05-09-2018, 09:55 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-10-2018, 04:48 PM by Supersquare04.)
There has been a lot of speculation, particularly within the San Antonio locker room, as to how well or how poorly Kevin Fitzpatrick, the newly acquired quarterback, would fare on the field (spoiler: meh). One question that is definitely no longer being asked is what style of quarterback he is. Having been described as a game manager during his days playing for the Air Force, Fitzpatrick displayed exactly that kind of mindset in his two games on the road against Palm Beach and at home against the Luchadores. Let’s break them down game by game (you know, for word count).
Unsurprisingly, his debut was the rougher performance. With both of the Marshal’s playcallers unable to get anything going, only 24 pass plays were thrown all game between the two. Fitzpatrick accounted for 8 of them. His first play was a 2 yard checkdown to Alvin Chipmunk. It was a promising start, but that would account for half of his completions, the other being a 14 yarder down the left side to Catcherman. He did take one sack for 6 yards, and also scrambled once for 4 yards, considered by most pundits to be the best play of the game, as Catcherman had bailed him out on the catch. When asked about it, the QB coach replied “well, it was something we talked about a lot in practice. They’d be expecting Vick to run, but not him, and our line has gotten really good at blocking on those plays, and we knew we’d have to sneak one in on them before they wised up to it.” The Marshals ended up losing to the home team Solar Bears, though responsibility for the loss was laid at the feet of Vick, who went 7 for 14 with 53 yards, but erased all of that and more with two sacks for 22 yards lost and an interception. He also rushed 8 times, once for 12 yards, the other 7 for a combined 3 more, showing that Palm Beach was very much expecting it. In total, Fitzpatrick finished with 14 adjusted yards on 9 plays, and Vick with -14 on 24 plays. Despite a completion percentage below 30%, Fitzpatrick was actually the much better player that night, which was not high praise.
Fortunes improved for both QBs once they returned to San Antonio. Despite going up against a tougher team, as the Luchadores lead the conference, the offense functioned a lot better. Vick, having been blamed for costing the Marshals a chance at home field in the playoffs, played some of the best football of his career with 161 yards through the air, plus 24 more and a touchdown on the ground, though he did fumble once in the game. He was sacked 3 times for 19 yards, but that didn’t stop him from moving the chains and securing the win. Fitzpatrick played better as well, though like the game in Palm Beach, he wasn’t really a factor either, his greatest contribution seeming to be giving Vick time to catch his breath without losing the game in the process. Fitzpatrick finished 5 for 11 with 56 yards, 0 sacks, 0 rushes. As with the last game, Catcherman proved to be his preferred target.
Word from the Marshals front office is that Fitzpatrick will be taking snaps in their upcoming playoff game against the Luchadores, this time playing in Tijuana. We asked if this meant they trusted the raw signal caller and were answered with “well, we don’t really have a choice. League says that since we signed him, we have to play him in two formations even if he’s dogshit. Fortunately, he wasn’t that bad.” In truth, maybe Fitzpatrick was that bad, but Vick just wasn’t any better. Over both games combined, Fitzpatrick had the higher adjusted yards per play, as Vick had a touchdown as well as better completion percentage and some big gains, but also threw an interception, fumbled once, and had more than double the sack rate. The final average was 2.89 adjusted net yards per play for Vick, 3.3 for Fitzpatrick. It should be noted that Fitzpatrick's average would get him fired as a starter if he maintained it for a full year, so it's less his accomplishment and more Vick's failure.
Such a statement begs the question of why the Marshals signed Fitzpatrick at all. Obviously they knew he wouldn’t come anywhere near Vick’s ceiling in such a short time. However, as the game against Palm Beach showed, they might have been more worried about avoiding Vick’s floor. The Marshals have a solid run game, maybe they just needed a QB responsible enough to get the occasional first down without making big mistakes. With only 1 sack and 0 interceptions on 19 dropbacks, Fitzpatrick has shown he can come in right away and play the kind of safe football the Marshals need. Vick, meanwhile, is finishing his 3rd season with the Marshals, and averaged just over an interception per game, with only about half the touchdowns.
One lesson San Antonio learned the hard way, however, is that strong starts can be misleading. When Michael Vick came to the league in 2021, he totaled 301 yards and a TD against 0 interceptions in 52 plays, leading San Antonio to believe he had a lot to offer, but has only declined since then, finishing his rookie season with 898 total yards, five touchdowns and 6 interceptions on 242 plays. Adjusting for touchdowns and interceptions, Vick averaged 3.71 yards per play. Given his play this season, it would be difficult to say he’s improved.
We talked to Fitzpatrick and asked him his thoughts on his performance. “I can’t say I was happy with it. Any game with under 50% completion is nothing to brag about. I felt like I just didn’t have the timing down on our receivers and it hurt us a lot. I’ll be working on that before we go back to Tijuana. It’s kinda scary and exciting to think we could still win it all, but it will be an uphill battle to get there. Thus far, I feel like I haven’t really produced, and will have to change that, but I have to be careful and not force any plays and kill our chances with an interception.”
Unsurprisingly, his debut was the rougher performance. With both of the Marshal’s playcallers unable to get anything going, only 24 pass plays were thrown all game between the two. Fitzpatrick accounted for 8 of them. His first play was a 2 yard checkdown to Alvin Chipmunk. It was a promising start, but that would account for half of his completions, the other being a 14 yarder down the left side to Catcherman. He did take one sack for 6 yards, and also scrambled once for 4 yards, considered by most pundits to be the best play of the game, as Catcherman had bailed him out on the catch. When asked about it, the QB coach replied “well, it was something we talked about a lot in practice. They’d be expecting Vick to run, but not him, and our line has gotten really good at blocking on those plays, and we knew we’d have to sneak one in on them before they wised up to it.” The Marshals ended up losing to the home team Solar Bears, though responsibility for the loss was laid at the feet of Vick, who went 7 for 14 with 53 yards, but erased all of that and more with two sacks for 22 yards lost and an interception. He also rushed 8 times, once for 12 yards, the other 7 for a combined 3 more, showing that Palm Beach was very much expecting it. In total, Fitzpatrick finished with 14 adjusted yards on 9 plays, and Vick with -14 on 24 plays. Despite a completion percentage below 30%, Fitzpatrick was actually the much better player that night, which was not high praise.
Fortunes improved for both QBs once they returned to San Antonio. Despite going up against a tougher team, as the Luchadores lead the conference, the offense functioned a lot better. Vick, having been blamed for costing the Marshals a chance at home field in the playoffs, played some of the best football of his career with 161 yards through the air, plus 24 more and a touchdown on the ground, though he did fumble once in the game. He was sacked 3 times for 19 yards, but that didn’t stop him from moving the chains and securing the win. Fitzpatrick played better as well, though like the game in Palm Beach, he wasn’t really a factor either, his greatest contribution seeming to be giving Vick time to catch his breath without losing the game in the process. Fitzpatrick finished 5 for 11 with 56 yards, 0 sacks, 0 rushes. As with the last game, Catcherman proved to be his preferred target.
Word from the Marshals front office is that Fitzpatrick will be taking snaps in their upcoming playoff game against the Luchadores, this time playing in Tijuana. We asked if this meant they trusted the raw signal caller and were answered with “well, we don’t really have a choice. League says that since we signed him, we have to play him in two formations even if he’s dogshit. Fortunately, he wasn’t that bad.” In truth, maybe Fitzpatrick was that bad, but Vick just wasn’t any better. Over both games combined, Fitzpatrick had the higher adjusted yards per play, as Vick had a touchdown as well as better completion percentage and some big gains, but also threw an interception, fumbled once, and had more than double the sack rate. The final average was 2.89 adjusted net yards per play for Vick, 3.3 for Fitzpatrick. It should be noted that Fitzpatrick's average would get him fired as a starter if he maintained it for a full year, so it's less his accomplishment and more Vick's failure.
Such a statement begs the question of why the Marshals signed Fitzpatrick at all. Obviously they knew he wouldn’t come anywhere near Vick’s ceiling in such a short time. However, as the game against Palm Beach showed, they might have been more worried about avoiding Vick’s floor. The Marshals have a solid run game, maybe they just needed a QB responsible enough to get the occasional first down without making big mistakes. With only 1 sack and 0 interceptions on 19 dropbacks, Fitzpatrick has shown he can come in right away and play the kind of safe football the Marshals need. Vick, meanwhile, is finishing his 3rd season with the Marshals, and averaged just over an interception per game, with only about half the touchdowns.
One lesson San Antonio learned the hard way, however, is that strong starts can be misleading. When Michael Vick came to the league in 2021, he totaled 301 yards and a TD against 0 interceptions in 52 plays, leading San Antonio to believe he had a lot to offer, but has only declined since then, finishing his rookie season with 898 total yards, five touchdowns and 6 interceptions on 242 plays. Adjusting for touchdowns and interceptions, Vick averaged 3.71 yards per play. Given his play this season, it would be difficult to say he’s improved.
We talked to Fitzpatrick and asked him his thoughts on his performance. “I can’t say I was happy with it. Any game with under 50% completion is nothing to brag about. I felt like I just didn’t have the timing down on our receivers and it hurt us a lot. I’ll be working on that before we go back to Tijuana. It’s kinda scary and exciting to think we could still win it all, but it will be an uphill battle to get there. Thus far, I feel like I haven’t really produced, and will have to change that, but I have to be careful and not force any plays and kill our chances with an interception.”