Mariota leads Titans to 27-14 victory
OAKLAND, Calif. — Marcus Mariota and Derek Carr look ready for the season to start after a successful preseason dress rehearsal.
Mariota led Tennessee to scores on all four drives he played and Carr threw two touchdown passes for Oakland as the Titans beat the Raiders 27-14 on Saturday night.
With the starters getting their most playing time in the third week of the preseason, the offenses looked in midseason form while both first-team defenses struggled mightily.
Mariota had the Raiders scrambling all night, faking out DJ Hayden on an option run and beating Oakland’s top cornerback Sean Smith on a couple of plays.
Smith almost intercepted a pass to Tajae Sharpe on the opening drive, and safety Nate Allen jumped in apparent celebration. But Sharpe caught the ball and got by the unsuspecting Allen for a 60-yard gain that set up DeMarco Murray’s 1-yard run.
After settling for field goals on Tennessee’s next two drives, Mariota led one more TD drive late in the half before calling it a night. He finished 9-for-16 for 170 yards and ran for 20.
Carr was just as sharp, completing 10 of 15 passes for 146 yards. He was able to hit a couple of deep passes, including a 41-yarder to Michael Crabtree on the opening drive and a perfectly placed 29-yarder to Amari Cooper in the end zone for his second scoring pass.
Carr capped the opening drive with a 6-yard touchdown pass to rookie DeAndre Washington and almost had a third touchdown, but he missed an open Clive Walford in the end zone in the closing minute of the first half.