Facing Arizona
AFC South-leading Titans hope for victory in desert
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Tennessee Titans have never played at University of Phoenix Stadium, home of the Arizona Cardinals. Their starting quarterback has, though.
As a redshirt freshman at the University of Oregon, Marcus Mariota passed for two touchdowns and ran for another in the Ducks’ 35-17 victory over Kansas State in the 2013 Fiesta Bowl.
“A good memory,” he said, “and a good way to end a really good season.”
Almost five years later, Mariota brings the Titans (8-4) onto that field again for a cross-conference matchup today with the Arizona Cardinals (5-7). And this NFL game — not that college one — is on Mariota’s mind as Tennessee tries to maintain its position atop the AFC South standings.
“I think confidence is high,” he said. “I think we can still improve, though. When we’re able to win football games when we’re not playing to the best of our abilities, that’s huge. … If we start pushing it on all cylinders, and our defense continues to play well and the special teams continue to do their job, this team can be very good.”
Arizona coach Bruce Arians has often talked of the difficulty of quarterbacks from college spread offenses adjusting to the NFL. Mariota, he said, is a good example for those trying to make that transition.
“I think he gives a lot of those guys a chance,” Arians said. “Again, you have to be put in the right system. He was an excellent passer coming out. He wasn’t just an athlete; he was an excellent passer. Getting a running game around a guy — when you talk about (Philadelphia Eagles quarterback) Carson Wentz and you talk about (Los Angeles Rams quarterback) Jared Goff and Marcus — when you have that running game, it’s a whole lot easier to bring those guys along.”
Two weeks ago at home, the Cardinals shut down the running game of Leonard Fournette, holding Jacksonville’s rookie standout to 25 yards on 12 carries in a 27-24 Arizona win. (The Jaguars share the division lead with Tennessee, which has the tiebreaker advantage.)
Now they’ll face Mariota and the power-running game of the Titans, the last of the NFL’s 32 teams to play on the Cardinals’ home field. Tennessee is back up to seventh in the NFL running the ball and coming off its best rushing performance in more than a year after piling up 198 yards in last week’s 24-13 home win over Houston.
The Titans are the only team in the league with three runs of 70 or more yards in the same season since 2012, and Derrick Henry has two of them — both in the fourth quarter to seal victories.
But they’re not just counting on their ground game, and they’re glad to have wide receiver Rishard Matthews back after he missed the past two games with an injured hamstring. In addition to trying to help Tennessee earn a third straight win, the sixth-year pro planned to watch Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald closely.
“Just a guy that’s done it that long the right way — the quote-unquote right way — for so long in his career, still playing, definitely (will) be a first-ballot Hall of Famer,” Matthews said of Fitzgerald, who has more than 15,000 receiving yards, 1,200 catches and 100 touchdowns in 14 NFL seasons.
“Just going to be kind of eye-opening to be across from him and watching him perform in person,” Matthews added. “I got to watch him my rookie year, but to see him still play at a high level is great.”
Fitzgerald needs 26 receiving yards to pass Randy Moss and move into third on the NFL career list behind Terrell Owens and Jerry Rice. Fitzgerald was a ball boy for the Minnesota Vikings when Moss was a star there, and he said he used to wash Moss’s car for cash, even borrowing his BMW to go to his high school prom.
“I love Randy,” Fitzgerald said. “He taught me this game. I grew up immortalizing him, watching him, trying to emulate what he was doing every single day. … He’s always been over-the-top kind to me. Anytime that you can have your name mentioned in the same sentence as Randy Moss, you’ve got to be happy.”
Although it’s late in the season, the Titans are relatively healthy, with outside linebacker Derrick Morgan — the team’s sacks leader with 7.5 this year — the only member of the team with an injury designation for today’s game. He sprained a knee during last Sunday’s home win, sat out practice all week and won’t play today.
Tennessee cornerback Logan Ryan cleared the concussion protocol and will be active, and tight end Delanie Walker (ankle), the team’s leader in catches and receiving yards, is also good to go.
With Morgan out, the Titans will start Erik Walden in his place, while Kevin Dodd will move up in the rotation as the third outside linebacker and Nate Palmer might play there, too.
“He’ll get more snaps than he’s obviously gotten,” Mularkey said of Walden. “He’s like a starter for us, the way we rotate those guys. I don’t think there’s a big drop-off.”
The Titans are on the road for the third time in four games, and they will remain in the desert this week, practicing at Arizona State University in Tempe for next Sunday’s game at San Francisco.
“These are long days for us anyhow — it’s not going to change much,” Mularkey said. “I’ll be in a hotel instead of my office. They’re long days. Players will have time to do some things out there. We’ve designed some things for their day off to do. There’s plenty for them to do out there, and the nice part is that they’re going to get to do it together for the week.”