Marcus Mariota continues downward spiral in Eagles' tie

 On Thursday night, the Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles were fit to be tied, playing to an 18-18 draw in the second week of the NFL preseason. The league owners voted to eliminate preseason overtime in 2021, much to the delight of anyone who watched this game. The last thing fans needed was an extension of this alleged display of football.

For the second time in as many games, Eagles backup quarterback Marcus Mariota was subpar. He completed nine of his 17 pass attempts for 86 yards while throwing an interception and taking three sacks. Tanner McKee, the Eagles' sixth-round draft choice from Stanford, was marginally better than Mariota. McKee went 10-for-18 with 147 yards and a touchdown pass.

The fact that a sixth-round rookie played even slightly better than Marcus Mariota shows just how far Mariota's star has fallen. During his three college seasons at Oregon, Mariota was incredible. In 2014, he won the Heisman Trophy with an astonishing 57 touchdowns (42 passing, 15 rushing) to just four interceptions. The Tennessee Titans selected Mariota with the second pick in the 2015 draft to mixed results. In 2017, he led the Titans to their first playoff win in 14 years, but just two years later, he found himself benched for Ryan Tannehill.

Mariota was decent in 13 starts for the Atlanta Falcons last season before being benched for rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder. What happened after that remains unclear. Mariota says that he underwent voluntary surgery for a chronic knee injury. An anonymous NFL agent was quoted as saying that Mariota quit on the Falcons by rehabbing in Las Vegas, away from team facilities.

When the Eagles signed Mariota as a backup in March, they were hoping he could be a more capable substitute than Gardner Minshew. Minshew lost both of his starts last season while relieving an injured Jalen Hurts, nearly costing the Eagles the number-one seed in the NFC playoffs. Given Mariota's preseason performance, Philadelphia could wind up in even greater turmoil if Hurts were injured again.

Should the Eagles choose to search for a more suitable backup quarterback, they have an option that could make for a good story. In May, Matt Ryan joined CBS Sports as a game analyst, but made it clear that he hadn't fully retired. While Ryan had a tumultuous season of his own last year with the Indianapolis Colts, he does have an MVP award to his name and is a likely Hall of Famer. On top of that, Ryan is a native of the Philadelphia area, having attended William Penn Charter School. He may not be the same player he was in his prime with Atlanta, but consider the other ex-Falcon that's currently backing up Jalen Hurts. Ryan could have more to lend in the Eagles' quarterback room than in the broadcast booth.