason making another stiff look good).

This team has a lot of problems - obviously more than just Fitzpatrick - but it's indicative of some coaching and FO issues. Where would this team have been last year if Chicago didn't desperately want to rid themselves of Brandon Marshall and 4 of our opponents (Indy, Wash, Dallas, NE 2) didn't have serious, significant injury setbacks when we played them? Those wins in 2015, enjoyable but ultimately useless as they were, may have seriously set back this franchise unfortunately. They kept the idea of trading up for Wentz too expensive for our GM to bite, and led to a too-raw prospect to take over for Fitzpatrick, since no sense of new-QB urgency seemed present. 

There's one actual advantage in not having a good starting QB, but having a deadly trio of WRs (not even including the 3 puppies, which becomes 4 when D.Smith comes off PUP week 7), plus a duo of dangerous veteran passcatchers out of the backfield (both of whom pick up blitzes with the best of them). It's that a young QB can be put out there without serious worries about wasting a superbowl opportunity, without youngster having to learn the job throwing to the likes of David Nelson, Clyde Gates, Jeff Cumberland, Stephen Hill, Chansi Stuckey, post-contract Holmes, and non-receiving weapons out of the backfield like T.Jones, Greene, or Ivory.

What an amazing opportunity for a young QB prospect with actual talent, and we're wasting it on Ryan Fitzpatrick. Geno should have been let go so Petty could be given a legit shot with more than just a month left in the season, and he should have been competing for #2 pecking order placement with a 2016 rookie instead of drafting a major project like Hackenberg who amazingly isn't even viable as a #3. By the time Hackenberg is ready to take the field as a starter for the first time (should that day actually ever come), both Marshall & Decker could be off the team (they'll both certainly be worse), Forte will be too old to be effective, and maybe Powell will have lost his current burst as well. Just a waste.

[southparkcpa]

28 minutes ago, Sperm Edwards said:

As bad as this is - and it's bad - what's even worse is the coaching staff didn't pressure the GM into finding another starting at QB, and not just some project that needs to relearn all his reinforced bad mechanics from his two most recent college seasons, and relearn them well enough to make them 2nd nature, which could take the entirety of his first 2 NFL seasons if we're incredibly lucky.  On the contrary, the HC got up on that podium after his week 17 meltdown and anointed him the 2016 starter even before he was under contract.

It suggests they are either oblivious to or willfully ignorant of how bad their own QB situation was, and what's worse is this is before they were aware of any tangible improvement from Petty (if such improvement itself isn't just the easy preseason making another stiff look good).

This team has a lot of problems - obviously more than just Fitzpatrick - but it's indicative of some coaching and FO issues. Where would this team have been last year if Chicago didn't desperately want to rid themselves of Brandon Marshall and 4 of our opponents (Indy, Wash, Dallas, NE 2) didn't have serious, significant injury setbacks when we played them? Those wins in 2015, enjoyable but ultimately useless as they were, may have seriously set back this franchise unfortunately. They kept the idea of trading up for Wentz too expensive for our GM to bite, and led to a too-raw prospect to take over for Fitzpatrick, since no sense of new-QB urgency seemed present. 

There's one actual advantage in not having a good starting QB, but having a deadly trio of WRs (not even including the 3 puppies, which becomes 4 when D.Smith comes off PUP week 7), plus a duo of dangerous veteran passcatchers out of the backfield (both of whom pick up blitzes with the best of them). It's that a young QB can be put out there without serious worries about wasting a superbowl opportunity, without youngster having to learn the job throwing to the likes of David Nelson, Clyde Gates, Jeff Cumberland, Stephen Hill, Chansi Stuckey, post-contract Holmes, and non-receiving weapons out of the backfield like T.Jones, Greene, or Ivory.

What an amazing opportunity for a young QB prospect with actual talent, and we're wasting it on Ryan Fitzpatrick. Geno should have been let go so Petty could be given a legit shot with more than just a month left in the season, and he should have been competing for #2 pecking order placement with a 2016 rookie instead of drafting a major project like Hackenberg who amazingly isn't even viable as a #3. By the time Hackenberg is ready to take the field as a starter for the first time (should that day actually ever come), both Marshall & Decker could be off the team (they'll both certainly be worse), Forte will be too old to be effective, and maybe Powell will have lost his current burst as well. Just a waste.

Agreed. In summary, Bowles is NOT a progressive thinker in terms of personnel or adjustments.  Nor was REX. He simply thought that Fitz would get better, he would coach better and 10 games should be achievable.  He never considered that Fitz winning 10 games was a HUGE aberration.  I was prepared to NOT sign FITZ, let Geno start and put Petty in the minute Geno shows any sign of lack of maturity.

If and when that happened, Cut Geno on the spot.  

Id rather have the Mike Singletary attitude of "Ill play with 10 guys before I let a poor attitude on my team".

 

 

 

[August]

Hindsight is 20/20 but bringing back Fitzpatrick was a PR move. The media and the fanbase put heavy pressure on to the team to re-sign him. Bringing him back made sense, he was the starting QB of the team that won 10 games the year before. He scored 31 TD's, he played well for the most part, the fans love him, the team love him. It made sense. I may not have liked how the team went about bringing him back and the headache and distraction that it caused. 

The problem lies with how they've handled him this year. When a guy throws 9 INT's in 2 games he should feel like his job is in jeopardy. Not make his job safe despite the bad play. They've coddled him and he's getting a ridiculously long leash that he doesn't deserve. 

 

[southparkcpa]

7 minutes ago, August said:

Hindsight is 20/20 but bringing back Fitzpatrick was a PR move. The media and the fanbase put heavy pressure on to the team to re-sign him. Bringing him back made sense, he was the starting QB of the team that won 10 games the year before. He scored 31 TD's, he played well for the most part, the fans love him, the team love him. It made sense. I may not have liked how the team went about bringing him back and the headache and distraction that it caused. 

The problem lies with how they've handled him this year. When a guy throws 9 INT's in 2 games he should feel like his job is in jeopardy. Not make his job safe despite the bad play. They've coddled him and he's getting a ridiculously long leash that he doesn't deserve. 

 

Good teams dont bow to that pressure.  If that were true Favre would not have been forced out. I simply dont see teams with multiple SB wins behaving the way the JETS have. Tebow, REX, etc....