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