A mixed season-opening Sunday was in store for the two starting quarterbacks in the NFL hailing from Hawaii.
Two Saint Louis School products, Tua Tagovailoa and Marcus Mariota, had divergent experiences as Tagovailoa’s Miami Dolphins prevailed 20-7 over AFC East rival New England, while Mariota’s Atlanta Falcons lost a fall-from-ahead 27-26 heartbreaker to NFC South rival New Orleans.
It was the first time that two Hawaii-born players started at quarterback in the 32-team NFL in the same week.
Tagovailoa, in his third season out of Alabama, looked to capitalize on a new weapon in receiver Tyreek Hill at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium. Tagovailoa was 23-for-33 for 270 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions, with eight receptions for 94 yards going to Hill.
Tagovailoa found Jaylen Waddle on a fourth-down cut across the middle for a 42-yard score just before halftime.
It was the second straight year that Tagovailoa and Miami opened the season with a win over New England. Tagovailoa, in his first game under new head coach Mike McDaniel, moved to 3-0 in starts against the teams of legendary Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
Meanwhile, Mariota, the eighth-year pro making his official Falcons debut after winning the starting job in the preseason, helped stake his team to a 16-point lead entering the fourth quarter at Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium. It was his first start since 2019, when he was still with the Tennessee Titans and before a two-year tour as the Las Vegas Raiders’ backup quarterback.
However, the Saints rallied furiously and Wil Lutz kicked the go-ahead field goal from 51 yards with 19 seconds left.
Mariota, the Oregon alumnus who was 20-for-33 for 215 yards, no passing touchdowns and no interceptions, gained 72 yards on the ground with a 2-yard touchdown with 6:49 left in the third quarter.
However, with a chance to perhaps put the game away on the next Atlanta drive, Mariota fumbled on a keeper in the New Orleans red zone and it was recovered by the Saints' Tyrann Mathieu.
It ended up being costly as the Saints, after a punt, scored on their three final drives. Mariota completed passes of 10 and 5 yards on the Falcons’ last-gasp drive and, aided by an unnecessary roughness call, his team got within range of a 63-yard field-goal attempt as time expired – but it was blocked.
The Dolphins head to Baltimore (1-0) in Week 2 while the Falcons journey to Los Angeles to face the defending Super Bowl champion Rams (0-1).
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.
