*Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans might be wishing for a draft do-over after watching No. 2 overall pick Marcus Mariota thrash the Bucs on the way to a 42-14 win for the Titans. *
- Mariota set an NFL record with four touchdown passes in the first half of his NFL debut. He had more scores than incompletions (three) on 16 attempts. While he caught a few breaks -- one fumble in the end zone was overturned -- Mariota's calm and accuracy from the preseason carried over.
The Titans implemented some packaged plays and other Oregon-like principles where Mariota was clearly comfortable and made the right decisions. Also reminiscent of Mariota's time at Oregon: He sat out the fourth quarter.
- Jameis Winston's first NFL pass was returned for a touchdown. The last quarterback to do that was Brett Favre. Like Favre, Winston is going to make a lot of mistakes early in his career. His 210 yards on 33 attempts don't look too bad, but Winston struggled to move the ball when the game was in doubt. Tampa's lousy protection didn't help him.
This was an insanely deflating result for a Bucs franchise that already struggles to sell tickets.
- There were a lot of positive signs for the Titans. They have been waiting for second-year running back Bishop Sankey to improve, and he set a career high with a modest 74 rushing yards and a touchdown on only 12 carries.
- Tennessee's defense had an easy matchup, but it's a good sign that they were in Tampa's backfield all game. Derrick Morgan and Jurrell Casey led the way.
- The score was 35-7 at halftime. People will blame Winston, but Lovie Smith's defense has had time to come together and be better than this.
