Mariota, Smith Reunion a Matter of Trust

The former Tennessee Titans quarterback and offensive coordinator have faith that they can be a much more prolific pair with the Atlanta Falcons.

Marcus Mariota and Arthur Smith don’t want to pick up where they left off. They want to pick up the pieces of a quarterback-play caller partnership that crumbled badly the first time.

The end of Mariota’s time as the Tennessee Titans’ starting quarterback coincided with the start of Smith’s tenure as offensive coordinator. Over the course of six games at the start of the 2019 season, they – and the rest of the offense – struggled enough that the Titans were one of the NFL’s lowest-scoring teams, had one of the worst passing offenses and allowed more sacks than any other team, among other lowlights.

At least the two know what they’re getting with one another. If nothing else, they have an understanding and a measure of trust that will serve them well now that the Falcons have signed Mariota – presumably to be their starting quarterback – in Smith’s second season as that franchise’s head coach.

"I trust Marcus," Smith said this week, via the Falcons’ website. "... He's going to come in here, and he's going to give us everything he's got. He's got high-end talent, and he understands what's happened in the past. He's learned from them. I've learned from them, and we feel excited about the opportunity."

When the Titans benched Mariota in favor of Ryan Tannehill in Week 7 of 2019, Smith quickly developed a reputation as one of the game’s best coordinators. That put him position to be the league’s most attractive head coach candidate when the coaching carousel began to spin following the 2020 regular season. He eventually settled on Atlanta, where he doubles as the play-caller on offense.

Mariota, on the other hand, spent the last two seasons as Derek Carr’s backup with the Las Vegas Raiders. During that time, he attempted just 30 passes.

Despite their divergent paths, however, the Falcons agreed to a two-year, $18.5 million contract with Mariota almost immediately after they traded long-time starter Matt Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts. The only other quarterbacks on their roster are journeyman Josh Rosen and Feleipe Franks, an undrafted rookie last season.

"(Smith) has always been focused on making sure I can get better," Mariota said Friday. "… He always made it a point just to find little areas of improvement. So, Art is somebody that's always been there for me. He's always shot me straight.

"And, you know, I knew what I was getting into, what kind of culture is building here. So that's why I'm excited to be here because I really do believe in Art, and I believe what he's doing."

Still, it is a sizable leap of faith from both parties. Consider that in the two seasons Smith was the offensive coordinator:

• The Titans scored fewer than 10 points three times. All of them were games in which Mariota was the starting quarterback.

• There were four games in which the offense failed to throw a touchdown pass. Three of them were games Mariota started.

• Opponents registered five or more sacks five times, three of them with Mariota at quarterback.

• Five times the offense produced fewer than 260 yards of total offense. Mariota was the starting quarterback in three.

• There were five games in which the offense managed 4.5 yards per play or fewer, three of them with Mariota at quarterback.

Consider also that Mariota:

• Had his worst single-game passer rating (9.6) in his final start for Tennessee, when Smith was the offensive coordinator.

• Started six games with Smith as his offensive coordinator. In four of them, he threw one or zero touchdown passes.

• Has 21 career starts with fewer than 200 passing yards. Three of them were in 2019 with Smith calling the plays.

“He's at a different point of his career from where he was at then,” Smith said. “I'm at a different point in my career. A lot of lessons learned, and we're excited to work together again.”

And to try to be a lot better together than they were the first time.