Why Marcus Mariota Deserves to be Remembered || NFL Forgotten Playoff Legends

marcus mariota is by most accounts a bust drafted with the second overall pick by the titans the oregon product is most reasonably known for being the guy bench for ryan tannehill who turned the titans into super bowl contenders he threw for 76 touchdowns to 44 interceptions with tennessee going nine and seven three years in a row he had a tendency to fumble throw pics and be injured but that isn't what i think of when i think of marcus mariota i remember one game and actually one play that defines mariota to me and it probably isn't the play you're thinking of january 6 2018 wild card weekend the 11-5 chiefs led by resident good guy alex smith host the 9-7 tennessee titans their first playoff appearance in a decade the chiefs have been dealing with their own playoff misfortunes having not won a whole playoff game since 1994 and with squandering chance after chance over the previous four years it was do or die time for smith before he was replaced by a rookie named patrick mahomes i don't know anyway it looked like a new era in missouri would be postponed for just a little while more as the chiefs jumped out to a 21-3 lead at the half aryot and the titans offense couldn't get past the chiefs or seemingly out of their own way as many passes were dropped and a red zone interception halted a chance to add more points but the titans regrouped at the half and took the second half kickoff all the way down the field to the kansas city one inch line but after a false start and a sack on second down the titans had third and goal from the six and this is the play most of y'all probably thought this video would be about third down goal tennessee in dire need of six and not three mariona mariota to the line of scrimmage maybe across the line it deflects back to him for a touchdown for the moment i remember watching this happen live with my dad we both lost our minds with how ridiculous the play was but this isn't why marcus mariota should be remembered while the play will be on highlight reels for the rest of eternity this plane of vacuum means nothing the score is 2110 chiefs still with no signs that the titans will pull it out the rest of the third quarter remains scoreless partially due to harrison bucker missing a field goal off the upright okay maybe there have been signs the titans would come back the fourth quarter scoring open with a not yet king henry 35-yard touchdown run 21-16 chiefs the titans went for two but failed miserably leaving the deficit five the chiefs made it out to midfield but had to punt the ball away so with 11 minutes and five seconds left the titans went on a long methodical drive all the way down to the kansas city 22. from the 22 second and 10. mariota to the goal line touchdown tennessee so that's the moment right marcus mariota shows resilience in the face of adversity and gives the titans the lead wrong again after failing on the two-point triad the titans were only up by one with 5 58 left in the game the chiefs drove into titan's territory but a good stand by the tennessee defense forced an incompletion on fourth and nine giving the ball back to their offense the chief still had all three of their timeouts and with the deficit merely won they were still very much alive in the game if their defense could prevent the titans from picking up a first down and it looked like that would be the case as a tackle in the backfield by marcus peters in a two yard game by henry brought up third and ten and now ladies and gentlemen this is why marcus mariota deserves to be remembered so what would you do hand it off to henry mariota blocks henry first down and more marcus mariota in there to throw a block for henry they gave it again to mr fourth quarter he has delivered the titans into the next round of the playoffs frank zombo had that tackle until mario to put away his concerns for injury and pride stuck his foot in the ground lowered his shoulders and sent the titans to the divisional round [Music] the titans lost 35-14 to the patriots the next week but that isn't what this is about that day the titans quarterback showed what a true team player is and that is why marcus mariota deserves to be remembered

Channel: Daniel Lander

Views: 32,591

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Id: 2HrYamfXfZQ

Length: 4min 23sec (263 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 16 2021