Tennessee Titans rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota had a historically impressive NFL debut against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday. Mariota tossed four touchdowns in the game, helping the team to a 42-7 lead before the Titans told him that his day was done.
Marcus Mariota had one of the best QB debuts in NFL history
Marcus Mariota threw four touchdowns against the Buccaneers in his NFL debut on Sunday.
Only one other quarterback threw four touchdowns in his NFL debut: Fran Tarkenton. Tarkenton’s debut was significant because he didn’t actually start that game, and threw three of his touchdowns in the second half after George Shaw was benched following a poor performance earlier in the game. Tarkenton threw his first touchdown of the game on his first drive.
Mariota is only the third rookie ever to finish a game with a 158.3 quarterback rating in his debut, the other two being Robert Griffin III and Drew Bledsoe. Mariota probably has a long career ahead of him, and he got it started by putting himself in some very elite company Sunday.
At the end of the first half, Mariota had completed 10 of 13 passes for 175 yards and four touchdowns. All four touchdowns went to different targets as well, with Harry Douglas, Kendall Wright, Bishop Sankey and Delanie Walker finding the end zone. He didn't throw the ball much after that point, finishing 13 of 16 for 209 yards and the aforementioned touchdowns.
Mariota fell short of Matthew Stafford’s rookie record for five touchdowns in a single game. Of course, he has another 15 regular seasons games to try and break that record. Mariota also fell short of Cam Newton’s record for yardage in a rookie debut. Newton had 422 yards in his debut with the Carolina Panthers.
Mariota thoroughly outshone Buccaneers starter Jameis Winston, who was taken with the first overall pick of the draft, just ahead of Mariota. Winston completed just 5 of his 10 first half passes for 52 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions, one of which went back for a touchdown.
These two will be compared for years to come, but if this is the first of many “battles,” then Mariota absolutely has the edge.
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