Titans down world champ Eagles in overtime
Mariota calm for another rally win
NASHVILLE — Mike Vrabel took a timeout late in overtime with the Tennessee Titans facing their third fourth down of the series. Then the first-year coach pulled kicker Ryan Succop off the field.
Marcus Mariota, Corey Davis and the rest of the Titans rewarded Vrabel for his big show of confidence.
Mariota hit Davis with a 10-yard touchdown pass with five seconds remaining in overtime, and the Titans beat the Philadelphia Eagles 26-23 Sunday for their best start since 2013.
“He believes in us, believes we can go get that first down and go win the game,” Mariota said of Vrabel. “When you have a head coach that believes in you, man, that means the world.”
Succop was lining up for a 50-yard attempt when Vrabel took the timeout. Only 17 seconds remained with the Titans facing third-and-goal when Mariota finally ended the game after 3 hours, 36 minutes.
“I got my heart pills coming,” Vrabel joked. “I got a prescription, a big bottle. But I’m just proud of them being able to execute in the most critical of situations.”
The Titans (3-1) trailed the reigning Super Bowl champions by 14 points in the third quarter before rallying for the lead. They also trailed 23-20 in overtime before coming back again behind Mariota, who — in his first start since being knocked out of the season opener with an injured elbow — threw for 344 yards and two touchdowns while also running for a score.
On the game-winning drive, the Titans converted three
fourth downs, one by penalty. Mariota hit Taywan Taylor with a 19-yarder on fourth-and-15, then found a wide-open Dion Lewis on fourth-and-2 for a 17-yard advancement. On his touchdown toss to Davis, Mariota lofted the ball a bit knowing the second-year pro would have room in the end zone for the first regular-season touchdown catch of his NFL career. Davis had two touchdown catches in the 2017 postseason.
“I got tackled by a bunch of teammates, but it felt good,” said Davis, who finished with 161 receiving yards Sunday.
The Titans also came up with four sacks. Rookie linebacker Harold Landry got his first and also stripped Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz of the ball within the first minute of the fourth quarter, setting up the second of Succop’s two field goals.
The Eagles (2-2) had their chances to win both at the end of regulation and in overtime but were forced to settle for a pair of field goals by Jake Elliott.
“This hurts,” Philadelphia coach Doug Pederson said. “This stings. Losses like this sting, and it’s something we use as fuel for our emotion moving forward.”
Philadelphia had three chances inside the Tennessee 20 to win in regulation after DeAndre Carter returned a punt 42 yards to the Titans’ 39 with 1:41 left, but Wentz threw incomplete on first down and third down. Elliott kicked a 30-yarder to force overtime.
In the extra period, the Eagles had first-and-10 at the Tennessee 17 but had to settle for a 37-yard field goal by Elliott for the lead.
The Eagles were up 10-3 at halftime and 17-3 after a masterful drive that ate up more than seven minutes of the third quarter before Wentz found Alshon Jeffery on a 16-yard touchdown pass.
Mariota finally got the Titans’ offense going after just two offensive touchdowns through the first three games. He capped a 75-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to pull Tennessee within 17-10 late in the third, and he hit Tajae Sharpe with an 11-yard scoring pass in the fourth quarter.
The Eagles outgained Tennessee 432-397, with Wentz throwing for 348 yards. Jeffery finished with 105 receiving yards, and Zach Ertz had 10 catches for 112 yards.
Mariota had his sixth game-winning drive since the start of the 2017 season, not counting his playoff comeback in January to beat the Kansas City Chiefs. Mariota now has 11 such drives in his four-year career with the Titans.
Titans cornerback Logan Ryan was glad Vrabel let Mariota work his magic.
“I don’t know the point of having a tie in the NFL,” Ryan said. “I don’t know what it really does for the standings. I don’t know who feels good about it. It probably feels like a loss. We were comfortable with the decision no matter how it went down. That puts a lot of trust in your quarterback and your offense right there.”