Quote:I've been cruising around AFC south forums since learning about Luck's injury.  I was a big fan of Bortles/Bridgewater/Carr in 2014 and was even bigger fans of Winston/Mariota when they came out.  

 

I gotta say though, you're wrong about Mariota.  The only reason the Titans have won 2 games is because of Mariota.  The only reason they're in games, is because of Mariota -- Mularky's dumb [BAD WORD REMOVED] even acknowledged this.  He's not a one-read pony, he's the opposite of this -- Cian Fahey and a few other sports dudes have written about Mariota's vision/decision making. 

 

Mariota and Mettenberger were getting sacked so much, that ownership had to step in and fire Whisenhunt.  They were literally scared of Mariota getting killed because the Titans o-line is so bad.    Via PFF, as of last week, the titans o-line was ranked 26th and the Jags were ranked 19th.  You're wrong when you say that the Jags o-line is worse than the Titans.  It's not.  

 

I'd say both teams have nothing at running back.  Your teams need to work on that.  I'd also take your 2 wide receivers over the titans mental midget receivers.  Mariota is working with less talented skill players than Bortles is.  Titans D is a little, maybe even moderately better than Jags D though…i'll have to research this a little deeper. 

 

Bortles deep ball is a lot better than Mariota's but Mariota is better when it comes to decision making, accuracy and short/intermediate stuff.  Mariota, like Carr's receivers get YAC because they're extremely accurate.  

 

Both orgs are bad and Ya'll need to fire Gus Bradley.  

 

Compare their common opponents:  Tampa Bay, Buffalo, Indy, Miami. In those games, Mariota is 1-4, has fewer TDs and more INTs than Bortles, who is 2 and 2 in those same games. So far, Mariota has had two great games against teams with lousy defenses. In the other games he's been terrible. He WAS the reason the Titans lost to Buffalo, throwing an INT in the last minute of the game.  Bortles, on the other hand, mastered a beautiful last minute drive against the Bills that won the game for the Jags -- after the Jags defense gave up 21 points and nearly lost the game.  Mariota was directly responsible for the loss in Indy, throwing a last minute INT. Bortles played well enough to beat Indy. And if the Jags had a decent kicker in that game - one who could make XPs -it would have never gone to OT.

 

Bortles was masterful against the Dolphins. Mariota didn't last the game, and lost. Yes, Mariota beat Tampa Bay. But Bortles also threw 4 TDs against the Bucs, against one INT, which should have been good enough to win the game.  Again, the defense was gashed by the Bucs running game - not Bortles fault.

 

With Bortles, the Jags should have four wins.  Outside of the Bucs and Saints wins, the Titans have either lost their games BECAUSE of Mariota, or never came close to winning.

 

Outside of the Panther game, Bortles has been consistent this year. He puts up big numbers - lots of yards, lots of TDs, and yes, lots of INTs.  We all know he has accuracy issues, but that is something that can be fixed.  One stat that is very encouraging is that when Bortles is blitzed, his success is off the charts - better than most elite QBs.  Last year, he ranked near the bottom of that category.  So there is much reason for hope.

 

Yeah, Mariota is great when it comes to the short balls. So was David Garrard in 2007. It's not enough to be a great QB. Prolific QBs throw a nice deep ball. I contend that if Hurns or A-Rob were on the Titans, A-Rob wouldn't be exchanging jerseys with a CB like Revis, and Hurns would probably be out of the game right now. I contend that for Mariota to reach the next level, he's GOT to throw a more accurate deep ball. He's smart. But does he have the arm?

 

We can also argue durability, which can not be overlooked.  Bortles has taken far more hits than Mariota, and hasn't missed a snap. Mariota has already sat out what...two games?

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