Where Are They Now? Fitzpatrick Suffers First Loss of Season

In a new weekly feature, The Crimson will be tracking the successes (and potential failures) of some of Harvard’s most successful graduates not to use their Harvard degrees. While a tour through professional sports is not exactly a who’s who of Harvard alumni, a few athletes have taken their game to the next level. From Jeremy Lin to Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Crimson maintains a presence outside of the labs and law offices of the world.

This week’s alumni tracker takes us back to the NFL where former Harvard quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick ’05 suffered his first loss of the 2011 season.

Entering Sunday’s action, Fitzpatrick was coming off his best month of football since graduation. He received the AFC Offensive Player of the Month honor for September and entered the day with the NFL’s leading offense.

Fitzpatrick’s Buffalo Bills got off to a slow start in Sunday’s matchup with Cincinnati Bengals, but kicked into gear in the second quarter. Helped by a “pick 6” from safety Bryan Scott, the Bills went on a 17-0 run to close out the half and entered the locker room with a 17-3 lead.

But unfortunately for Fitzpatrick and the Bills, Buffalo followed up with its worst half of the season and fell on a 43-yard, last-second field goal from Bengals’ kicker Mike Nugent.

If there’s any question whether the Bills follow the lead of their starting QB, that became clear on Sunday. Fitzpatrick passed for under 200 yards for the first time in the 2011 season and failed to complete any touchdown passes in the loss.

Despite taking their first loss of the season, the Bills remain in first place in the AFC East and will be taking on the struggling Eagles next Sunday. Tune in next week to see how Fitzpatrick rebounds.