Fitzpatrick, Bills Stumble Again

Sometimes, there just isn’t a whole lot to cheer about.

The luckless, winless Buffalo Bills were smashed, 38-14, by the visiting New York Jets, marking the Bills’ second loss in a row with Harvard alum Ryan Fitzpatrick ’05 at the helm.

The Jets, keyed by the play of LaDanian Tomlinson, had a 31-point lead going into the final quarter. Things got so out of hand that New York could afford to bring in Mark Brunell, who was born during the height of the Nixon Administration and whose prime probably came in 1999.

While Fitzpatrick’s passing was not as awful as Buffalo’s defense, it certainly wasn’t pretty. Completing only 44.4 percent of his attempts, the former Crimson quarterback threw for only 128 yards and had a passer rating of 83.6.

The Bills did manage to score two touchdowns. After connecting with wide receiver David Nelson for a 37-yard gain, the former Ivy League Player of the Year found tight end David Martin in the back of the endzone for the touchdown.

In the fourth quarter, with the game out of reach, Fitzpatrick’s 13-yard pass to wide receiver Steve Johnson gave Buffalo another seven points.

While Fitzpatrick didn’t have much success in the air, he did some damage on the ground, running for 74 yards on just seven attempts. His rushing abilities date back to his Harvard days. During his stint as the quarterback for the Crimson, Fitzpatrick ran for 1,487 yards. In fact, his 6,271 total yards are the most of anyone to ever don a Harvard uniform.