The truth hurts: Falcons signed Mariota with MVP-caliber QB available

The truth can hurt more than anything sometimes and certainly, all of us are feeling that now realizing that the Atlanta Falcons chose to sign Marcus Mariota over one of the leading 2022 MVP candidates who was still unsigned at the time.

This one little mistake could have cost the Falcons a special year considering how much the quarterback position has held them back.

The Falcons passed on an MVP candidate for Marcus Mariota back in March

Now, clearly, if there was an NFL general manager who could see into the future, he would far and away be the best of all time, but that doesn’t take the pain away from what could have been for the Atlanta Falcons.

Here we will do a comparison of the two quarterbacks, starting with Marcus Mariota:

• Contract: 2 years, $18.8 million 
• Games played: 13
• Passing yards: 2,219
• Pass TDs: 15
• Completion: 61.3%
• Interceptions: 9
• Passer rating: 88.2

Now here is the other quarterback who we will name right after:

• Contract: 1 year, $3.5 million
• Games played: 12
• Passing yards: 3,169
• Pass TDs: 22
• Completion: 72.7%
• Interceptions: 6
• Passer rating: 108.7

If you haven’t figured it out by now, that other quarterback is Geno Smith who signed his contract well after Marcus Mariota did. He is being paid about $6 million less and has played in one less game yet has about 900 more passing yards, seven more passing TDs, and completes about 11% more of his passes.

That is quite the disparity. To make it worse, conceivably, if Geno Smith played in the Falcons’ offense, he might have even better stats. The Falcons have a better running game to complement his precision passing.

They could right the wrong and pursue him in the offseason but Seattle will likely pay the big bucks to keep the veteran quarterback. He will also prefer to stay in Seattle where he has been since 2019.

If the Atlanta Falcons could have identified him as a diamond in the rough back in March, they could be having an extremely successful season, but you can’t really blame them for overlooking him. Hopefully, the Falcons will get the last laugh when Desmond Ridder becomes a star.