The Titans and quarterback Marcus Mariota return from their bye week to face the Bills on Sunday, which gives Mariota a chance to build off his strong first month as an NFL player.
Mariota was the offensive rookie of the month for September after throwing eight touchdown passes and posting the second-highest passer rating of any quarterback in the first three games of his career. To keep it going, Mariota will have to solve the Buffalo defense, something Bills coach Rex Ryan doesn’t see happening.
Ryan said Mariota “looks impressive” and called him a “real talent,” but is confident he’ll have the right answers for the second overall pick of the 2015 draft.
“I don’t think the kid will have his way against us,” Ryan said, via the Tennessean. “I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
When Ryan was with the Jets, his defenses did very well while facing quarterbacks in their rookie seasons and it’s not hard to see why a unit using a variety of coverages, blitzes and alignments would cause problems for an inexperienced signal caller. If Mariota can prove Ryan wrong on Sunday, he’ll buck that trend and continue to make his case as the franchise quarterback for the present and future in Tennessee.