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TAMPA, Fla. – Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick – whose NFL spoke in FitzMagic's Week 1 and 2 – recovered from three interceptions in the first period to qualify for the return. finish with 411 yards in the 30-27 loss on Monday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
At the beginning of the game, Fitzpatrick had been eliminated only once this season, but he also suffered little pressure. By entering the third week, Fitzpatrick was under duress or sacked on 17.4% of the delays, the lowest in the NFL. Monday night, he was under duress or sacked on 40.3% of the fallout and was fired three times.
"I did not think we were protecting him too," said Bucs coach Dirk Koetter. "I thought he had played much better in the second half than he was in the first half and we were under pressure and forced a few shots he did not need."
Monday night also marked the first time in his career that he had pitched three interceptions in the first half of the match. It was the first time that one of his interceptions had returned for a touchdown since Week 3 of 2016.
"[It’s] a hard spot to flip four times, and three really important interceptions on me, "said Fitzpatrick," I can not have them. It's hard to win this way. We obviously dug a big hole there. "
All of his interceptions – as well as Chris Godwin's fumbles – occurred in the second quarter.
At the first choice, a pass was imposed on the line of scrimmage, Mike Hilton having removed. On Fitzpatrick's second choice, the ball went past Mike Evans's head as he cut short his course and passed it to Terrell Edmunds. Then, backed up in his own zone of attack, Fitzpatrick threw a choice of six for Bud Dupree by attempting a short pass to Jacquizz Rodgers.
Evans said that it should not only fall on Fitzpatrick.
"Absolutely not," said Evans. "I'm here to tell you … I was in the game. It was a tip and one of them." I veered over my course and trapped Fitz and he "It was my fault … I misinterpreted it, I thought it was trying to climb, I had to go a little higher."
The Bucs were caught off guard by unsuspecting looks at the start, especially with the Steelers blitz. The Steelers also prevented the deep games from using a Cover-2 hull and the receivers did not have the one-on-one encounters they exploited against the New Orleans Saints in Week 1.
Fitzpatrick has shown flashes on what makes him one of the most dangerous smugglers in the league. In the fourth quarter, he threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Godwin and a 24-yard touchdown to a diving Evans. He ended up throwing 411 yards, becoming the first NFL player to record three consecutive 400-yard games.
That was not enough to fix the previous mistakes, and he joined Kurt Warner and Dan Marino as the only players in the MNF's history to win 400 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions in a match.
That's definitely not on Ryan tonight, "tight end Cameron Brate said. "He had some business numbers there, but it looked like we had protection issues, we did not give him the cleanest pocket, he played very well in our first three games, giving to our team the best chance of winning is all you can ask your quarterback. "
Evans added, "Fitz was great, Fitz brought us back into the game." He pitched the ball and allowed us to play in the second half, and we just ran out.
Now the Bucs (2-1) have a decision to make. Entrance Jameis Winston returns Tuesday after a suspension of three games. Do they want to continue with Fitzpatrick, giving him the opportunity to redeem himself, believing that Monday night was an anomaly? Or do they want to hand over to Winston, who has not practiced with the team in 28 days, on a shortened week?
"Let's see what happens," said Koetter. "I would like to have the chance to talk to Jameis face to face before talking to the rest of the world."
The feeling around Bucs' installation last week was that Fitzpatrick would likely get the coup de grace for week 4, barring an unforeseen disaster. Monday night's game may well be that, depending on whether the Bucs' brass sees it as half-empty or half-full glass and how much they believe it actually falls at number 14.
ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.
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