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NEW ORLEANS -- No one could blame Tennessee Titans interim head coach Mike Mularkey for getting emotional and tearing up after his team's 34-28 overtime victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. For one thing, the Titans (2-6) snapped a six-game losing streak and an abysmal stretch of 16 losses in their previous 17 games, which cost head coach Ken Whisenhunt, Mularkey's good friend, his job last Tuesday.
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For another, the Titans trailed the Saints by 11 points midway through the second quarter, and the Saints appeared to be on a roll, having won three straight games and having scored touchdowns on their first three series to take a 21-10 lead.
But in the end, rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota, playing at less than full strength due to a sore knee, threw four touchdown passes, including a 5-yard across-the-field toss to tight end Anthony Fasano, to win the game in overtime. Mariota went 28-of-39 for 371 yards and was not sacked in shredding the Saints' defense.
"I'm still shaking, to be honest," Mularkey said after the Titans compiled a season high 489 yards in total offense. "It's been an emotional week for everybody on this team. For them to come out and respond like they did in an emotional, roller coaster of a game - there were numerous times they could have said it's over, and they never did. I've been in a lot of football games, but this is one of my proudest moments as a coach."
On the winning play from the Saints' 5, Mariota rolled to his right, pivoted and then threw back across the field to his left for Fasano, who was wide open in the back of the end zone. Fasano lined up on the right side, faked a block and then snuck his way across the field to the left. The Saints totally lost him in the mix.
Mularkey said the Titans had practiced the play for two weeks.
"I told everyone that when we get on the 5-yard line, we're going to call that play and that's a touchdown," Mularkey said. "We had that much confidence in it, and it looked good."
Mularkey said he borrowed the play from the Miami Dolphins, who used it against him successfully for a touchdown when Fasano was playing for the Dolphins and Mularkey was coaching the Jaguars in 2012.
"The good part is I was on the other end this time," Mularkey said.
Mariota was a combined 11-of-11 for 111 yards and two touchdowns on the Titans' game-tying and game-winning drives. He did get one gift from the Saints' defense: his 61-yard TD pass to Walker in the first quarter should have been a sure interception, but safety Jairus Byrd slammed into cornerback Keenan Lewis as he tried to grab the ball, and it popped loose into Walker's hands.
"It's better to be lucky than good," said Mariota, who was trying to throw the ball away on the play.
Mariota was the first rookie in NFL history to throw for 350 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in a single game.
It was a bitter loss for the Saints, who clawed their way back from a 1-4 start to get to .500 with three consecutive victories. The Saints had a chance to go ahead in the final minute of regulation, but Kai Forbath, who had nailed a 50-yarder to beat the New York Giants 52-49 as time expired last week, missed a 46-yard field goal, and the game went to overtime tied at 28.
Forbath's field goal was low and never had a chance. Saints coach Sean Payton said he believed the kick was tipped.
"It's hard to tell without seeing the film if the trajectory was low, if the hold was clean," Payton said. "I'm not sure. We hit a big kick last week to win and had an opportunity to do it. Obviously we didn't. We've got to get that cleaned up."
Drew Brees completed 28 of 39 passes for 389 yards and three TDs - to tight end Josh Hill, receiver Brandin Cooks and tight end Michael Hoomanawanui - but he blamed himself for a critical interception by cornerback B.W. Webb in the end zone that killed a Saints' scoring drive late in the third quarter. The Saints were leading 21-20 at the time.
Still, after Brees hit Hoomanawanui for a 1-yard score, the Saints led 28-20 with 11:32 left. But Mariota took advantage of a short field -- the Titans got the ball at their 43 as a result of personal foul on Saints linebacker Michael Mauti on the ensuing kickoff -- to drive 57 yards in eight plays to tie the game at 28.
Mariota got the touchdown with an 8-yard slant to wide receiver Justin Hunter, making it 28-26 with 7:06 left. Mularkey opted for a two-point conversion, and Mariota made the gamble pay off by hitting tight end Delanie Walker on a slant to tie the game at 28.
NOTES: Titans K Ryan Succop had made 15 consecutive field goals until he missed the 55-yard in the fourth quarter. ... The Titans had entered the game yielding 28 sacks in seven games. QB Marcus Mariota was not sacked. ... Titans CB Perrish Cox gave up three long passes and left in the first half with a strained hamstring. ... Saints S Kenny Vaccaro injured his right shoulder late in the game but returned. ... The Titans had not gained 300 yards in the last four games.
