We wondered what might happen to the progress of Marcus Mariota the week after the Tennessee Titans pulled a stunner and fired head coach Ken Whisenhunt.
Mariota delivered a message on Sunday: He's just fine, thank you.
After his four-TD Week 1 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Mariota looked to be a ready-made star. But bad pass protection and a sprained MCL derailed a promising start. The firing of Whisenhunt threatened to stunt his progress, even though interim head coach Mike Mularkey pledged to put his quarterback in the best position to succeed.
Consider that plan fully in motion.
Mariota completed 28 of 39 passes for 371 yards and four touchdowns in the Titans' overtime win over the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome.
The Titans battled back from an 11-point deficit as Mariota got a bit of luck on a fluky touchdown pass to Delaine Walker before the end of the first quarter. But it was mostly skill and poise thereafter from a shorthanded Titans team that found itself down eight points on the road in the fourth quarter.
Mariota hit Justin Hunter for the touchdown with just over seven minutes remaining, and the ensuing two-point conversion tied the game at 28-28. The Titans got the ball back and had a chance to go ahead in the game for the first time in regulation, and Mariota drove them to the New Orleans 30-yard line, but a holding penalty and two conservative runs set up a missed 55-yard field-goal attempt.
The Saints missed their own go-ahead field-goal try, and they went to overtime. Mariota never let the Saints touch the ball.
He drove the Titans on a nine-play, 80-yard drive, completing all six of his pass attempts. The walk-off touchdown was a gorgeous throwback to the left after Mariota rolled almost to the right sideline and dropped a teardrop into the hands of tight end Anthony Fasano, stunning the Superdome crowd.
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The Titans improbably remain in the AFC South race, the worst division in football. Despite losing his head coach and having a chance of offensive systems, Mariota appears to be adapting quite well. That's the kind of moxie the Titans were banking on when they drafted him second overall, denying some wild trade offers from the Philadelphia Eagles.
Mariota passed a big test Sunday. He'll have many more in front of him, but for a Titans franchise that's in such disarray the future doesn't look so dim.
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