Things were already going poorly for Marcus Mariota and the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. The veteran quarterback made several errant passes that raised eyebrows around the NFL world.
However, one throw in particular from Mariota has drawn attention to his poor decision-making and created some laughs on social media.
The play in question occurred in the fourth quarter, where Mariota was pressured and threw up a desperation pass over his head while falling to the ground.
The pass was caught by Panthers cornerback Myles Hartsfield and returned for a touchdown, but it was ultimately ruled that Mariota was down before the pass attempt, resulting in a sack on the play.
Regardless, it is unclear what Mariota was even attempting to do with the pass attempt, highlighted by the hilarious commentary of Amazon broadcaster Kirk Herbstreit on the call of the play.
“I still can’t figure out what (Marcus) Mariota is doing tonight with some of these decisions.”
His critics are certainly echoing Herbstreit’s sentiments on social media on this bizarre pass attempt.
Marcus Mariota really decided he should throw this
pic.twitter.com/KDpUUNHYma — Billy Heyen (@BillyHeyen) November 11, 2022
Atlanta would go on to lose the game 25-15, which is a huge blow to their hopes of potentially winning the NFC South this season.
This loss puts them at 4-6 on the season and firmly in second place in the division.
Ultimately it is a game that Marcus Mariota would love to put behind him, but this poor performance may raise questions about his job security as the starter in Atlanta moving forward with rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder waiting in the wings.
[Photo Credit: Amazon Prime]
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.