Mariota shows Winston how it’s done in Titans win

TAMPA, Fla. — Marcus Mariota looked right at home standing on the sideline in the fourth quarter, watching his teammates close out a lopsided victory.

The rookie quarterback made it look as easy as he did in college Sunday, throwing four touchdown passes and outplaying No. 1 overall draft pick Jameis Winston in their NFL debuts to lead the Titans to a 4214 victory over the Buccaneers.

The highly anticipated season opener featuring the first two players selected in the draft was onesided from the start, not unlike many of Mariota’s dazzling performances at Oregon, where he routinely built big early leads.

“Starting fast, setting the tempo, going out there and having success early, just gave confidence to everybody and really helped us all the way through the game,” Mariota said after the Titans ended a 10game losing streak.

The second overall pick, however, cautioned against reading too much into dominating the Bucs, who like the Titans went 214 last season.

“It means we’re 10. For me, it’s taking it one day at a time and just executing to the best of my abilities,” the 2014 Heisman Trophy winner said. “It’s a good start for us, but it’s just the first game. We’ve got to continue to get better and not focus on stats.”

Mariota threw for 209 yards without an interception to join Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton as the only players to throw for four or more TD passes in their first NFL game.

Tarkenton did it for Minnesota against the Bears on Sept. 17, 1961. Mariota became the first to do it in the opening half.

Winston, the No. 1 overall pick and 2013 Heisman winner, did something rare, too, becoming the first quarterback since Brett Favre in 1991 to have his first NFL pass intercepted and returned for a touchdown.

Mariota, meanwhile, teamed with Kendall Wright on a 52yard TD play less than two minutes into the game and also had TD throws of 12 yards to Bishop Sankey, 4 yards to Harry Douglass and 1yard to Delanie Walker to build a 357 halftime lead.