TAMPA Laken Tomlinson Jersey , Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers insisted all along that they weren’t overly concerned about having to open the season without suspended quarterback Jameis Winston.

That’s because Ryan Fitzpatrick not only is an experienced backup who’s one of just four players in NFL history to throw touchdown passes for seven different teams, but he has proven he can win games, too.

No one, however, could have anticipated him launching his 14th season quite the way he did, throwing for a career-best 417 yards and four TDs without an interception on the road to key a 48-40 victory over the New Orleans Saints.

Fitzpatrick also ran for a touchdown, improving to 3-1 as a starter since joining the Bucs before last season.

With Winston suspended for three games for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, the 35-year-old with 120 starts will also lead Tampa Bay (1-0) the next two weeks against Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

“He’s a down-to-earth guy. He’s got a great sense of humor. He’s witty, he’s intelligent, he’s well-spoken. He backs up what he says with how he plays. The players respect him. He doesn’t try to come on too strong, but at the same time he’s a good leader,” coach Dirk Koetter said Monday.

“When we talked, I think earlier in the year, about the difference between Jameis’ leadership style and Fitz’s leadership style, there’s different ways to do it, and there’s two good examples of it James Develin Jersey ,” Koetter added. “Both (are) good leaders, and we’ve had other good leaders step up so far.”

Fitzpatrick entered the NFL in 2005 as a seventh-round draft pick of the St. Louis Rams. He’s also played — and thrown TD passes — for the Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans, Houston Texans and New York Jets.

He signed with Tampa Bay as a free agent in May 2017, willingly accepting a role as backup to Winston, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 draft. He started three games a year ago, winning two, while Winston was sidelined with a shoulder injury.

“Fitz is comfortable being in there, he’s not going to get rattled,” Koetter said.

“After a guy (has) played a certain amount — I don’t know what the cutoff is, but Fitz has played a lot. I think that experience of, ‘OK, I know how fast the game is going to be. I know when I’m going to have to throw the ball away. I know when I’m going to have to eat it and take a hit. I know when it’s time to scramble.'” Koetter added.

“I just think that best thing overall that Fitz is doing right now is when the play does break down, he’s making good decisions with the football whether it be throwing it to a safe spot or becoming a runner.”

Against the Saints, Fitzpatrick joined Mark Rypien as the only quarterbacks to throw for at least 400 yards with zero interceptions while also rushing for a touchdown in the same game. In addition to being 21 of 28 passing Randall Cobb Jersey , including a pair of TDs of 50-plus yards, he targeted Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson 12 times, completing all of those throws.

“To hit them all 12 of those times is pretty unusual,” Koetter said.

Evans finished with seven receptions for 147 yards and one touchdown. Jackson had five catches for 146 yards and two TDs.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Even with an exciting finish eerily similar to last January’s playoff game, this was pretty much a forgetful opener to the NFL season.

Even with another Philly Special, there wasn’t a whole lot to cheer about in the Eagles‘ 18-12 victory over the Falcons on Thursday night.

And even with a weather delay featuring some lightning before the Eagles and their fans could celebrate the unveiling of the banner for their first championship since 1960, this wasn’t exactly a sparkling display of football.

You can credit two pretty staunch defenses if you want. Yet despite neither team reaching 300 yards in total offense, neither D was dynamic because plays were there to be made. The offenses rarely could do so.

And then there were the penalties. Altogether, 30 points were scored — and two teams expected to contend for the NFL title compiled 26 penalties. It’s never a good sign when flags nearly equal points.

Hey, the Super Bowl champions gained 232 yards and gave away 101 in penalties. Atlanta, which must think there are hot coals lining the red zone at the Linc, gained 299 but had 135 yards in penalties.

“This stings for sure,” said Falcons coach Dan Quinn, who certainly knows that feeling after the Super Bowl collapse two seasons back against New England, and then last winter’s divisional playoff loss here that ended almost exactly the same way as Thursday night’s defeat. “We knew this would be a competitive fight that would come down to the end, and it did.”

Competitive? For sure.

Classic? Not even close.

“It wasn’t pretty Chris Wormley Jersey , it was sloppy,” All-Pro tackle Lane Johnson said. “But at the end we got a win.”

What NFL fans got ultimately might be an indictment of the preseason.

In Julio Jones‘ case, it’s simple to say, “Who needs it?”

Jones didn’t play a down in August, but he was unstoppable against a Philadelphia defense that handled everyone else, especially the scatter-shot arm of Matt Ryan. While local native Ryan once again was struggling at the Linc, Jones still managed to make 10 receptions for 169 yards. Only when Atlanta got within the Eagles 20-yard line did Jones not dominate — in great part because Ryan kept making misguided throws.

Frankly, while Jones seemed to be in all-world form, Ryan — a virtual non-participant in the exhibition games — looked rusty.

The Eagles weren’t a whole lot better. Other than their opportunism and some creativity, they also were plagued by mistakes on both sides of the ball.

Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles caught another pass; it didn’t score a touchdown as the quarterback did against the Patriots, but it set up one of Jay Ajayi’s two TD runs. That was fun.

But the dropped passes, including some potential interceptions, and silly errors such as a blocker on the punt team letting the ball touch his foot, looked like something straight out of, well, an exhibition game.

“It wasn’t a rhythmic game but we fought hard and did the job Marshon Lattimore Jersey ,” Foles said. “Winning isn’t easy, especially against Atlanta. It was a dogfight. Our defense did a great job.”

If this is a harbinger of what the other openers might look like on Sunday and Monday, fans might want to juggle their viewing schedules. Remember, virtually every team preserved regulars for the games that count. Unfortunately, that just might mean counting the number of flags that fly and errors that occur from Miami to Minneapolis, from Detroit to Denver, more so than the touchdowns going up on the scoreboard.

“We made a ton of mistakes today,” safety Malcolm Jenkins noted. “But every time we got out there, we dealt with the situation. If we made mistakes, we moved on and we tried to win the situation.”

The Eagles did, displaying the kind of resilience that helped them to last season’s title. The Falcons flopped again in a tight spot, though it’s inconceivable such a talented group will continue to get in its own way like this again.

“It just came down to closing really,” Atlanta cornerback Desmond Trufant said.

This was one opening show that artistically deserved to close after one night.

Womens Durham Smythe Jersey