In his first game back, Mariota had to play in the Superdome against a New Orleans Saint team that was riding a three-game winning streak. Drew Brees was fresh off of a seven-touchdown performance, but the issue for the Saints remained: their defense.
Mariota picked up where Eli Manning left off, completing 28 of 39 passes for 371 yards and four touchdowns, including a touchdown pass to tie the game in the fourth quarter and a touchdown pass to win the game 34-28 over the Saints in overtime. While the Saints defense is nothing to write home about, Mariota’s performance was undoubtedly special. More so than his week one performance against Tampa Bay.
Mariota’s historic performance began with a lucky touchdown pass to tight end Delaine Walker, which should have been intercepted, but luckily landed in the arms of Walker, who did the rest of the work and scored the touchdown. I was initially unimpressed, but Mariota capitalized off of the lucky touchdown by absolutely torching the Saints secondary. This is the same Saints secondary that Jameis Winston performed nicely against, but not nearly at the level of Mariota. It’s the same secondary that forced Andrew Luck to look pedestrian.
However, if we are being honest with ourselves, the Saints secondary has basically come apart. This is especially true considering star cornerback Brandon Browner had a meltdown in the locker room.
So even though Mariota’s performance was special, does it call for an opinion change?
Absolutely not.
All in all, Winston is still having a better rookie season in terms of consistency. The most impressive aspect of Mariota’s performance yesterday was not the 371 yards and four touchdowns, but that he did not turn the ball over once in the fourth quarter, something he had done in his previous four starts.
Mariota re-established himself as the Titans future with this performance, but there are still a number of issues. Can the Titans offense remain consistent? Remember, this offense has been spotty all season. Aside from week one, this week and the first three quarters against the Colts, the Titans offense (even with Mariota) struggled to put up points. The secondary, which has been fantastic all season, got shredded by the Brees. No shame, but still a far cry from the performance that is expected.
Before we crown Mariota (again), let’s see what he does for the rest of the season. He was crowned week one, only to turn the ball over at crucial moments in four consecutive losses. In a four-game stretch, Mariota turned the ball over nine times. Mariota has had two monster performance, both against NFC South opponents ironically. Here are his statistical breakdowns:
Against NFC South: 2-0 record, 41-54, 580 yards, 10.74 YPA, 8 TD, zero turnovers
Against everyone else: 0-4 record, 98-146, 1030 yards, 7.05 YPA, 5 TD, 5 INT, four fumbles
In addition, one great fourth quarter/overtime performance does not outweight three straight fourth quarters where Mariota let his team down. He let the Colts back into a game the Titans had complete control of with a killer interception followed by three quick incompletions, threw an ill-advised pass with a pass rusher in his face that resulted in the game-ending interception against the Bills, and with his team in position to begin a comeback against the Dolphins, Mariota threw a back-breaking interception.
Mariota has been the best quarterback in the league for two weeks; however, with the hype behind Mariota reignited, it’ll be interesting to see how he responds. Mariota and the Titans play the Carolina Panthers at home next weekend. This game will be Mariota’s toughest test. While the expectations for his performance should not be high, considering the degree of difficulty, it’s in these games where Mariota will give us a glimpse if he will be a great quarterback or if he will be able to torch mediocre teams like Tampa Bay and New Orleans.
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