TAMPA, Fla. _ There was no FitzMagic on Sunday afternoon. Former Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick didn't dazzle the crowd at Raymond James Stadium with big plays or a late rally in his first start for the Buccaneers. Fitzpatrick didn't need to.
The Jets did plenty of damage to themselves with an inept offensive attack, leading to a disappointing 15-10 loss to the Buccaneers.
All week the Jets were hoping to go into the bye week with something positive to build on after their game against their former teammate.
Now the Jets (4-6) must go into the bye week trying to answer questions why their offense had five three-and-outs. The Jets scored their only touchdown with 28 seconds left when Josh McCown connected with Robby Anderson on a 38-yard pass.
The offensive line struggled to protect McCown, who was sacked six times, knocked down 13 times and had his worst game of the season.
McCown completed 23 of 39 passes for 263 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Much of his day was spent getting knocked down by the Bucs defense. The Jets were 3-for-15 on third-down conversions.
And while the Jets offense struggled, it wasn't like the Bucs (3-6) were lighting up the Jets defense, which lost starting cornerback Morris Claiborne in the second quarter with a right foot injury. It was the same injury that sidelined him for the Week 9 win over the Bills.
Claiborne was assigned to speedy DeSean Jackson and he did well until the injury. The Bucs stayed away from the passing game in the middle stages of the fourth quarter, using the ground to eat up the clock. Faced with a third-and-15, Bucs running back Charles Sims III broke two tackles for a 21-yard gain with 9:40 left. The Bucs would run the ball five more times, ending their drive when Fitzpatrick connected on a 6-yard touchdown pass to Sims with 6:05 to play.
The Bucs had two scoring drives of at least seven minutes that clearly gassed the Jets defense.
In an ugly first half McCown and Fitzpatrick threw interceptions on back-to-back possessions.
