Disclaimer: Please do not come after Editor in Chief “Big Natural” Stoney Keeley with your pitchforks, tanks, and scooters. He is not responsible for this article. This is Joshua Hufman who, last week, suggested that Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles was better than Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota. Huffman is also responsible for praising Nike as ‘brilliant” for the Colin Kapernick ad. His beliefs do not represent those of most Nashvillians.
Football doesn’t get any sexier than 9-6. The Tennessee Titans came out on the winning side of that equation during a Week 3 showdown with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tennessee came into this game nearly 10-point underdogs to the AFC South favorites who just came off a signature victory against the New England Patriots. Bortles was coming off a career game. Mariota was set to miss his second start.
Editor in Chief Keeley called for a feisty game. Did you get that from the defenses or what? No touchdowns were scored. This game featured five field goals. Ryan Succop’s 28-yarder with 4:06 remaining gave Tennessee its fifth victory in six attempts against Jacksonville.
Two solid defenses played their A-game. Both took advantage of significant offensive injuries. The Jaguars were without star running back Leonard Fournette along with a couple of their top offensive linemen. This allowed Tennessee to concentrate more energy toward pass defense while they spied Bortles. The Titans started quarterback Blaine Gabbert. This eliminated Mariota’s potential feistiness and athleticism.
About that last sentence: it was true for a few minutes. Gabbert got knocked out of the contest after an illegal hit had him getting evaluated for a concussion. Mariota entered as the backup quarterback. The Titans tried to avoid playing Mariota as he hasn’t fully recovered from an elbow injury that has left numbness and tingling in a couple of his fingers. This impacts how he grips and throws the football.
Leave it to the Jaguars to knock out the backup quarterback just so they can suffer the wrath of the starter. Mariota finished with an unimpressive stat line: 12-of-18 for 100 yards with 51 rushing yards. That was enough to win this grudge match against Bortles, another former first-rounder whom he’s always compared to. Bortles showcased his inconsistency as he followed his career game with a dud: 21-of-34 for 155 yards with 27 rushing yards.
Neither quarterback lived up to their draft status. What Mariota did, as he always does, is showcase his grit and spirit during competitive contests. Despite praising Bortles as having gotten an upper-hand on Mariota, this was a game that I knew didn’t favor Jacksonville. That was evidenced in this previous tweet giving my prediction and logic for the outcome.
Tough game for #Titans. But I like them in an upset here. Their roster is constructed in a way that makes them a kryptonite to #Jaguars. There’s a reason Tennessee has won 4 of last 5. #TENvsJAX https://t.co/VyQJoeUTU0
— Joshua Huffman (@TNYooperJoshuaH) September 20, 2018
I know. I know. After praising Bortles > Mariota, then I go right around and pick him to lose to that same team who’s a 10-point underdog. I didn’t care which quarterback played, although Mariota made me feel better about the fourth quarter.
Why is that? This game showed me that maybe it wasn’t fair to claim Bortles as the superior quarterback. I can debate it both ways. There’s truth to both arguments. Go back to Aug. 2018. Jaguars defensive back Jalen Ramsey gave hot takes on starting quarterbacks. His most honest assessment came when he discussed Mariota:
I think Marcus Mariota is a great quarterback for their team. I think Tyrod Taylor is actually a better quarterback than he gets credit for, because he does not make mistakes. He’s honestly a Marcus Mariota type player, where he manages a game really well, always has them at least in position to be in the game late in the game. He just doesn’t have turnovers that often. That’s really all you need, especially if you get a good defense.
Compare that to what he said about Bortles:
Blake do what he gotta do… I think in crunch time moments, like last year’s playoff game—not as a team, because we would have trusted him—but I think as an organization, we should have trusted him more to keep throwing it. We kinda got complacent and conservative. And I think that’s why we lost. We started running it on first and second down, throwing it on third down, every single time we were out there. [The Patriots] caught on to that.
A lot of what makes each one better than the other depends on game situations. Trench warfares are the type of games that display what makes Mariota special. Bortles has the advantage to win shootouts. Bortles can put up greater touchdown totals, meaning more points. At the same time, he’s more inconsistent, turnover prone, and lacks the poise (or organizational respect) to complete comebacks.
Mariota isn’t my preferred style of quarterback. I prefer stronger-armed quarterbacks who attack the entire field. Today’s pass-happy NFL almost guarantees high scoring affairs. Just look at what happened to the Kansas City Chiefs offense after they replaced game-manager extraordinaire Alex Smith with Patrick Mahomes. Everything has opened up. They went from good to elite.
Can Titans general manager Jon Robinson construct an elite defense during an era where rules are geared toward super scoring offenses? This defense must contain even the most elite of quarterbacks to 20ish points. Draft a wide receiver who can take the top off opposing defenses. Pray that injuries quit impacting Mariota’s career. Alex Smith and Matthew Stafford were quarterbacks whose injury misfortunes reversed as they advanced throughout their careers. Obstacle No. 1 is avoiding injuries.
Do those things? Mariota has a chance to lead this team to glory. He’s not the flashiest quarterback. His limited downfield passing ability will prevent him from winning many shootouts. No one will mistake him for Peyton Manning or Aaron Rodgers. You’ll rarely see him on DraftKings and FanDuel winning lineups.
Who is superior between Mariota and Bortles? That depends on who’s given the right context. Those are two completely different contexts. Mariota isn’t winning the 45-42 Jaguars at Steelers playoff game. He probably leads a winning drive when Jaguars were down 24-20 to New England. The question is whether he can get to that point of the game against Tom Brady. For Bortles, Tennessee is a Kryptonite team. He’s not beating Mariota in a matchup of clutch and grit. Five of six isn’t a fluke.
These two quarterback legacies will largely depend on which franchise builds a roster that better supports its franchise signal-caller. Bortles almost certainly will have better career stats. He’ll have more memorable career games.
Maybe not Lombardi Trophies.
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Joshua Huffman was born and edumacated in Middle Tennessee. He has published content for Yahoo! Sports (via Contributor Network) and Titan Sized, among other venues. At SoBros, he’ll provide Daily Fantasy Sports suggestions and broad sports coverage. Follow him on Twitter.
