{"id":6264,"date":"2016-11-16T15:31:19","date_gmt":"2016-11-16T20:31:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprofootball.com\/?p=6264"},"modified":"2016-11-16T15:31:19","modified_gmt":"2016-11-16T20:31:19","slug":"marcus-mariota-has-made-leap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2016\/11\/16\/marcus-mariota-has-made-leap\/","title":{"rendered":"Marcus Mariota Has Made the Leap"},"content":{"rendered":"

Entering week 10, the Tennessee Titans<\/strong> trailed the Houston Texans<\/strong> by a game and a half in the AFC South. Both teams walked away with a win, as the Titans throttled the Packers to move to 5-5. The last time the Titans finished the season at .500 was 2009, when Chris Johnson<\/a><\/strong> surpassed 2,000 yards en route to the AFC offensive player of the year award.<\/p>\n

This year it is the second year signal caller, Marcus Mariota<\/a><\/strong>, that is leading the team to a potential playoff bid.\u00a0With remaining games including the likes of Indianapolis<\/strong> (4-5), Chicago<\/strong> (2-7), and Jacksonville<\/strong> (2-7), it is quite possible that the week 17 game in Nashville<\/strong> against the Texans will decide which team will represent the AFC South in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Marcus Mariota Has Made the Leap<\/strong><\/h2>\n

How Did We Get Here?<\/h3>\n

Less than two years removed from winning the 2014 Heisman Trophy, Marcus Mariota has made significant improvements between his freshman and sophomore campaigns, while the man taken number one overall in the same draft (Jameis Winston<\/a><\/strong>) looks like the same rookie quarterback we saw in 2015. Over his last six games, a period of time in which the Titans are 4-2, Mariota has racked up 19 total touchdowns to just three interceptions, sporting a passer rating of 122.1 over that stretch.<\/p>\n

The Titans have now scored over 30 points in three consecutive games. Against Aaron Rodgers<\/a><\/strong> and the Packers, Mariota was the more efficient passer. He opened the game with ten straight completions, totaling 196 yards, en route to hanging 47 points on Green Bay<\/strong>. Tennessee’s\u00a0offense was so efficient that it led ESPN’s Matthew Berry<\/strong> to tweet this out, following a PASSING touchdown from DeMarco Murray<\/a><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\n

Demarco Murray has more completions than Marcus Mariota has incompletions.<\/p>\n

— Matthew Berry (@MatthewBerryTMR) November 13, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n