 Marcus Marriota does so many things at the line of stream that helps the thousands throughout a ballgame. Now the stats always come up. People talk about the numbers, but it's not all about the numbers. One thing you cannot measure when it comes to Marcus Marriota is his toughness. Now he's going to get a blitzer come right through here and he's going to get hit dead in the mouth. Now this is a big-time play here against Tampa Bay because he's going to throw this speed out here to Drake London. Now the big thing about it is it's third down. Third down, cruiser down, you're almost inside the red zone. The difference between getting points, touchdowns or field goals. Now this play gets started. Now here comes, here comes this add-on backer here. Marriota knows we are not blocking him. He's outside, he has his man here and Drake has to work this route. He has to give it time, but watch Marriota standing here and deliver a football with this guy bearing down on him. Now the ball is halfway out, headed to Drake London and creates a nice play. Ultimate, you pick up the first down. Let's watch it from the backside one more time. Just watch how he stands here. This is the toughness you talk about from your quarterback. This is not stats, this is not done you talk about after, but here is what happens. Look at this. How many people are going to stand in here and deliver this football with Devin White, one of the top linebackers in the league, barreling down on you, standing in there and delivering a strike. First down, now you move the change, your teammates expect you to be more for that one. Here's another instance where Marcus Marriot is going to stand in here and deliver a strike to Ozzie here. Another third down play and what's going to happen in the front is the Browns are going to go with a stunt, so this guy is going to come all the way around and have a clean shot right on Marcus, but he has to stand in here and deliver a strike right here to Ozzie in the middle of field for a big time completion. Now watch here, watch him. Look at this guy coming around. Nobody has him. Marriot knows he's got to stand in there. He knows he's got one on one with one of his best receivers to win on the outside. And watch him standing here. Look at there, another shot with a guy coming barreling right down. Know he's got a win route right here by Ozzie and it's another completion. Watch it again from the back side. Watch him standing here. Look at this guy. He's going to come all the way around and loop and have a clean shot on him and watch him just standing there. Guy barreling down on him, but he know he has Ozzie on the win and stands in there and completes his football and this is what respect is about when his team turns on the tape and they see a guy standing in here, completing the ball for his teammates. That's toughness. That's something you cannot put in a stat sheet and this is why he is excelling inside his office. Hey, I'm DJ Shockley. This is Falcon's Film Review, powered by Microsoft Surface. Now, one thing that will also never show up on a stat sheet is intelligence. Now, before this play got going, Mariota walked up and he puts his hand on his head. He goes like this. He goes can-can, which means he's all of them. He's changing the play. That means he's putting his offense in a better position to be successful. And because he does that, the reason why he's doing this usually is because you want to run away from somebody. This is the safety. Now, something tells Mariota, we don't want to run to this side. So, he runs away from the safety. He audibles to his entire team says can-can and now they're going to run right. And watch what happened because he recognized that the defense was doing something else and he changed the play and ultimately it ends up in a touchdown. This is an unbelievable call that won't stop on a stat sheet again, but he's still changed the play. Audibly got him into a better play, ultimately ended up in a touchdown for the Falcons. Alright, here's what Marcus does, what makes his offense so special and why defenses are having fix with his offense right now because his ability to maybe use his leg. Now, this was third and 13 and it was right before halftime. Now, if you don't pick up this first down, 49ers get the ball, there's a chance they go back and they go score. But because his ability to use his legs creates this huge play. But up front, they go zone-blitz. So, they got eyes going back here. They got still got eyes on the quarterback, but they're also bringing pressure and they actually are going to get home. Most quarterbacks, this may be a sack, but for Murriota, watch them climb in the pocket. Understands, hit comes pressure. Hit comes pressure. Good job of reaching out by your back, picking up his outside guard. But look how deep these routes are. They haven't even turned around yet because they're still trying to get to 13 yards to get to the first down marker. Murriota knows this, but he also knows there is nobody in the middle of the field for him if he takes off. Use the pocket, climbs up, and now look at all this run room he has now. Now, 30-13 turns into a first down, picking up 17 yards on first down. Watch him get from the back side. Watch him just use his feet to move inside his pocket. There's so much stuff going on. This guy's a free runner. This guy's a free runner. Watch him use his legs to be able to create some more separation. Steal with his eyes. Look at his eyes. His head is still downfield, looking to throw the football. But now, he has to escape the pocket. Now, your own is up going for 17 yards. Big first down plate, and that plate ended up being a touchdown drive for the Falcons because of the big run by Marcus Nariola. We're talking about his toughness. We're talking about using his legs. Let's talk about the improv that also never comes up on a stat sheet but always works out for the Falcons when he uses it. This is a particular plate where he's going to end up hitting Parker Hassey out of the backfield. Now, he can probably throw this if he wants. He could probably hit quarter of a pass into this one. But he's actually reading this side of the field, and now he wants to look this way. But by the time he gets back over here, it's a little bit too late. But watch the improv here. He doesn't like it. He doesn't really panic. Now, he starts to escape the pocket. Right now, he's thinking run. Look, his eyes aren't even downfield. He's thinking run. He's thinking let's get to this marker over here. Let's get out of bounds. But he continues to look downfield. That's what most quarterbacks don't do when they get outside the pocket. It's continue to be a passer. He gets outside right here at the very last moment. Finds Parker Hassey out here and completes a big-time throw here. And now you've got another big-time play because he wants it because he begins to improvise. Watch again from the way that Marcus Mario sees it. He's going to work to his right side. Nothing there. Improv, get outside. But now it looks like he's running, right? But his eyes are still downfield just in case somebody uncovers. Somebody uncovers at the last moment, throws an accurate ball. Big-time play, Parker Hassey, drive continues. Sometimes your quarterback is just better than the other team. Now, this is the prototypical zone read here. He has the chance to pull it. He has the chance to hand it off. Or he has the chance to run it. On this particular play, 49ers actually cover this. They have guys on the inside for the dive. And this guy on the outside who's the defensive back who's just as fast as the quarterback. But sometimes your player is just better than his. And Mario has the confidence knowing that if I don't hand it off, I have to beat him to the corner. And he absolutely does. This nice job of riding it all the way in there. Because he rides it just a half a second, watch this guy step in just for one step. That one step gives him a corner and allows him to get to the edge. Boom. See, that first step there, look at his fall step. He is flat-footed now while Mario is already on the pursuit to run. And now he outruns him. And it's just an ideal play you like from a quarterback that you can use down in the red zone. Watch it again from his backside. And show you exactly what I'm talking about with his guys. Now he's flat-footed. Flat-footed, he's beaten. You've got a guy who can get around the corner. This is exactly what Mario does. His toughness, athleticism, and attention to detail. Being able to improv is so big for a quarterback that will never show up on the stat sheet. But this is why Marcus Mario to continue to be the guy for this offense. I'm DJ Shockley. This has been Falcon's Film Review, powered by Microsoft Surface. I appreciate you watching.