The Steelers — and the NFL's 31 other member teams — are certainly no stranger to Ryan Fitzpatrick. The 35-year-old has been, let's say, well-traveled.
The league, however, has never seen Fitzpatrick quite like this.
Tampa Bay is the veteran quarterback's seventh stop in a 14-year career, but it appears he's living his best life with the Buccaneers.
Did you see him rolling into his post-game press conference last week? The guy formerly known as the Amish Rifle is looking more like Conor McGregor or some kind of hip-hop star these days:
Mr. GQ or Ryan Fitzpatrick? The Bucs QB breaks out a new look during his post game press conference. Hear why ?#fitzmagic pic.twitter.com/Xx4ZKGAuM2
— Kevin ODonnell Fox13 (@ODonnellFox13) September 16, 2018
And why not?
"He's playing good," explained veteran cornerback Joe Haden. "He has weapons out there. DeSean Jackson, (Mike) Evans, those dudes are great players. He's using them. He's giving them opportunities: Throwing it up the sideline, throwing it deep to DeSean. He's just playing good ball."
Actually, Fitzpatrick is playing great ball. If the MVP were awarded after two weeks, he might just be the recipient.
Fitzpatrick is filling in for incumbent starter Jameis Winston, who is due to come off the suspended list next week. But the way the backup is playing, the job looks to be Fitzpatrick's for at least a little while.
"Well, I mean his numbers are off the charts. I guess how would you expect them — everybody — to respond?" asks Tampa head coach Dirk Koetter. "Of course, everybody’s responded well. Our team’s playing well. Our team’s doing something that not many thought they could. We have a good locker room. Our guys believe in each other right now. Any player that’s playing well — he’s backing it up with his play — you get what you deserve.”
Indeed, Fitzpatrick leads the league in passing yards (819), yards per attempt (13.4), yards per completion (17.1), yards per game (409.5) and passer rating (151.5).
To put that in perspective, that's 6.6 more yards per attempt, 5.8 more yards per completion, 203.5 more yards per game and 70.4 rating points better than his career average. He has thrown four touchdown passes of 50-plus yards in two games, matching his total over his previous 50.
Oh, he also has the Buccaneers off to a 2-0 start heading into Monday night's game against the 0-1-1 Steelers.
Which of those developments is most surprising — Fitzpatrick's play or the Steelers' poor start — is open to debate.
It would seem, though, that something has to give.
If the league knows anything about "FitzMagic," it's that it can come and — poof! — be gone in the blink of an eye. Not blessed with great physical talents or a particularly strong arm, Fitzpatrick has survived on guile and his intelligence. He's a Harvard man, after all.
The thing is, he's also had an uncanny ability to look like a Pro Bowler one game and the journeyman QB that he is the next.
The Steelers certainly know how that works.
If not for Fitzpatrick, they probably don't make the playoffs in 2015. The Steelers needed a huge favor from the Buffalo Bills in their Week 17 matchup against Fitzpatrick's New York Jets. Fitzpatrick, in his lone season with a winning record, obliged by gifting the Steelers a postseason berth by throwing three interceptions on the Jets' final three drives.
However, the Steelers shouldn't count on a similar scenario playing out again Monday night at Raymond James Stadium. Fitzpatrick has thrown eight TDs to just one interception while ranking third with a 78.7 completion percentage (18.7 percent better than his career average).
The Steelers can ill-afford to underestimate Fitzpatrick or anyone else, according to Keith Butler. The defensive coordinator gave a glowing assessment of this version of Fitzpatrick when I asked:
"Most of the time when a quarterback lasts this long in the league, they've lasted because of their intellectual knowledge of the game," Butler said. "He's probably seen every defense known to man. He understands what defenses are trying to do. He knows who to read and who not to read and who's what we call the 'huckleberry' on your defense, who he can try and take advantage of. He does a great job of that."
Fitzpatrick will have no shortage of huckleberries to choose from against a Pittsburgh defense that has surrendered an un-Pittsburgh-like 108 points over its past three games dating to last season's divisional round playoff loss to Jacksonville.
Getting back a healthy Haden from a hamstring injury will be a start, though. Last week, the secondary gave up a franchise record-tying six touchdown passes to Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes, who was making just his second career start.
"All we can do is move on to the next week," Cam Heyward told DKPittsburghSports.com. "I think everyone's said enough now, it's about doing it."
Saying it and doing it are two two different things, because, as Haden alluded to, Fitzpatrick has weapons.
With apologies to the Rams, Bengals, Bills, Titans, Texans and Jets teams that Fitzpatrick played on in the past, the Buccaneers have multiple playmaking receivers.
Who cares? https://t.co/b0t8BWGPCM
— Troy Aikman (@TroyAikman) September 19, 2018
And, unlike the Chiefs last week, the Bucs make no pretense of a running game. Tampa is No. 1 in total offense (482.5 ypg) despite ranking 27th in rushing.
"He's just completing a lot of balls, a lot of big plays, a lot of them are downfield," Heyward was saying. "He hasn't been in an adverse situation yet, because those guys have been catching balls."
"Their forte is the pass game. They want to get the ball to the playmakers on the outside," Mike Hilton said. "We have to match those and make plays."
In Jackson, Fitzpatrick has a burner capable of taking the top off any defense. He has four receptions of 35-plus yards after having just one last season. He leads the league in receiving yards (275) and yards per reception (30.6). Even at age 31, Jackson has shown no signs of slowing down.
"Not at all," Haden said. "He might have gotten faster."
In Evans, Tampa has a big-bodied receiver who presents matchup nightmares for any cornerback. The 6-foot-5, 230-pounder is ninth in receiving yards and sixth in TD receptions with two.
"He can jump out the gym," Hilton said. "He uses his body well. The quarterback is just going to give him a chance to play, and he's done that throughout his career."
Most intriguing is O.J. Howard. The 2017 first-rounder out of Alabama was the first tight end taken off the board, and he is starting to come into his own. In last week's win over defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia, he had a 75-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown, as did Jackson, tying for the longest pass plays this season.
Without the threat of a running game — Fitzpatrick is the Buccaneers' second-leading rusher at 17.1 yards per game — the Steelers likely will be utilizing a lot of their subpackages with five, six and even seven defensive backs on the field.
The game plan should be quite simple: Make Fitzpatrick beat you and hope the FitzMagic has worn off.
"Rush and cover has to work together," Heyward told me. "We've got to rush our tails off, and the secondary has to cover. We've got to get some chances, and if we do get the chances, we've got to get home. It's going to be a 60-minute dogfight. They're always bound for big plays."
