Titans in first with win over Jaguars
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota just has a knack for beating the Jacksonville Jaguars.
He has done it with his arm. He has done it with his legs. Now he has done it off the bench.
Mariota directed three scoring drives in relief of Blaine Gabbert, including one in the fourth quarter, as the Titans knocked off the Jaguars 9-6 Sunday for their third straight victory in the AFC South rivalry series. Mariota improved to 5-2 against Jacksonville, the fourth-year pro’s most wins against any opponent.
First-year Titans coach Mike Vrabel gave Mariota a game ball in the locker room.
“He was fantastic,” Vrabel said. “He cares about this team immensely. He wants what’s best for this team. You saw him come in there, get us some first downs and give us a spark.”
Mariota sat out last week’s home win against the Houston Texans because of an elbow injury sustained in the season opener. He still was experiencing arm weakness along with numbness and tingling in two fingers in advance of the trip
to Jacksonville, saying the injury affects the velocity and spin he is able to put on the football, so his backup got the start again.
Mariota, who wore a glove on his injured right hand, replaced Gabbert (concussion) in the first quarter and did just enough to beat the Jaguars (2-1) for the fifth time in the past six meetings.
Mariota completed 12 of 18 passes for 100 yards and ran for 51 more, including a 15-yard gain on a third-and-1 play late. The Titans (2-1) milked the clock from there and ended up celebrating an early lead in the division.
“Jacksonville has been favored over us these last couple of games because people look at papers; they don’t pay attention to how we play,” Titans defensive tackle Jurrell Casey said.
“They walk into this game thinking they’ve got it, and we know what we can do on our side of the field and we make sure we do it all four quarters. Don’t let them get ahead of you and we can play with these guys.”
Tennessee finished with 233 yards, but grinded out 150 on the ground, played mistake-free football and let the defense do most of the heavy lifting. Ryan Succop kicked field goals of 39, 36 and 28 yards, the latter providing the game’s final points with 4:06 to play. He missed a 48-yard attempt at the end of the first half.
“We’re not afraid of anyone,” Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan said. “We’re going to play as if we belong anywhere. People will count us out, but that’s not the case.”
Fresh off a vengeance victory against the New England Patriots, Jacksonville looked lost most of the afternoon on one side of the ball, failing to score an offensive touchdown against the Titans for the second time in as many meetings.
Tennessee took away big passing plays, kept a spy on Bortles and dared the Jaguars to win with two backup offensive linemen and a backup running back.
Playing without running back Leonard Fournette, left tackle Cam Robinson and right guard A.J. Cann, Jacksonville managed 232 yards and a measly 12 first downs. Poor throws, dropped passes and eight penalties hurt, but so did coach Doug Marrone’s decision to try a fake punt early in the game.
Corey Grant was stopped on the fourthand-4 play, giving the Titans the ball near midfield and leading to Succop’s first field goal.
“I always regret decisions that don’t work,” Marrone said. “I just wanted to be aggressive early and had the look.”
Jaguars kicker Josh Lambo made both field goals he attempted, from 46 yards in the second quarter and from 38 in the fourth.
Jacksonville never found an offensive rhythm, though, looking much more like the team that struggled in the opener against the New York Giants than the one that shined last week to pay the Patriots back for last season’s AFC championship game loss.
“We’ve got to not hurt ourselves, especially the way our defense is and the way we play,” Bortles said. “We’ve got to score one touchdown to win the game. To go out there and score six points in four quarters, that’s bad as an offense.
“We’ve got to find out and figure out how we’re going to handle it as a team.”
Fournette missed his second straight game because of a strained right hamstring. Jacksonville ran for 87 yards and lost for the first time in five games without him.
The Jaguars insisted there was no finger-pointing after the game, even though it was clear the loss was on the offense. Jacksonville linebacker Telvin Smith even blamed the defense.
“We say we’re the best,” Smith said. “We’ve got to go out and be the best.”