The Jets are on a two-week streak with this morning's announcement from the NFL that quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has been named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week.
Fitzpatrick, named one week after WR Brandon Marshall won the same honor after the win over the Giants, received the award for his 21-for-36, 263-yard, three-touchdown, no-interception, one-sack performance in the Jets' 30-8 victory over the Titans. Fitzpatrick also had three carries for 23 yards.
Asked Tuesday why he felt he was playing the best football of his career this season, Fitzpatrick turned his answer into a tribute to his teammates.
"I think we're coming together," he said. "Everybody is starting to understand the offense and what we're trying to get done. I think we kind of understand the identity of this team and what makes us go as an offense.
"Before the last three games, Todd [Bowles] had mentioned just getting back to basics and I think in doing that and not trying to overcomplicate things and outsmart ourselves, even me just personally looking at my game and the mistakes that I've made and why I was making them, I think simplifying things has been good for us."
Fitz's prize prompts a series of distinctions for him and the Jets:
■ This is the Jets' fourth Player of the Week award this season, following Darrelle Revis' Defensive POW honor after Week 2, P Ryan Quigley's Special Teams POW recognition after Week 9, and Marshall's nod.
■ Fitzpatrick is the eight Jets QB to win the award. Previous winners since 1984: Ken O'Brien (six times), Boomer Esiason (once), Vinny Testaverde (twice), Chad Pennington (four times), Brett Favre (once), Mark Sanchez (once), and most recently Geno Smith (once as a rookie in 2013).
■ It's the first time the Jets have won AFC Player of the Week awards in successive weeks since Sanchez was named Offensive POW and Brad Smith Special Teams POW back-to-back in 2010. And it's the first time the Green & White have had two consecutive Offensive POWs since Pennington won the award two straight weeks at the end of the 2002 regular season.
■ Fitzpatrick is an Offensive POW for the third time in his career. He first won the NFC version of the award as a Rams rookie in 2005. And last year with the Texans, he grabbed the honor after his six-TD game with the Texans.
■ It's infrequent but not unheard of for players to win the weekly NFL awards multiple times with multiple teams. Among them are Testaverde, who garnered his Offensive POW awards with four teams, including the Jets in 1998 and 2001, and Favre, who was named Offensive POW eight times as a Packer, three times as a Viking, and once in 2008 as a Jet.
