Marcus Mariota and the Tennessee Titans: 3 takeaways from Week 9

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.

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."

What we learned about the Titans:

1. The Titans proved they could keep things together during an emotionally charged week in which head coach Ken Whisenhunt was fired following a 1-6 start.

"We had a lot of distractions back in Tennessee, and we said we were going to take it out on the Saints," tight end Delanie Walker said. "The Saints are a great team, but we wanted it more. (Interim head coach) Mike Mularkey came in and did a great job preparing us to get ready to go out here for a fight. We stuck together."

2. Quarterback Marcus Mariota has a quick release and is an even quicker study. After being sacked 19 times in four games, Mariota made a conscious effort to get rid of the ball more quickly, and he used his feet effectively to neutralize the Saints' pass rush. New Orleans did not record a sack.

"We got the ball out of his hands quicker," Mularkey said. "We changed the scheme some on how we were going to get the ball out and get it down the field. Marcus made some great plays. He is accurate. If you can get him to get the ball out of his hands and he gets it into our guys' hands, that can turn out to be big plays."

3. The Titans played with so much emotion, it almost cost them the game. Linebacker Brian Orakpo was called for two unsportsmanlike penalties while arguing a roughing-the-passer call against linebacker David Bass, and that set up the Saints at the Titans' 1-yard line. Linebacker Wesley Woodyard drew an unsportsmanlike penalty for arguing a defensive holding call.

"That is just how a 1-6, emotional team is," Mularkey said. "You are struggling, fighting, scratching and trying to win. Sometimes, emotions get the best of you. That is not acceptable. That could have cost us the game. They know that. It can't happen. It will cost us a game if we don't get it under control."

Etc.

--QB Marcus Mariota became the first NFL rookie to throw for 350 yards and four touchdowns in a single game without an interception. He deflected his achievement to the offensive line. "I have to give credit to all of the guys up front," said Mariota, who was not sacked. "Throughout the entire game, they held their blocks and gave me time. It's incredible. Throughout this hectic week of ours, to pull out this win was huge."

--TE Anthony Fasano (three catches for 33 yards) may win the Emmy Award for fooling the Saints into thinking he was blocking and then sneaking into the left corner of the end zone for the game-winning, 5-yard reception in overtime. "It was just play-action by Marcus (Mariota), and he sold it great," Fasano said. "I happened to have the right coverage for the play, and it was called at the right time. I was wide open to make the catch. Catching those are sometimes tougher than the ones you have to contest for."

--TE Delanie Walker (seven catches, 95 yards) had two critical plays: a 61-yard touchdown on which two Saints defenders bumped into each other, deflecting the ball into his hands, and a slant route for a two-point conversion to tie the game, 28-28, with 7:06 left. "To be honest, I lost the ball in the lights when (QB Marcus Mariota) threw it," Walker said of his wild touchdown catch. "But he got it up there and he gave me an opportunity to make a play. They ran into each other, I turned around and I saw the ball pop out. The ball was just bouncing our way today."