Marcus Mariota Owning Miami Dolphins in First Half (Video)

By foxsports
Published

Who would have thought that the Tennessee Titans and Miami Dolphins would combine for 35 points in the first half? Certainly not detractors of Marcus Mariota and Ryan Tannehill.

With the exception of Week 5 opponent Ryan Tannehill, no quarterback came into this week’s slate of games with more criticism than Tennessee Titans second-year pro Marcus Mariota. The knocks were understandable from a statistical point of view, but they made little sense given the context of the Titans passing game, which just doesn’t have the personnel to support a QB.

Mariota is doing his best to turn that narrative on its head, or maybe his big day is more of a reflection of the Miami Dolphins atrocious passing attack. Whatever the case, Mariota is dominating the Dolphins, as he’s completed 10-of-14 passes for 104 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. And oh yeah, he’s run a touchdown in for good measure.

His touchdown to pull ahead at the end of the second quarter was a 20-yard toss to star tight end Delanie Walker. Unsurprisingly, Walker was the team’s leading receiver in the first half.

Mariota’s throw was, of course, sharp, but check out that move from Walker. Yes, Michael Thomas bit on that a little bit too easily, but how could he have expected a man of Walker’s size to make such a sharp cut? Beautiful stuff from Walker, who is having a bounce-back game for fantasy owners after being held in check by the Houston Texans in Week 4.

Mariota also burned the Dolphins with his legs in the first half:

And just for good measure, the second-year quarterback also threw for another first-half touchdown. Not a bad way of looking critics in the eye and saying, “What sophomore slump?”

The Titans led the Dolphins 21-14 at halftime. Miami simply had no answer for the Tennessee rushing attack. Whether it was DeMarco Murray, Derrick Henry, or Mariota, “exotic smash mouth” was having its way with Vance Joseph’s defense.

More from NFL Spin Zone

    This article originally appeared on