Sunday’s contest between a pair of teams who finished in last place in 2014 was about as celebrated as such an opening day match-up could be. The Tennessee Titans led by second overall pick Marcus Mariota handily defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, led by first overall pick Jameis Winston, 42-14.
Mariota was without a doubt the more impressive of the two, finishing with a perfect passer rating. Winston’s day didn’t go quite as smoothly as he finished 16-for-33 passing for 210 yards, two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions — including one that was returned for a touchdown on his first career throw.
Though there’s plenty of reason to rave about Mariota’s performance, there’s little to panic about Winston’s. In fact when compared to other first overall picks and eventual star quarterbacks, Winston’s performance Sunday is actually par for the course.
Few could argue that Peyton Manning’s career has been anything short of legendary. His brother Eli Manning is one of only 11 quarterbacks to win multiple Super Bowls. Andrew Luck is almost unanimously regarded as one of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL. None of the three had a much better performance in his NFL debut than Winston did on Sunday.
First Start for Top Overall Picks
| Quarterback | First Start | Comp. | Att. | Yards | TDs | INTs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peyton Manning | Sept. 6, 1998 vs. Miami | 21 | 37 | 302 | 1 | 3 |
| Eli Manning | Nov. 21, 2004 vs. Atlanta | 17 | 37 | 162 | 1 | 2 |
| Andrew Luck | Sept. 9, 2012 at Chicago | 23 | 45 | 309 | 1 | 3 |
| Jameis Winston | Sept. 13, 2015 vs. Tennessee | 16 | 33 | 210 | 2 | 2 |
In their career debuts, Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck each passed for over 300 yards, but each had three interceptions while Winston only had two. Manning also had an interception returned for a touchdown in his debut against the Miami Dolphins in 1998.
Winston’s performance on Sunday was also arguably better than Eli Manning’s. In Eli Manning’s debut against the Atlanta Falcons, he threw for fewer yards than Winston, had a lower completion percentage and tossed fewer touchdown passes. Winston also threw more touchdowns in his first start than either of the other aforementioned three.
One thing all four players have in common in their debut is that their teams all lost. It’s obvious that Jameis Winston still has a lot of work, but the same was true after the debuts of both Peyton and Eli Manning and Andrew Luck.
Winston will have a week to show improvement as the Buccaneers travel to face the New Orleans Saints and several years to prove he can lead a team at the NFL level. While having an interception returned for a touchdown was about the worst possible way to start a career, it’s the same way the career of a guy named Brett Favre started and he turned out to just fine. As many reasons as there are for Titans’ fans to celebrate Mariota’s debut, there are an equal number of reasons for Tampa Bay fans not to fret over Winston’s.
