With Tua Tagovailoa out, Ryan Fitzpatrick does more than enough to beat the Jets

The 111th edition of Jets-Dolphins revealed little we didn’t already know.

The Jets are historically bad.

The Dolphins’ defense is really, really good.

And Ryan Fitzpatrick, right now, gives the Dolphins a better chance to win than Tua Tagovailoa.

Will that matter once Tagovailoa recovers from the thumb injury that kept him out of Sunday’s 20-3 Dolphins road victory? Doesn’t seem that way.

“If he’s healthy, [Tagovailoa is] the guy,” Miami Dolphins Brian Flores insisted late Sunday afternoon. “I don’t know how many different ways we have to continue to say that.”

More than he’d prefer. And the questions won’t stop. Fitzpatrick did his part to make it a debate Sunday.

He went 24 of 39 for 257 yards and two touchdowns a week after the Dolphins benched Tagovailoa for ineffectiveness. DeVante Parker was fantastic, catching eight passes for a season-high 119 yards. The Dolphins gained 345 yards and had 22 first downs on offense.

So no matter how much Flores wants the conversation to go away, the Dolphins’ quarterback situation will be a flash point until Tagovailoa consistently plays at a high level.

The Dolphins at 7-4 have a very good chance to make the playoffs — they’re the AFC’s sixth seed through Sunday’s games — but they’ll need high-level quarterback play in the final months to beat the likes of Kansas City and Las Vegas and Buffalo.

“Right now, at this time, Ryan Fitzpatrick gives them a great chance to win football games,” CBS broadcaster James Lofton said late in the Dolphins’ latest win, their sixth in seven games.

The Dolphins’ offense Sunday was almost exclusively DeVante Parker.

Fitzpatrick threw him contested 50-50 balls that Tagovailoa, up until now, will not. Separation has never been Parker’s game. But he’s one of the league’s best when it comes to high-pointing balls with a receiver on his back.

Another way to look at it: Parker had more receiving yards on passes thrown from Fitzpatrick Sunday that he’s had on balls from Tagovailoa all season.

In Fitzpatrick’s eight appearances this year, he’s targeted Parker 58 times, completing 40 of them for 526 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Compare that to Tagovailoa, who has targeted Parker just 21 times in four starts, good for 12 catches, 116 yards and two scores.

“A lot of people want to say, ‘Oh [Fitzpatrick] takes chances, that’s why he throws interceptions,’” said Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki, who had caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Fitzpatrick Sunday. “He’s been pretty damn good when he takes chances, at least in a Dolphins uniform. DeVante today, how many times are you going to play him in man coverage?”

Too often. And Parker feasted on it.

It was a solid performance made all the more impressive by how little heads up Fitzpatrick got that he would be the starter. As late as Thursday the Dolphins expected Tagovailoa to recover enough from a fluke thumb injury he suffered in practice to be available.

But the injury got worse, with Tagovailoa experiencing soreness, swelling and weakness, according to NFL Network. It’s no sure thing that Tagovailoa will be healthy enough to play next week against the Bengals.

In stepped Fitzpatrick, who just a month ago admitted he was heartbroken by news that Flores was benching him in favor of the rookie.

“It’s kind of been the story of my career,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s been so up and down and I’m in the lineup, and I’m out of the lineup, and I’m back in. For me, just trying to stay steady, just trying to provide the team with leadership and going out there when my number’s called and playing well, and that’s what I had to try to do in this situation.

Thanks to steady, turnover-free quarterback play, the Dolphins were the much better team Sunday. And yet, they still did plenty to keep it interesting.

Their pass protection unraveled in the second half and Matt Breida and Patrick Laird fumbled the ball in Dolphins territory on consecutive carries.

But the Jets did nothing with that field position, gaining all of nine yards on the two possessions — the second of which Elandon Roberts ended with a fourth-down tackle of Frank Gore short of the marker.

It was a signature play from a defense that forced two turnovers, including Xavien Howard’s seventh interception, and held the Jets to three points in eight quarters in 2020.

“As a defense, when it comes down to fourth and 1s, it’s a lot on mentality,” Roberts said. “I look at it as if, a team wants to run the ball on fourth and 1, it’s disrespectful.”

There’s been nothing but respect and support from Fitzpatrick for Tagovailoa’s role as the team’s starting quarterback, even if it stings him personally.

“I think just in the quarterback room in general, having each other’s backs and supporting each other ... [is] very important because it is such a tough position to play,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’ve now been put in a different role and when my number’s called, I’m going to go out there and win games for this team. So [Flores] is the head coach and we listen and respect what he says and we go from there.”