QB Review: Ryan Fitzpatrick looked good, but offense struggled

Ryan Fitzpatrick got a spot start on Sunday against the New York Jets, and while he played pretty well, the offense struggled across the board.

A few weeks ago, Ryan Fitzpatrick thought his starting days were over. Yet, because of an inadvertent blow to the thumb of rookie Tua Tagovailoa, Ryan Fitzpatrick found himself back in the driver’s seat of Miami’s offense.

Fitzpatrick finished with a good stat line, going 24 of 39 for 257 yards and 2 touchdowns. He led the offense to 20 points, more than enough to beat the Jets on this Sunday (all stats courtesy of ESPN.com).

From a pure quarterback perspective, Fitzpatrick looked fine. Most of his passes were solid and many of the incompletions weren’t necessarily his fault. He looked like he was having fun out there, similar to how he was when he started the year.

There were bigger issues, however, on the offensive side of the ball. It is becoming increasingly clear that this offense is missing playmakers. Early in the season, Miami’s offense was overshadowed by incredible play from their defense and special teams. Both units are still playing great football at the time, but they are not generating points at the same pace that they were a few weeks ago, leaving it to the offense to find the endzone, which it has struggled to do in two contests.

The Jets’ defense is not good. And yet, Miami’s offense struggled throughout the vast majority of this game. Yes, Fitzpatrick had a decent stat line and was able to lead the team to two touchdown drives, but against a defense as poor as the Jets, they should have been able to do more on offense.

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Obviously, the back to back fumbles by Matt Breida and Patrick Laird didn’t help, but even when Miami didn’t turn the ball over, the offense looked like it was just stuck, unable to produce anything remarkable in the way of points. I can’t blame this all on the quarterback or the receiving corp or the lack of a running game, but this offense needs to be fixed quickly, especially if Miami has playoff aspirations this season.

Like I said in the beginning, Fitzpatrick played well in this one, and his game proved that he can still be a capable starter for a team in the NFL. The bigger issue was the offense as a whole, which could prove problematic for this team regardless of whether it’s Ryan Fitzpatrick or Tua Tagovailoa behind center.

QB Grade: B+