Brian Flores' declaration that Josh Rosen would get the next 12 games under center lasted three quarters.
The Miami Dolphins benched Rosen on Sunday afternoon, bringing in Ryan Fitzpatrick to open the fourth quarter of their loss to the Washington Redskins.
Miami trailed 17-3 at the time. Fitzpatrick immediately led the Dolphins to a TD, their first points in a second-half this season.
Fitzmagic nearly pulled off a dramatic comeback when he connected with DeVante Parker for a TD with 6 seconds remaining. Flores elected to go for two and the win, but Kenyan Drake dropped a screen pass on the two-point attempt to seal Miami's fifth loss of the season.
Despite Fitzpatrick's strong quarter, Flores told reporters after the game that Rosen remains the team's starting quarterback and that he went with Fitz in the fourth quarter to give the team a "spark."
Rosen had little help, getting blasted repeatedly behind an awful offensive line, taking five sacks, including four in the first quarter. The quarterback often didn't trust protection, dropping his eyes repeatedly. Rosen completed one pass of more than five air yards on seven attempts with two INTs through three quarters, per Next Gen Stats.
Rosen was sent to the bench after completing 15 of 25 passes for 85 yards -- 3.4 yards per attempt -- with two interceptions and a 32.9 passer rating. Rosen's two INTs were both brutal. The first came on a slant that was well-covered and looked like a predetermined throw from Rosen. On the second, the QB forced a ball between multiple defenders that was picked. Blame the offensive line or the lack of skill-position help, but Rosen hasn't been able to raise his plays to overcome the poor circumstances.
Rosen was particularly inept in the second half, leading three straight three-play drives with no first downs and one INT before being replaced.
