{"id":52213,"date":"2018-10-28T20:22:40","date_gmt":"2018-10-29T00:22:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=52213"},"modified":"2021-03-20T10:01:01","modified_gmt":"2021-03-20T14:01:01","slug":"ryan-fitzpatrick-tampa-bay-buccaneers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2018\/10\/28\/ryan-fitzpatrick-tampa-bay-buccaneers\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryan Fitzpatrick Takes His Chance; Tampa Bay Buccaneers Come Up Short"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/W\/WinsJa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jameis Winston<\/a><\/strong>&#8216;s woes continue as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/teams\/tam\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> (3-4) looked like they&#8217;d been blown away by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/teams\/cin\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cincinnati Bengals<\/a>. Winston was picked off four times (now 10 on the season) as the Buccaneers fell to their fourth loss of the season.<\/p>\n<h2>Jameis Winston&#8217;s Season Continues To Implode<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Dirk Koetter<\/strong><span class=\"ILfuVd NA6bn c3biWd\"> should be under no illusions as to who is starting quarterback should be for the Buccaneers next game which comes at home to the <a href=\"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/nfl-teams\/panthers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Carolina Panthers<\/a>. The Bucs, on the road to face the <a href=\"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/nfl-teams\/bengals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> were down by a score of 20-9 by half-time. Winston threw two picks in the first quarter. He regained a bit of belief in the second when his deep 60-yard pass found <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/J\/JackDe00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DeSean Jackson<\/a><\/strong> in the end zone. However, things didn&#8217;t improve for Winston. With 2:17 left in the third, Winston threw a pick-six when <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/B\/BateJe00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jessie Bates<\/a><\/strong> read the pass, made the interception and ran unchallenged into the end zone. The play was Winston&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nfl\/gametracker\/boxscore\/NFL_20181028_TB@CIN\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fourth interception of the day<\/a>, it would also be his last.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s pretty simple: turning it over. Overthrows. It was a very windy day, it wasn&#8217;t an easy day to throw it, but two of the four the ball was just overthrown. (Koetter to Buccanneers.com)<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">With 4 interceptions for <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Bucs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Bucs<\/a> starter Jameis Winston, that\u2019ll be all. He\u2019s been benched for Ryan Fitzpatrick<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RapSheet\/status\/1056628820227354625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 28, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>The Case For Fitzmagic, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/F\/FitzRy00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ryan Fitzpatrick<\/a><\/h2>\n<p>The Bengals were by 33-16 but <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/C\/CataCh00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chandler Catanzaro<\/a><\/strong>&#8216;s 38-yard field goal narrowed the score. Up stepped <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/F\/FitzRy00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Ryan Fitzpatrick<\/strong><\/a>. The Buccaneers didn&#8217;t have much to lose. Koeter&#8217;s decision to bench Winston didn&#8217;t need to be justified. Fitzpatrick almost led his team to an unlikely comeback. The Buccaneers looked like a completely different football team with number 14 under center.<\/p>\n<p>Fitzpatrick led the comeback with 11:16 left in the fourth quarter when his arching pass found <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=EvanMi00,EvanMi20,EvanMi21&amp;search=Mike+Evans&amp;utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Evans<\/a><\/strong> for a\u00a072-yard touchdown. Catanzaro&#8217;s PAT reeled in the Bengals whose lead was narrowed to a score of 34-26. The crowd and the media networks alike were going nuts when Fitzpatrick&#8217;s 10-play drive brought the score to within two courtesy of tight end <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HowaO.00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">O.J. Howard<\/a><\/strong>&#8216;s touchdown.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/twitter.com\/tometrics\/status\/1056639738940145665<\/p>\n<p>On a role and with the wind in his sails, Fitzpatrick found <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/G\/GodwCh00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Chris Godwin<\/a><\/strong> for the two-point conversion, the game was tied at 34. The comeback of all comebacks was denied when <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/B\/BullRa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Randy Bullock<\/a><\/strong> broke Buccaneer&#8217;s hearts with a 44-yard field goal with five seconds remaining in the game, saving face for the Bengals.<\/p>\n<p>Fitzpatrick&#8217;s performance was genuinely good, especially considering that he only had one quarter to make his mark. &#8216;Fitz&#8217; finished with 194 yards and two touchdowns. He played with confidence, completing 11-of-15 passes. His composure should be lauded, especially considering the amount of pressure he was under to tie the game with a two-pointer.<\/p>\n<h2>The Loss Has To Be on Koetter<\/h2>\n<p>Koetter must take full responsibility for the loss. Should he have started Fitzpatrick from the off? Should he have benched Winston earlier? That&#8217;s all in the past. Surely there&#8217;s no way back for Winston. If Koetter isn&#8217;t going to put trust in Fitzpatrick, then there are a handful of teams that would arguably welcome him as their starter. The <a href=\"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/nfl-teams\/raiders\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Raiders<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/nfl-teams\/jets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jets<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/nfl-teams\/giants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Giants<\/a> all spring to mind. Today&#8217;s game casts a cloud over <strong>Winston<\/strong>&#8216;s future as a franchise quarterback. Thomas Bassinger (TampaBay.com) believes that the situation is much more complicated, he wrote;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If this were a playoff team, maybe you go with Ryan Fitzpatrick, but I&#8217;m not sure the Bucs can do that for two reasons: 1.) Jason Licht drafted Jameis Winston. If Tampa Bay benches Winston, Licht might as well start packing. His job, as well as coach Dirk Koetter&#8217;s, is tied not only to wins but also to Winston&#8217;s performance and development. 2.) If the Bucs are to ever explore the possibility of a trade, they need Winston to rebuild his value, which is at its lowest point since the NFL suspended him for three games for violating the league&#8217;s personal-conduct policy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As for Fitzpatrick, he may just have played the game that paves the way for a bright future. Roll on Week 9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jameis Winston&#8216;s woes continue as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-4) looked like they&#8217;d been blown away by the Cincinnati Bengals. Winston was picked off four times (now 10 on the season) as the Buccaneers fell to their fourth loss of the season. Jameis Winston&#8217;s Season Continues To Implode Dirk Koetter should be under no illusions [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2841,"featured_media":52231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,2],"tags":[329,704,3465,330,1254,535,116,1624,4343,559,7523],"class_list":["post-52213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buccaneers","category-featured","tag-carolina-panthers","tag-chandler-catanzaro","tag-chris-godwin","tag-cincinnati-bengals","tag-desean-jackson","tag-dirk-koetter","tag-jameis-winston","tag-o-j-howard","tag-randy-bullock","tag-ryan-fitzpatrick","tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers-roster"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2841"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}