MARIOTA MASTERFUL IN DRIVE
QB lifts Titans, shows glimpse of emotion
Marcus Mariota’s shirt was immaculately pressed, his posture perfect and his answers short and polite.
In the interview room Sunday at Ford Field, moments after Mariota and the Tennessee Titans stole one from the Detroit Lions and reveled in their breakthrough, he was back to Press Conference Marcus. You can call it programmed or robotic or just plain smart, but the bottom line is you’d have better odds on a Sunday of getting a Chick-fil-A to open.
Don’t be fooled, though. The second-year quarterback is human, and he showed it behind closed doors last week.
He also showed it after his ninth attempt and ninth completion on the 83-yard drive that delivered a 16-15 win, a 1-1 record after two weeks and an early defining moment for an NFL career with substantial upside. That fourth-and-4 pass from the Detroit 9-yard line found its way into the hands of veteran Andre Johnson in the end zone, and Mariota responded with two punches of the air and some joyous barks before he ran to his teammates.
They knew what he had been going through since the opening loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
“He kind of beat himself up last week about what happened,” Johnson said of Mariota and his interception returned for a touchdown, followed by his fumble returned for a touchdown, that turned a possible win against the Vikings into a 25-16 loss.
“He came in last week and basically said, ‘Sorry for all the turnovers,’ ” Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan said of Mariota. “No one here doubts Marcus. That guy plays so damn hard. This team loves him and he’s our leader, and we’re going to follow him wherever he is.”
He’s back home, preparing to lead the Titans into an important game against the Oakland Raiders before a trip to play the Houston Texans, the early AFC South favorites. And he’s armed with the momentum from a masterful game-winning drive.
After two DeMarco Murray runs gained 11 yards, Mariota got a short pass to Murray for 4. On the resulting third-and-5, he was on the money to rookie Tajae Sharpe for 7. Then a play-action pass and 7 more to tight end Phillip Supernaw. Then came the good stuff. On third-and-1, Mariota wanted to go right, saw his first read was taken away, quickly looked left and got the ball to Murray for 5 yards.
On the next play, with Murray matched up against reserve linebacker Thurston Armbrister, Mariota displayed flawless timing and touch on a pass in the seam that gained 22 yards. He got 10 more over the middle to Rishard Matthews.
Then he found Johnson over the middle for 8 yards to the 1, but Matthews was called for pass interference. Quick hitters to Murray and Sharpe set up the winner to Johnson, who was covered closely by linebacker Tahir Whitehead, with safety Rafael Bush closing fast.
Mariota had to fit the ball over Whitehead and get it there before Bush could break it up.
“It didn’t surprise me, the throw,” Titans coach Mike Mularkey said. “The guy is a gamer. He’ll give us a chance every game we play in.”
It was a touch pass, almost like going with the changeup in a 3-2 count and hitting the corner for a strikeout. It had to be perfect. And Mariota knows perfect.
This is a guy who wakes up and makes his bed in a hotel room. That’s one of the things rookie offensive tackle Jack Conklin, Mariota’s roommate on the road, noticed right away.
“That’s the type of guy he is, a perfectionist,” Conklin said of Mariota. “He’s like that all the way around, in his whole life. I mean, he’s a guy that gets in, goes to bed early, then gets up early and is at the (football) building studying. He’s a lunch-pail guy. He’s going to put in the work behind the scenes. That’s why he won the Heisman. That’s why he’s doing good things around here.”
Talent, work ethic, accountability, poise, class, time for the community — Mariota possesses all. He showed emotion, an important part of this game, on the field in Detroit.
He just won’t say much about it. Asked if he had a tough time at all last week after that Vikings loss, he said, “Not really.”
This stuff only matters, of course, to journalists. They want a young star like Mariota to be like Nuke LaLoosh, the fireballing pitcher in the 1988 movie Bull Durham who says outlandish stuff to the news media.
LaLoosh eventually learns to speak in clichés and to become a complete pitcher by using his off-speed stuff. Mariota is already there. And if they ever make a movie about him, Sept. 18, 2016, in Detroit will warrant at least a passing reference.
Rexrode writes for The (Nashville) Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network.