The Tennessee Titans needed some kind of spark to wiggle back into their game against Kansas City on Saturday, and quarterback Marcus Mariota found a crazy way to do it — just not on purpose.
On third and goal from the 6-yard line, Mariota was flushed left and looked to throw toward the heavily covered back corner of the end zone. But his pass tipped off the Chiefs’ Darrelle Revis and into the air while linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis tried to shove Mariota out of bounds.
Instead, Pierre-Louis pushed the quarterback right into the flight path of the ball, which Mariota then caught before diving into the end zone.
Marcus Mariota threw a TD to himself. WHAT?! #Chiefs #Titans pic.twitter.com/53KFxA5cUh
— Clay Wendler (@ClayWendler) January 6, 2018
Ta-da! Just like Titans Coach Mike Mularkey drew it up. It drew Tennessee within two scores of the Chiefs, 21-10, midway through the third quarter. Per NFL Research, it was the first time a quarterback completed a touchdown pass to himself since Brad Johnson did it in 1997.
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