Miami Dolphins Ryan Fitzpatrick shines against San Francisco

Ryan Fitzpatrick put together an incredible performance on Sunday, earning him player of the game honors and a stellar grade overall.

I’m not one to speculate, but Ryan Fitzpatrick may have heard some of the criticism and “Tua talk” that took place after his poor performance against the Seattle Seahawks.

After what was a less than shaky performance against Seattle, Fitzpatrick responded with an incredible outing against a banged up San Francisco team, putting together what was an almost statistically perfect game.

Fitzpatrick threw for 350 yards and 3 touchdowns but only put 16 yards up on the ground, which, for him, isn’t the greatest rushing performance (all stats courtesy of ESPN.com). He put together a 99.1 QBR and according to Cameron Wolfe, he had the highest QBR of the season so far.

And yet, the most important part of Fitzpatrick’s performance on Sunday was his ability to lead the offense to touchdown drives, not just settling for field goals. Fitzpatrick, playing without his starting left tackle Austin Jackson, who went on IR early last week, was able to make plays that top tier quarterbacks make. Of all the plays he made, however, two in particular stand out.

On pass plays to Mike Gesicki and DeVante Parker, Fitzpatrick was able to connect with his receivers on perfect touch passes, throwing the ball just over the defenders and placing them perfectly for his guys to make plays.

Over the course of the game, Fitzpatrick looked poised and polished, which he has for the majority of the season. Because of his amazing performance he not only gets my player of the game award, but also earns a perfect score for his quarterback grade for the week. He may not be able to keep this up throughout the rest of the season, but for right now, he deserves all the credit possible for putting together an outstanding game.

Many people were calling for Tua Tagovailoa to start taking the reins of this team sooner rather that later, myself included. But, if Fitzpatrick continues to play like he did on Sunday, Tagovailoa will have to keep waiting for his time to shine.

Week 5 QB Grade: A+