NY Jets: Ryan Fitzpatrick and his near perfect fourth quarter

With the NY Jets 19-16 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, Gang Green has secured their first winning season since 2010.

It was by no means a polished victory, but a win is a win. The Jets are now 9-5 ensuring their first winning season since 2010. Their playoff hopes are still very much alive, they don’t exactly control their own destiny, but as long as they can maintain their momentum with the New England patriots heading into town next weekend, the Jets could be looking at a potential 10-5 record.

Against the Cowboys, the Jets’ defense came away with a total of four interceptions. Matt Cassel tossed one, intended for the sidelines, but it just so happened to fall into the bread basket of Darrelle Revis. Cassel was benched very early in the game in favor of Kellen Moore. Moore would show some upside throwing a touchdown pass to Dez Bryant, however, that was all she wrote for Moore once the Jets’ defense developed its beginning of the season chemistry. Moore would later be picked off by safeties Marcus Gilchrist and Calvin Pryor as well as corner Marcus Williams.

Despite the Jets’ defense dominating the Cowboys through the air, the Jets’ offense seemed to of awakened in the fourth quarter. Injuries played a role in their slumbering offense in the first half, Eric Decker and Brandon Marshall both at some point during the game, visited the locker room, thankfully, each wide out returned to the field and saw immediate action.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, just about every snap was on the ground, I’m honestly shocked Fitzpatrick is walking today since that’s how many times the Cowboys’ defensive line got a hit on him. Fitz also threw his first interception since Week 11, however, the fourth quarter was the turning point in the game.

Fitzpatrick completed 10 of 12 passes for 132 yards, one touchdown and a passer rating of 140.3 in the final quarter of the game. When asked about his quarterbacks performance, Jets linebacker Calvin Pace had this to say about his quarterback, courtesy of the Media Relations Department of the Jets:

“Fitz is an awesome player.” Said Pace. “Glad we got him. He’s steady. Big time, man. He’s a big-time player. I’m hoping he got enough votes for our team MVP, because he deserves it.”

Indeed, Fitz deserves recognition for the potential team MVP. Fitzpatrick’s huge pass in the fourth quarter to the former New England Patriot, Kenbrell Thompkins, helped seal the victory. The Jets have been playing nothing short of playoff caliber football, they have now won their second straight game in which they were trailing their opponents in the final quarter of the game.

Two weeks ago against the New York Giants, Fitz led the Jets to an over time victory after being down by 10 in the final quarter. Saturday night, Fitz led the Jets once again to a much-needed victory after trailing by four to the Cowboys.

Fitz normally relies heavily on Marshall and Decker, this time however, he distributed the ball evenly between wide outs, Quincy Enunwa and Thompkins keeping the Cowboys’ defensive secondary guessing as to which wide out or running back he was going to dump the ball off to.

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Overall, it wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win, the Jets ensured their first winning season since 2010 and Fitzpatrick is playing his best football since the start of his career. As a player or fan, you couldn’t ask for anything more out of your team’s quarterback.

Next up on Gotham’s list, the New England Patriots, at home. It will by no means be an easy game, but as long as the Jets play the way they have been during the past four weeks, they’ll be sitting at a 10-5 record heading into Orchard Park for the NFL regular season finale against the Buffalo Bills.