Marcus Mariota finally got benched for Ryan Tannehill

Marcus Mariota knew he was on a short leash when the Tennessee Titans decided to acquire Ryan Tannehill, and head coach Mike Vrabel has decided he’s had enough of Mariota’s up-and-down ways.

It has been an eventful season thus far for the Tennessee Titans, as they started the campaign brightly with a massive win on the road against the Cleveland Browns. However, they have faltered since, losing division battles to the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars.

Marcus Mariota came into 2019 knowing that he’d be playing for his starting job, as his future in Tennessee is completely unclear. Perhaps it has become a little more clear – but not in a good way – as the Titans finally decided to bench the inconsistent quarterback for backup Ryan Tannehill.

The benching occurred in the third quarter of the 2-3 Titans Week 6 game against the Denver Broncos, as Mariota’s ghastly interceptions had Tennessee down 13-0 with seemingly no hope of finding the end zone.

On top of the two picks, Mariota completed just 7 of 18 passes for 63 yards, which means he averaged a paltry 3.5 yards per pass attempt. Although the Titans average of under 2.0 yards per carry on the ground against Denver’s stingy defense surely didn’t help Mariota, it’s likely that the Broncos had so much success defending the run because they respected Mariota’s arm so little.

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At times, Mariota looks like a franchise quarterback with his accuracy, and he came into Week 6 without a single turnover this season; he was the only quarterback with five starts to have that distinction.

But, for the most part, Mariota has looked awful this season, so it’s no surprise that the Titans want to see if Tannehill can move the ball more aggressively and effectively to give this team a chance at competing in the AFC South.