Mariota outplays Winston in debut

TAMPA, Fla. – Marcus Mariota looked right at home standing on the sideline in the fourth quarter, watching his teammates close out a lopsided victory.

The rookie made it look as easy as he did in college Sunday, throwing four touchdown passes and outplaying No. 1 overall draft pick Jameis Winston in their NFL debuts to lead the Tennessee Titans to a 42-14 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The highly anticipated season-opener featuring the first two players selected in the draft was one-sided from the start, not unlike many of Mariota’s dazzling performances at Oregon, where he routinely built big early leads.

“Starting fast, setting the tempo, going out there and having success early, just gave confidence to everybody and really helped us all the way through the game,” Mariota said after the Titans ended a 10-game losing streak.

The second overall pick, however, cautioned against reading too much into dominating the Bucs, who like the Titans went 2-14 last season.

“It means we’re 1-0. For me, it’s taking it one day at a time and just executing to the best of my abilities,” he said.

Mariota threw for 209 yards without an interception to join Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton as the only players to throw for four or more TD passes in their first NFL game.

Tarkenton did it for Minnesota against the Chicago Bears on Sept. 17, 1961. Mariota became the first to do it in the opening half.

Winston did something rare, too, becoming the first quarterback since Brett Favre in 1991 to have his first NFL pass intercepted and returned for a touchdown.