Comeback nothing new for Harvard man
HOUSTON – Jamie Martin was on his way to a hospital in a daze, Marc Bulger was on the sideline in a sweatsuit, and the Rams were steaming toward a defeat that actually would top last week’s loss to Arizona on the ignominy scale.
Down by two touchdowns Sunday to the lowly Houston Texans and with Martin – subbing for the injured Bulger – seeing cockeyed after taking a shot to the head, interim head coach Joe Vitt had no choice but to turn to rookie quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Turned out to be a pretty good option.
“He was running the show in the huddle, taking charge, doing what he had to do,” center Andy McCollum said. “And you saw the results.”
Fitzpatrick, seeing his first regular-season action in the NFL, was at the front of the charge as the Rams stormed back for a 33-27 overtime victory at Reliant Stadium. Down 24-3 at the half, the Rams scored 17 points in the last 6 minutes 37 seconds of the fourth quarter to pull even, then won it when Fitzpatrick hooked up with wide receiver Kevin Curtis for a 56-yard touchdown 6:14 into OT.
“You’ve always got a chance,” said Fitzpatrick, a seventh-round draft choice from Harvard. “The biggest thing when you’re in those situations, you need to get everybody around you fired up.”
Or in this case, keep them from panicking. Fitzpatrick, 23, helped do that by maintaining his composure despite the dire circumstances. “You’d think a guy coming into that situation, he may rattle and may not be sure of himself,” wideout Torry Holt said. “He has a swagger about him, a quiet confidence.”
Vitt said: “I don’t think you can say enough. He’s got poise, intelligence, a strong arm, great feet and the ability to make the impromptu play.”
Fitzpatrick entered with 11:26 left in the first half and Houston leading 14-0. His first play was a handoff to Steven Jackson for 3 yards; his first pass was an incompletion to Isaac Bruce.
After the Texans went up 17-0 on the ensuing possession, Fitzpatrick got rolling: He hit Bruce with a 20-yard strike down the right side on the first snap of the next series.
“Going in and not being the starter, you kind of get thrown into the situation, so you don’t have much time to think about it,” Fitzpatrick said. “Once I got that first ball out of my hands, I was fine.”
Fitzpatrick wound up connecting on 19 of 30 passes for 310 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception (on a tipped ball). His passer rating was a stellar 117.4.
“He was phenomenal,” Curtis said. “He acted like he’d been there before. He wasn’t nervous; he just came in and played his game.”
Holt’s 19-yard grab early in the third quarter sliced the Texans’ lead to 24-10. He saved the ball for Fitzpatrick. After a 1-yard TD run by Jackson and a Houston field goal, Fitzpatrick found Bruce streaking down the right sideline for a 43-yard score. That made it 27-24 with 26 seconds left in the fourth period, and, after a successful onside kick, Jeff Wilkins’ 47-yard field goal brought on the extra period.
“I knew there was no way we were going to lose that game” in overtime, Fitzpatrick said. “You sort of get that feeling of invincibility, with the way the offense was playing late and the way the defense really stepped up.”
In his first start at Harvard, Fitzpatrick brought the Crimson back from a 21-0 halftime deficit for a 35-21 win over Dartmouth in his freshman season. “I was actually thinking about that game when I was in there,” he said.
This was the NFL, though, not the Ivy League. Still, Fitzpatrick said he had no misgivings about his ability to perform as a pro.
“I’m sure I’ll still have some doubters out there, but I’ve always been convinced of it,” he said. “Today was not a shock for me.”
Afterward, it was hard to tell whether Fitzpatrick was prouder of his performance or the bloody lip that he sustained in the process.
“It’s a lot of fun,” he said. “Hopefully I get some more opportunities.”