Quote:I watched both qbs today, and Blake looked MUCH better than Mariota this week. It wasn't even close. Mariota was getting throws around "like a ragdoll," and he was erratic as heck. His best throw came late in the game when he practically threw a duck up for grabs, and fortunately for him a TItans player came up with it. Ultimately the game was lost when he fumbled handing it back over to the Browns to sit on the ball.


 

While I admit he suffered from several drops, his passes aren't exactly easy to catch. He throws darts similar to the kind of passes Byron Leftwich used to throw when he threw short, and they smack the receiver's hands. The guy has no touch. Blake has suffered drops with passes practically floating right into their hands. Blake throws perfect arcs with outstanding touch. Mariota throws a football like he's throwing darts.

 

While I didn't really see anything I liked about Mariota in this game, I disagree about touch. He uses it when he needs to and threads the needle when he needs to.

 

My take on the Bortles vs Mariota thing going on here: I was pretty high on Bortles coming out, but I think he has been massively disappointing. He did have a great game, in my opinion, against the Dolphins who stand a decent chance at fielding a top 5 defense this year. It's a great game worth talking about to be sure and if I were a Jaguars' fan, I would hope this is a sign that things are turning around. It is just one game, however, and it doesn't erase a consistent track record of disappointment. He plays like that consistently, however, and all those other games will be forgotten.

 

I wasn't very high on Mariota coming out but I believe in giving him a chance. That said, I saw a lot of things about his game yesterday that I didn't like. He also played against a stout defense that I think will definitely be top 10. The things I saw Mariota do that I didn't like were mostly how he reacted to pressure. He stared down blitzes. I even saw him do the good ole Jake Locker duck and pivot. His pocket presence was lacking. They pretty much never broke the huddle fast enough to make any pre-play changes. He played uninspired football and even had the appearance of giving up at times. He had lucky break after lucky break to get back in the game, but didn't truly take command. And again, it was just one game. I still look forward to what he will do next week because one bad game will not erase what he has accomplished or take away from the opportunity to prove himself.

 

Those are my opinions anyway.

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