Titans aim to protect Mariota vs. Chargers
NASHVILLE — The Tennessee Titans have a sense of urgency about finding a way to fix their problems with pass protection.
Giving up 11 sacks this past Sunday in a 21-0 home loss to Baltimore — the Ravens set their franchise record for sacks in a game and were one shy of the NFL mark — is a beacon to defenses looking to hit quarterback Marcus Mariota.
“The blueprint’s out there,” Mariota said Wednesday. “It’s, ‘How are we going to be able to manage that and correct that so that lack of execution doesn’t happen again?’”
This franchise had never given up more than nine sacks in a game, and the last time that happened was against the Cincinnati Bengals on Oct. 31, 1971, when the Titans were still known as the Houston Oilers. Making last weekend’s sack-filled performance so surprising was that the Titans had allowed only nine sacks through the first five games.
Now they’re preparing to face the Los Angeles Chargers (4-2) — who had five sacks last Sunday in a 38-14 win against the Cleveland Browns — in London this Sunday, which will mark Tennessee’s first game in the NFL’s international series. Tennessee center Ben Jones said the Titans (3-3) have to hold up no matter how many defenders are coming after the quarterback.
“If they are bringing more guys or beating us late or right off the bat, we have to be on the right guys and have to hold up longer,” Jones said. “We put ourselves in bad situations. We were in third-and-long in a lot of situations. The routes take longer, everything takes longer, so we have got to be better and not put ourselves in those situations.”
Several of the sacks came with Mariota running, trying to extend plays while looking for a receiver. First-year Titans coach Mike Vrabel said that will be part of the discussions with the quarterback on the fine line of when Mariota can extend a play or the time to throw the ball away to avoid contact.
Vrabel acknowledged, however, that Mariota “has the ability to do some of those things and pick up some of those yards with his feet.”
Vrabel said the key is everyone doing more and doing better.
Tight end Jonnu Smith said the Titans have complete confidence in Mariota.
“Man, outsiders looking inside, they can’t really tell the true story, you know what I mean?” Smith said. “Marcus is a great player, and it has nothing to do with him. We’re a team, and especially on our side of the ball, it’s an offense and it takes all 11.”
“The blueprint’s out there. It’s, ‘How are we going to be able to manage that and correct that so that lack of execution doesn’t happen again?’”
– TITANS QUARTERBACK MARCUS MARIOTA