Context is everything man. Matt Nagy was there (an excellent offensive minded coach with experience making calls), he was healthy for the most part, most of his main offensive weapons were relatively healthy (or at least were there for the part of the year), and he had a semblance of an interior Oline. Mariota within the first 4 games of this past season lost his favorite 2 targets (Delanie Walker to injury, Rishard Matthews to being a butt), had been injured and forced to play because his backup was injured (he was playing games where he could hardly feel his arm). His injury was affecting him most of the season when he was playing, which limited the offense around him (and he still made plays when it counted). Receivers Mariota threw too also had tons of egregious drops (Nick Williams and Jonnu Smith got a lot of hate for a reason). I'm not saying he was perfect, but this would have been a difficult season for any QB given the same circumstances.