Marcus Mariota shows he still has wheels, scoring TD in Falcons preseason opener

Marcus Mariota started the scoring on the Atlanta Falcons’ first drive in a 27-23 Preseason win vs the Detroit Lions.

Former Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota is a few teams short of being a journeyman in the NFL. He has played for the Tennessee Titans as a starter and a backup and most recently was a backup for the Las Vegas Raiders. This past offseason, he found an opportunity and landed with the Atlanta Falcons.

Many thought he could be the immediate starter and last night in the team’s first preseason game, that was the case. On the first drive of the game for Atlanta, Mariota took the team down the field and used his feet off the left side to scamper to the pylon and score a touchdown for the Falcons.

The opening drive for Atlanta saw them run the ball for 61 yards out of a total of 82. It took up a large part of the first quarter of action and ended with the former Oregon Quarterback in the endzone. Despite the game meaning absolutely nothing with the exception of it being a glorified practice for both teams, Mariota showed he can effectively run an offense, as he did in a few spot starts with the Raiders last season.

Marcus Mariota can still play with the best of them when healthy

What brought Marcus Mariota to Atlanta was the Falcons’ former QB Matt Ryan’s move to the Indianapolis Colts. The 15-year vet was traded to the Colts back in March for a third-round draft pick. He signed a two-year deal with Indianapolis. The move helped pave the way for Mariota to step into the starting role with the Falcons.

Atlanta Head Coach Arthur Smith and Mariota are very familiar with each other. Smith was Mariota’s offensive coordinator at Tennessee before becoming Head Coach in Atlanta. They should work well together for the upcoming season. Mariota said recently he will play as many minutes in the preseason as his head coach will allow.

For the second week of the NFL Preseason, the Atlanta Falcons will visit the New York Jets, who lost Quarterback Zach Wilson in a win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday Night. The extent of Wilson’s injury is not yet known but is feared to be a season-ending ACL injury.

The Falcons visit New York for a Monday Night kickoff on August 22nd.