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Russell Wilson vs. Dolphins defense, yes. But also Wilson vs. Ryan Fitzpatrick | Opinion

The other guy is a player of the week award recipient because he lit somebody up. And he’s already an MVP candidate. And, don’t you know, he’s leading the NFL in touchdown passes and passer rating.

The other guy, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, is by any logical comparison the advantage that tips the competitive scales in his team’s favor.

Your guy?

Ryan Fitzpatrick.

His grandest gifts are his longevity because this is his 16th NFL season, his infectious leadership because teammates love him, and that beard because, well, facial hair.

So advantage Wilson on the football field Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium. That’s understood. It’s accepted.

Except not necessarily by Fitzpatrick, who this week recognizes he’s not just facing the Seattle defense but also the challenge of matching a great quarterback on the other team throw for throw.

Fitzpatrick knows it’s as much on him and the Dolphins offense to match Wilson (and the Seattle offense) as it is for him to worry about the Seattle defense.

“Yeah, I mean, I do,“ Fitzpatrick admitted Wednesday afternoon. “I think it does especially when you get into the second half of games, every possession matters that much more. And when you have a lead, no lead is safe with a guy like this.

“They’ve had a really great start to the season and obviously they’re putting up a ton of points and I think a game like this it does matter in second half that your mindset can’t be if you have a lead: ‘OK we’re going to sit on this thing and just hope things work out.’

“You’ve got to keep going the whole game and every possession you have to make it count. It’s not one of those games where you’re going to be sitting there watching the clock in the fourth quarter.”

Allow me to translate here: Fitz expects he’ll be dealing in the second half regardless of whether the Dolphins are ahead or behind. Because he understands Wilson can be like a fast-approaching Ferrari in his rear-view mirror.

This is interesting, by the way, because not everyone on the Dolphins is admitting this will be the mindset. Offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, presented with the same scenario, talks about expecting the Miami defense to perform.

“That would be assuming that they are going to score a lot of points against our defense,” Gailey said. “I think our offense has a lot of confidence in our defense.”

Gailey rejects any extra urgency of his offense because Wilson is on the other sideline. His unit’s goals are always the same.

“The objective every week is to score one more point [than the other team],” he said. “I don’t think we feel any more pressure one week than the next week. We don’t think about that. We think about scoring every drive. That’s what we think about. Until we accomplish that, we haven’t arrived. Our mindset is we need to score every drive.”

The Dolphins offense hasn’t exactly been humming this year but it has been trying to carry a tune the past two weeks. Fitzpatrick is very much a part of that.

After throwing three interceptions in the season-opener at New England, Fitzpatrick has been playing at an elite level.

In the last two games against Buffalo and Jacksonville, Fitzpatrick has completed 49 of 67 passes (73.1 completion percentage) for 488 yards and four touchdowns without an interception. He’s posted a 113.3 combined passer rating for those two games.

“I think the last few weeks we’re in a little bit better rhythm,” Fitzpatrick said. “And that’s got to continue this week. You want to see it happen for the rest of the season but this week is definitely very important for us — not just in getting to a fast start but to put together a full game.”

That’s a big deal because the Dolphins last week scored touchdowns on their first three drives and then got inconsistent results the rest of the game.

“Last week we had a good first half, didn’t capitalize at the end of it in the two minute drill, or in a slow second half,” Fitzpatrick said. “That’s something we won’t be able to get away with this week.

“We’ve got to put together a solid offensive game for all four quarters. That will be an emphasis for us this week.”