Anyone who watched or read about the Tennessee Titans' 31-24 exhibition loss at Atlanta on Friday night had to wince at rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota's first two series. Launching your NFL career with an interception and fumble that was returned for a Falcons touchdown - even if it was only a preseason game - is no way to build confidence in your fan base.
If your last name is Mariota, your goal is to mirror such "M" quarterbacks as Manning, Marino or Montana. Instead, the rookie from Oregon started out looking much more like some party boy named Manziel, which had to briefly make Titans Nation wonder if its front office types hadn't drafted another word that starts with "M."
Mistake.
But then the belatedly Marvelous Marcus hit all five of his passes on his third series, which resulted in an 80-yard touchdown drive that actually covered 90 yards after a penalty. He finished 7 of 8 passing for 94 yards, one sack, one interception and a passer rating of 76.0.
Yet however spotty his debut, it was at least marginally better than the other rookie QB everyone was watching over the weekend - Tampa Bay's Jameis "Shame Us" Winston, this year's No. 1 overall draft pick.
In the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner's first professional contest, he completed but 2 of 9 passes on his first drives, also threw an interception and fumbled a snap. Of course, he also led a second-quarter scoring drive against the Minnesota reserves, running in from 8 yards to log the touchdown.
And much like his college days at Florida State, Winston was at his best late in the opening half, when the Bucs went to a no-huddle offense and he completed 5 of 6 passes, including a 40-yarder to Vincent Jackson.
Said Jackson to The Associated Press after that game: "(Winston's) just so smart. He's picked up everything fast, and he sees things on the field that a veteran sees. It's a lot of fun playing with him."
Not to be outdone in the teammates' compliments department, Titans reserve quarterback Charlie Whitehurst said of Mariota during an interview with USA Today: "It was almost like he was saying, 'Ninety-yard touchdown drive, that's just kind of what's supposed to happen.' His poise is unlike most rookie quarterbacks I've seen."
Before anyone gets too excited, a few sobering thoughts. No. 1, both the Titans and Buccaneers lost. And it wasn't like they were taking their lumps against last year's Super Bowl participants - the Patriots and Seahawks. The Falcons were 6-10 last season, the Vikings 7-9.
To be fair to Winston, Minnesota did have the NFL's seventh-best passing defense a year ago. The Falcons, on the other hand, were dead last in that department among 32 NFL teams.
Of course, the defensive coordinator who directed the NFL's best overall defense and best passing defense was Seattle's Dan Quinn, who is now the Atlanta head coach. So maybe Mariota's effort was more impressive than Winston's, if only because it came against Quinn's system.
Either way, neither Mariota nor Winston figures to make the playoffs this season, and those first games point to at least one reason why. As good as Mariota and Winston looked on their touchdown drives, those efforts came against second-team defenses that were probably playing as vanilla as possible.
Come the regular season, the opposing defensive schemes will be filled with more stunts and scams than "The Sting," and the odds of Mariota or Winston producing so much as a .500 season are roughly the same as Vanderbilt winning the SEC East.
There are plenty of reasons why the NFL is often referred to as the "No Fun League," and Mariota and Winston should both learn at least a few of those this autumn.
But there's also a silver lining for both. At least through the first week of the regular season. In something so incredible as to surely have been ordered up by CBS, Mariota's Titans will open the regular season at Winston's Buccaneers at 4:25 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Sept. 13.
So no matter how much these quarterbacks figure to struggle over much of the NFL's regular season, they'll both have a realistic chance to look respectable (or even better) in the opener, if only because the opposing defense should be mediocre to bad.
Just a hunch, but expect Mariota to look more poised and polished early. Then expect Winston, smiling all the way, to lead a last-second comeback victory thanks to his skill in the no-huddle offense.
But don't expect either rookie to look that good the rest of the year. Winston and Mariota went 1-2 in the draft for a reason, and it wasn't because the teams that chose them were a quarterback shy of the playoffs a year ago. They were both, basically, a starting lineup shy of the playoffs, which means unless both Mariota and Winston can convince their former teammates at Oregon and Florida State to join them, the only probable win on the schedule may be against the other one.
As for the Falcons, don't be surprised to see them back in the playoffs this season under Quinn, and this time with a defense salty enough to produce a victory or two once they get there.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com