It doesn’t matter what jersey Ryan Fitzpatrick wears when he plays the Jacksonville Jaguars. Take your pick of a half-dozen different team uniforms. All of them have led to one result: victory.
Fitzpatrick on Thursday night became the first NFL player since at least 1950 to record at least one victory for six different teams against a single opponent, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. It was an accomplishment only Fitzpatrick could achieve. After leading the Miami Dolphins to a 31-13 victory at TIAA Stadium, the well-traveled quarterback has now defeated the Jaguars as a member of the Dolphins, Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans, Houston Texans and New York Jets.
Fitzpatrick, 37, entered the NFL in 2005 as a backup for the St. Louis Rams. He has played for eight NFL franchises, fully one quarter of the entire league, and has had his way with the Jaguars at nearly every stop.
He got his first start against the Jaguars in 2008, defeating them 21-19 as a member of the Bengals. Thus began an odyssey that would take him through Buffalo, which he led to a 34-18 victory of the Jaguars in 2012. The Titans welcomed Fitzpatrick in 2013, and were feted to a 20-16 victory in Week 16 of that season. He led the Texans to a 27-13 triumph in 2014 and, as a member of the Jets in 2015, produced a 28-23 victory.
All of that practice against the Jaguars paid off Thursday night. Fitzpatrick produced history on a number of levels, completing his first 12 passes of the game — the highest total to start a game in his career. When combined with the nine consecutive passes he completed to end the Dolphins’ Week 2 loss to the Bills, Fitzpatrick ticked off 21 consecutive completions over two games.
Overall, Fitzpatrick completed 18 of 20 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns. He ran for a third score on a quarterback draw in the third quarter.