Marcus Mariota, who appears to be over the nerve injury he was playing through to start the year, showed last week that along with his health, his fantasy value has come back.
Mariota failed to find the end zone (on the ground or through the air) in four of his six games before the Tennessee Titans' Week 8 bye. In Week 9, he came back with a bang, throwing for two scores and adding one on the ground, finishing as the fantasy football QB7 for the week with 22.8 fantasy points against a Dallas Cowboys defense that had only allowed an average of 16.9 per game.
That uptick in scoring didn't look to be a fluke either, as he was busy in the red zone, attempting seven passes and running the ball four times inside the 20. Before his bye week, Mariota averaged only 4.4 pass attempts and 0.6 carries per game inside the 20.
This week he's up against a New England Patriots defense that ranks a middling 16th in numberFire's Adjusted Defensive Passing Indianapolis Colts. By our schedule-adjusted metrics, the Colts rank 21st against the pass, and they give up top-15 fantasy production to signal callers.