Fitz Had Little Help

August 15th, 2017

Hung out to dry.

Joe is rewatching the Bucs-Bengals game from Friday night.

(Yes, this is Joe’s football-obsessed life. Now that he has HBO for “Hard Knocks,” Joe has been binge-watching “Ballers.” Joe has zero interest in this “Game of Thrones” stuff. But “Ballers?” Joe’s fully involved. Why, Joe is such a football freak, last summer while staying at the posh Aria resort in Las Vegas, Joe could be found at the bar near the sportsbook at 1 a.m. with his iPad reading Mike Smith’s book and taking notes on a legal pad while nursing a Crown Royal. Yes, really, that’s an absolute fact!)

Now Bucs backup quarterback, bearded Harvard man Ryan Fitzpatrick, has not had a great training camp. And it carried over into the first preseason game, where Fitz had an ugly interception (nearly two). But Fitz had little help.

First, it was not a mic-drop kinda night for the Vero Beach Ramada Inn lounge singer Freddie Martino, who by Joe’s count had three drops (of the football, not a mic). On one drop Fitz hit him right in the numbers. Martino also slipped coming out of a snap and Fitz missed him as a result, which was nearly picked.

On Fitz’s final throw, an interception, CFL legend Derel Walker stumbled and was nowhere near where he was supposed to be when Fitz let go of the spot throw. Joe guesses, to be positive, at least Walker didn’t have the ball punched out of his hands.

No, Fitz didn’t have the greatest of games. But he had little to no support from his receivers. In a passing game, it takes two to tango.

37 Responses to “Fitz Had Little Help”

  1. ATrain Says:

    Joe
    Why do the Bucs get no love from NFL network

    Didn’t make the top 10 list of plays for week one ( awesome isn’t by Hargreaves)

    Only Evans made any fantasy list (Really no one is picking DJax)

    Very little talk on the upgraded offense

  2. Joe Says:

    Joe
    Why do the Bucs get no love from NFL network

    Seriously? The NFL Network talks about the Bucs damned near every day. Good Morning Football treats the Bucs like they are the 1970s Steelers.

    Fantasy? Joe is only concerned with the fantasy league this lady plays in.

    Very little talk on the upgraded offense

    Are you sure you are not talking about a different network? That’s about all the NFL Network has been discussing since this spring. Joe’s willing to bet other fanbases are sick of the NFL Network’s infatuation with the Bucs and the new offensive weapons.

  3. CannonFodder Says:

    Agree on Fitz and GoT. If you finish Ballers and still need some filler, True Detective, the first one, is excellent. And, The Night of, is pretty good. And of course, Entourage…

    I hope Fitz gets some time with first string at some point in preseason. But, hopefully we never have to see any backup QB in meaningful play during the regular season.

  4. Lamarcus Says:

    I get the in sync timing when it comes to passing but fitz threw that ball l like his eyes were closed. One of Fitz’s “fkk it” moments

  5. grafikdetail Says:

    no need to sugarcoat it… backup QB sucks

  6. StPeteBucsFan Says:

    The entire team has the drops! ME…Hump..and the backups were horrid.

    #3 would have had even better stats if guys hadn’t dropped at least two of his passes right on target and a a couple of others not perfectly thrown but certainly catchable.

  7. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    Put some real hairy eyebrows on this guy and he becomes the spitting image of WOLFMAN!!!

  8. J 2.0 Says:

    Seriously just watch Game of Thrones. Anyone who refuses to watch is doing just that. Refusing to watch for the sake of being obstinate and willfully ignorant.

    I refused to watch for the 1st 5 seasons, and then relented and watched and got immediately hooked and haven’t missed an episode since. It is a great show. Everyone I know who thinks it looks stupid and finally agrees to watch it gets hooked.

    If you are paying for HBO then do yourself a favor and watch one of the greatest shows ever made.

  9. BigDirk Says:

    Game of Thrones narrowly edges out Breaking Bad for the greatest television show in history. Everyone should see it regardless of interest in fantasy.

  10. Maze Says:

    The Walker bashing might get a little uncomfortable while trying to get interviews after the games this season hey

  11. Maze Says:

    Game Of Thrones rules all other trash shows out there

  12. Joe Says:

    Seriously just watch Game of Thrones.

    There really is nothing about that show that is remotely interesting to Joe.

    Joe isn’t into medieval stuff. Joe isn’t into dragons. Joe isn’t into torture (unless it involves terrorists and Jack Bauer like the time the terrorists had Jack Bauer hanging from a chain in an auto repair shop, hooked him up to a battery charger and threw buckets of water on him).

    If there was a sports/history/mob hook to “Game of Thrones” Joe might try it out. Pretty sure Vito Corleone wasn’t around in the time period of “Game of Thrones,” nor was there football or baseball and given that it has dragons in it, there is zero connection to history.

    Thank you, no. Pass.

    Years ago, HBO on Sunday nights was must-watch TV. “Band of Brothers” followed by “The Sopranos.” Now that was quality TV.

  13. MIKE Says:

    PUT FRITZ WITH THE FIRST UNIT AND I BET HE DOES GOOD AND PUT AMERICA’S Q/B JAMES WINSTON WITH THE UNIT THAT FRITZ HAD AND SEE HOW GOOD JAMES IS !!! YOUR AS GOOD AS THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU ARE …
    GIVE FRITZ AS MUCH TIME WITH THE FIRST UNIT AS WINSTON HAS AND HE WILL BE JUST AS GOOD AS WINSTON ………….

  14. Maze Says:

    Joe your Thrones statement proves your ignorance

  15. Joe Says:

    Joe your Thrones statement proves your ignorance

    Ignorance or taste? How about you watching “World War II Conspiracies?” There, don’t like to be told what to watch, do you?

    Joe will watch what he wants to watch; will drink the beer Joe likes to drink.

    There is nothing that Joe has read or heard about “Game of Thrones” that remotely interesting him in the least. Would rather watch “Pawn Stars.”

  16. Joe Says:

    The Walker bashing might get a little uncomfortable while trying to get interviews after the games this season hey

    Please define “bashing.”

    Joe isn’t the one who keeps getting footballs punched out of his arms, or falling over himself running a route that leads to a pick.

    To Joe, the definition of “bashing” is ripping a guy to shreds for something he didn’t do.

  17. mike n Says:

    Fitz>glennon

  18. Maze Says:

    Haha ok just trying to help a brotha out. I bet about 85% of the people who watch it eventually get hooked and love it. Doesn’t hurt to try. Oh i know you weren’t really bashing Walker but I’ve heard a lot of good about him from my other sources ๐Ÿ˜

  19. Joe Says:

    I bet about 85% of the people who watch it eventually get hooked and love it.

    The last time Joe got strong-armed into watching something he had no interest in watching was “Twin Peaks.” After three or four episodes, Joe threw in the towel. It was worse than what Joe expected. Was peeved threw away four hours of a life away. Still peeved about that and it was way back in 1990!

  20. unbelievable Says:

    I still watch Ballers, but the show is honestly getting worse and worse. The dialogue and plot is just getting so ridiculously unrealistic. The 1st season was decent.

    Same thing with Silicon Valley. The 1st couple seasons were great, but it has become a dumbed down parody of itself. The season finale from season 1 is one of the funniest episodes of tv I have ever seen.

    More than anything, I’m excited for a new season of Curb your enthusiasm!

  21. Bucsfanman Says:

    I’ve got one word for you: Fargo (the series). Season 3 was phenomenal…eh!

  22. Cannon Says:

    Game of Thrones, West World, and Stranger Things. All glorious shows.

  23. Pickgrin Says:

    Fitz will be fine. He’s a better backup QB with much more experience – and thus a better sounding board/learning aid for Winston than Mike Glennon ever was.

    And regarding GOT – Joe is just being stubborn in assuming he won’t like the show based on some generalities that he’s heard. Try it you will like it. What’s the harm in watching a few episodes when pretty much everyone who watches it is telling you what a great show it is? If you give it a fair shot (not just the 1st episode) and don’t like it – then fine and you can talk ish about GOT from an actual viewpoint of experience. But don’t just assume you won’t like it without having the experience. Watch the 1st season and you will not be able to keep from watching all that follows – I guarantee it.

  24. Joe Says:

    And regarding GOT โ€“ Joe is just being stubborn in assuming he wonโ€™t like the show based on some generalities that heโ€™s heard.

    Yup!

    Whatโ€™s the harm in watching a few episodes when pretty much everyone who watches it is telling you what a great show it is?

    Called only so much time in a day.

    Joe has all sorts of things he wants to watch currently stored on his DVR including football games from last year. That’s not counting “Ballers” and stuff on Netflix like Season 2 of “Last Chance U.”

    (Notice a pattern there?)

    Pretty soon when football starts up, that will be even less time. When Joe doesn’t even have time to watch stuff he wants to watch, can’t see setting aside valuable time to watch stuff he doesn’t want to watch.

  25. Pickgrin Says:

    Fair enough Joe. We all have our priorities. I didn’t think I was going to like it either and was still iffy after watching the 1st couple episodes – but after watching a few more I came to appreciate the sophistication of the storyline setups and really started getting into it. Then all hell breaks loose towards the beginning of season 2 and I was totally hooked after that. The show just keeps getting better and better.

    The series isn’t going anywhere so at some point in the future when JBF is so successful that the Joes can just sit back in their office with their feet up smoking cigars and toasting Bud Light while delegating site tasks to all the paid underlings – then you will have plenty of time and should give GOT a looksee. LOL

  26. 813bucboi Says:

    you got to get on board joe…..I know you heard licht talking about GOT at the end of HK…..

    I have actually been enjoying “Insecure” with the wifey….great show…

    with that said, fitz is straight trash….if we were in need of a QB I would try to send a 3rd round pick to the pats for j.brissett…kid has a great arm, mobile and has learned from the greatest of all time…GO BUCS!!!!

  27. Buccfaninhawkeyecountry Says:

    I was the same way about game of thrones. Not into midevil stuff. Dragons etc. kept being told I haaaave to watch it. Which I responded nooooo I don’t, kindly fk off. Cute chick at work talked me into it. Finally Gave it a shot… Binged watched the sh!t out of it seasons 1-6 and now can’t get enough haha. Easily top 5 fav shows all time if not 2 or 3.

  28. Buccaneer Bonzai Says:

    Joe Says
    “There really is nothing about that show that is remotely interesting to Joe.”

    Watch it from the start and be amazed.

  29. Dreambig Says:

    You do you Joe. I have plenty of shows I have an attitude about and refuse to watch. Took my wife Years to get me to watch Modern Family. Now I have to sheepishly admit its kind of funny. Give it a few years. If you watch it now you’ll just find reasons not to like it. At some point, give it a try. The writing is off the charts, the characters are extreemly interesting and the sets are fantastic. To me, as a football junky, its still one of the best shows ever made.

  30. grafikdetail Says:

    one of the few times… i agree with the joes – no time for GoT!

  31. grafikdetail Says:

    @Dreambig… good point though!! i felt the same way about Modern Family, Friends, Seinfeld & Will & Grace and ended up loving them… maybe in a few years i’ll bite the bullet and tune-in to GoT

  32. JAB83 Says:

    This entire post with comments is a serious case of Deejay-Vue.

    I think what ends up happening this year is that we get EMPed and we all are forced to live out GOT.

    Just saying ๐Ÿ™

  33. JAB83 Says:

    My bad……. deja vu

  34. JAB83 Says:

    On a different note….. Go Bucs ๐Ÿ™‚

  35. Rod Munch Says:

    This is the same thing I saw watching it live then going back and watching the condensed version of the game (which truly is fantastic for those that haven’t used that option or seen it before). Fitz certainly played better with the 2s and 3s than he did later after Griffin went out and Fitz was in there with 3s and 4s, he had no time to pass the ball and people were dropping passes, running the wrong routes (it looked to me anyways) and Fitz was getting killed. Couldn’t really take anything away from his play after the 2nd quarter in my opinion.

  36. Jim Says:

    Can I have some of what MIKE is smoking?

  37. BigHogHaynes Says:

    Fitz ain’t the answer …call Colin..do it…do it now!!!