Week 9 NFL Advanced Analytics Superstars

Quarterback: Marcus Mariota

Marcus Mariota, QB, Tennessee Titans
28 for 39, 371 Yards, 4 Touchdowns
1 Rush, 5 Yards
NEP: +24.68

What a return by Marcus Mariota! After sitting out two games due to injury, Mariota came back guns blazing as he threw for 371 yards and 4 touchdowns. He finished the day 28-for-39 and threw the game-winner to Anthony Fasano in a back-and-forth thrilling overtime win.

After firing their head coach last week, Mike Mularkey took the reigns of a 1-6 team and provided new life to a stagnant offense that had scored only three touchdowns over their last four games. Much of that had to do with Mariota, who became only the third rookie to throw for multiple four-touchdown games -- a short list that includes only Robert Griffin III (twice) and Fran Tarkenton (three times). Mariota was on fire this week, leading to big games by Delanie Walker (7 catches, 95 yards, and 2 touchdowns) and sparking what hopes to be the emergence of rookie Dorial Green-Beckham (5 catches for 77 yards).

Mariota's +24.68 NEP led all quarterbacks this week, as he raised his season-long cumulative Passing NEP to the 15th highest of the 54 quarterbacks to drop back this season. The Oregon rookie has shown some great poise already this season and continues to be a pocket passer with only 77 rushing yards on the season. For such a highly-touted dual threat quarterback, it's surprising to see his Rushing NEP down at 19th -- below the likes of Matt Cassel and Eli Manning.

The rest of the top quarterbacks in Week 9 were led by Mariota's counterpart, Drew Brees, who threw for 387 passing yards and scored 4 total touchdowns himself, finishing with a +20.48 NEP. We may have witnessed the turnaround of Andrew Luck and the Colts, who defeated the highly-touted Denver Broncos' pass defense 27-24. Cam Newton helped the Panthers continue their winning streak by contributing over 350 yards of total offense and 4 touchdowns.