Falcons Coach Arthur Smith Finds Positives in Marcus Mariota's Rough Day

Marcus Mariota struggled for the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, but the team was still able to find a way to win against the Cleveland Browns.

Jeremy Brener | Oct 5, 2022

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The Atlanta Falcons are coming off a big win against the Cleveland Browns, but Marcus Mariota probably wasn't too thrilled with his individual performance.

Mariota completed just 7 of 19 passes for 139 yards and an interception. Had the Falcons lost, the finger likely would have been pointed in his direction. However, with the win, head coach Arthur Smith had an easier time focusing on the positives from Mariota's performance.

"There were some early throws in the game, traditional dropback that I thought we were decent at," Smith said. "There's a lot of little things that add up that can affect the quarterback; we've got to be a little more in sync, and we will. Certainly wasn't our best game in terms of timing and spacing and a couple little mistakes there that we've all got to do a better job of."

While the box score wasn't very pretty, Smith was also able to look at the things that didn't make the stat sheet.

"He got us out of (situations) where we would've been even further off track, he avoided some sacks, and threw the ball away," Smith said. "As dumb as that may sound, when you throw it away, it keeps you out of sacks and momentum-changing plays."

Mariota has played well so far through the first four games all things considered. However, should this poor performance against the Browns string together into inconsistency, then the Falcons may be calling upon backup Desmond Ridder sooner rather than later.

The Falcons face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday at 1 p.m. at Raymond James Stadium.

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Published Oct 5, 2022

JEREMY BRENER

Jeremy Brener is an editor, writer and social media manager for several Fan Nation websites. His work has also been featured in 247 Sports and SB Nation as a writer and podcaster. Brener has been with Fan Nation since 2021. Brener grew up in Houston, going to Astros, Rockets and Texans games as a kid. He moved to Orlando in 2016 to go to college and pursue a degree. He hosts "The Dream Take" podcast covering the Rockets, which has produced over 350 episodes since March 2020. Brener graduated in May 2020 from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor's degree in Broadcast Journalism minoring in Sport Business Management. While at UCF, Brener worked for the school's newspaper NSM.today and "Hitting the Field," a student-run sports talk show and network. He was the executive producer for "Hitting the Field" from 2019-20. During his professional career, Brener has covered a number of major sporting events including the Pro Bowl, March Madness and several NBA and NFL games. As a fan, Brener has been to the 2005 World Series, 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 NCAA National Championship between the Villanova Wildcats and North Carolina Tar Heels. Now, Brener still resides in the Central Florida area and enjoys writing, watching TV, hanging out with friends and going to the gym. Brener can be followed on Twitter @JeremyBrener. For more inquiries, please email jeremybrenerchs@gmail.com.