4 plays that show how Ryan Fitzpatrick lit up the Saints

Ryan Fitzpatrick hasn’t exactly been the most consistent player throughout his NFL career, but he was able to tap into the Fitzmagic in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ surprising 48-40 win over the New Orleans Saints. Filling in for franchise quarterback Jameis Winston, Fitzpatrick put on an absolute show, going 21 of 28 for 417 yards, four passing touchdowns, and one rushing touchdown.

This level of success isn’t entirely new to Fitzpatrick. When he was a member of the Houston Texans in 2014, he threw six touchdowns in a blowout win against the Tennessee Titans. Fitzpatrick also threw four touchdowns in a 2015 win over the Miami Dolphins when he was the quarterback for the New York Jets.

But it was the first time Fitzpatrick has gone blow-for-blow with an elite quarterback like Drew Brees on the other side of the field. It was arguably the best game of the 35-year-old’s career and he made history to do it:

Here’s a look at four plays that show just how dominant he was on the road against the reigning NFC South champs:

Here he is bulldozing poor Marcus Williams.

Fitzpatrick has been in the NFL since 2005, but that was just his 14th rushing touchdown. He finished with 36 yards on the ground, including a pivotal 12-yard scramble on third down late in the game to seal the win.

Fitzpatrick doesn’t have these types of games often, but when he does he’s an absolute blast to watch. He got off to a hot start in the game by throwing a perfect deep pass to DeSean Jackson, who walked in for an easy score.

Fitzpatrick was hitting passes in the intermediate level of the field, too. He had great anticipation on this throw to Chris Godwin over the middle of the field.

Fitzpatrick even pulled his best Brees impersonation by hitting O.J. Howard on a back shoulder throw.

When Fitzpatrick is on, nobody can stop him from dicing up secondaries. Unfortunately, he usually gets in his own way with turnovers or miscues — but not Sunday. Good Fitzpatrick is really, really fun and he made the case to be the Bucs’ starting quarterback even after Jameis Winston returns from his three-game suspension.

It seems unlikely that the Bucs wouldn’t go back the one-time No. 1 pick, but at the very least, Fitzpatrick is playing like the starting job is his to lose.

Now Fitzpatrick has to master the one thing that’s evaded him his entire career: consistency.