‘D’ tackles mobile Mariota
FOXBORO — You won’t see Brian Hoyer outsprint Marcus Mariota, but that’s not the point as the Patriots prepare to face the Tennessee Titans in Saturday’s AFC divisional round game at Gillette Stadium.
It’s how well Hoyer and the rest of the scout team can keep Pats defenders guessing, because that’s what the Titans quarterback does to opponents. A false step can lead to confusion that filters throughout the entire defense.
Mariota’s resourcefulness played a big role in his team’s 22-21 comeback win against the Kansas City Chiefs last Saturday in the wild card round. He didn’t plan it this way, but in the third quarter, he doinked a pass off Chiefs cornerback Darrelle Revis and caught the rebound for a 6-yard touchdown.
“It looked like it was meant for them to win,” Patriots safety Duron Harmon said yesterday. “First of all, that’s a very, very hard play to make, and that shows you his skill set, his athletic ability. To be able to throw the ball, have it knocked down and be able to catch it where he caught it and go in and run and score and dive, I mean, it shows his athletic ability. It shows that any time he touches the ball he’s dangerous.”
It was a lucky play, but Mariota does have more control over his ingenuity than your average mobile quarterback, Harmon noted.
“He actually knows when to run and when to pass the ball when scrambling,” Harmon said. “It’s a very unique skill because a lot of guys, once they get scrambling, they’re not even looking downfield anymore. They’re just looking to run. But, he always has his eyes downfield, always knows when to run, when to throw the pass, and I would say his touch on the ball, too, that gets people open when he’s scrambling is really good.”
The Patriots obviously don’t have a Mariota on the roster, but what Hoyer can do in practice is force the defense to maintain its responsibilities in the face of what can become a chaotic situation.
“(Hoyer’s) keeping us honest in our rush gaps and our rush lanes and making sure that we honor the quarterback, just creating that emphasis,” defensive end Eric Lee said. “Just making sure that whether it’s cadence, whether it’s demeanor, just always being locked in on what he’s doing while we’re doing our jobs. You have to make sure that the rush and coverage marry up. If they don’t, he’s going to exploit that.”
The Patriots have faced the likes of the Houston Texans’ Deshaun Watson, Tyrod Taylor of the Buffalo Bills and Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers this season, all quarterbacks with skill sets similar to that of Mariota.
“We’ve faced a lot of quarterbacks like that this year,” linebacker Elandon Roberts said
But how well the Patriots defend what they haven’t seen yet will be critical.
“(Mariota) has his own quirks and things that he’s good at,” Lee said. “It always comes back on us and how we handle it.”