Titans return to postseason after 8 years

TITANS 15, JAGUARS 10

NASHVILLE, TENN.» Titans linebackers Brian Orakpo and Wesley Woodyard spoke with Marcus Mariota, encouraging their quarterback to run whenever he had a chance.

Mariota did just that Sunday. Mariota had his best game running since a broken right leg ended his season a year ago, and he helped the Titans end an eightseason playoff drought by beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 15-10 on Sunday to clinch the AFC’s first wild-card berth.

Orakpo called it an unbelievable feeling as the nine-year pro finally is headed to his first NFL postseason.

“I didn’t want to be on a Southwest flight back to Texas tomorrow wondering, ‘what if,’” Orakpo said.

The Titans (9-7) snapped a three-game skid needing a win or losses elsewhere to advance.

When Cincinnati beat Baltimore 31-27, that locked up the No. 5 seed for Tennessee and a wild-card game Saturday at Kansas City.

Mariota ran a season-high 10 times for 60 yards, the biggest a 13-yard scramble on third-and-5 at the two-minute mark that included a big stiff-arm. Mariota also threw for 134 yards, including a TD pass on a screen that Derrick Henry took 66 yards for a TD.

“When I looked into his eyes, he had those Oregon eyes like he did back in college, running around making plays,” Orakpo said of Mariota. “I think me and Wood got in his head a little bit — in a positive way. We talked to him like, ‘If you see something, take off, man.’ We had a nice little talk, and it just paid off the way he was digging down deep.”

The Titans sacked Blake Bortles twice and forced four turnovers, two interceptions by Kevin Byard.