Blake Bortles vs Marcus Mariota: Game 1 to Bortles

Nov 19, 2015; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles (5) throws a pass during the first quarter of a football game against the Tennessee Titans at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Blake Bortles vs Marcus Mariota is a rivalry AFC South fans can look forward to for years to come.

On Thursday night, they got a taste of it as the two young quarterbacks faced each other for the first time in their young careers. It wasn’t exactly the shootout that it will be in the future but it was a close game that went down to the last play. The uniforms both teams used actually made this game hard to watch.

Anytime there was a pile on a short running play, it looked like a baby boy threw up on his blanket. Outside of that, it was an interesting matchup between young quarterbacks that look like they’re getting there. Of course, Bortles is much closer than Mariota is because he’s been in the NFL a year longer.

Bortles has made a substantial jump to year two and it has shown all year with Thursday night not being an exception. Always known for his big arm, he showed more deep ball accuracy than last year. The dimes he threw to Bryan Walters for 31 yards and Allen Robinson for 38 yards were impressive.

On the interception late in the game he stared it down a little and threw that out-route late. Staring receivers down was a problem last year that he has improved on a lot for this year. But outside the interception, Bortles was 21-30 for 242 yards and threw the game-winning touchdown pass in the closing moments.

Mariota, the rookie started out real strong this year but when defenses took his short game away, he started to struggle. But now, he is adjusting as his deep ball accuracy isn’t where Bortles’ is yet but much better than it was a few weeks ago. And finally, he’s using what God gave him for a 26-yard touchdown run, his longest run of the season.

But where he needs the most improvement is his pocket awareness and agility. He has speed once he breaks the pocket but doesn’t sense the rush very well yet and have that escapability, sometimes taking sacks he shouldn’t have to. But one thing Mariota does very well is throw the ball on the run.

He throws better on the run than from the pocket so the Titans need to get him out there more by design. On the night, Mariota was 22-35 for 231 yards, didn’t throw a TD or INT but did have the impressive TD run. But his lack of pocket awareness cost him on the last play of the game, taking a sack instead of giving his team a chance to win with a Hail Mary.

So Bortles and his Jaguars beat Mariota and his Titans 19-13 to win the first battle.

There’s another one right around the corner on December 6.