Mariota catches Touchdown pass in Titans loss to Jets

“We just have to continue to play and get better”.

Late in the third quarter of this one, the Titans and Mariota were not really in a good way, down 27-0 to the Jets.

“[It] took us long enough”, defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson said, referring to the three-game streak.

“We have a lot of young guys and this is the week where all the veterans really step(ped) up and put their foot on the pedal and pushed everybody”, Marshall said.

Bullock missed a 53-yard field goal on the Jets’ next series but capped the next two drives with field goals of 47 yards and 27 yards.

Unfortunately, the Titans still have their toughest road game left, as they visit the New England Patriots (11-2) on Sunday in a game that has been dredging up painful memories of a 59-0 loss there in 2009.

Tennessee interim coach Mike Mularkey said the team’s headsets failed just before the play, leading to confusion on the field. “We’re not that good”. Not only did the Titans only do it once or twice despite it working, they failed to run any fake rubs either.

“We went up to the” line of scrimmage, Fitzpatrick said, “and there was nobody over there on Brandon”. The Titans are not a tremendous team, however.

Fitzpatrick has led this Jets team to an 8-5 start, and a sixth seed in the NFL Playoffs.

In fact, if New York, Kansas City (8-5) and Pittsburgh (8-5) all win out, making them all 11-5, the Jets would be on the outside looking in because of tiebreakers. “I’m focused at the task at hand”, he said, referring to the Cowboys (4-9), whom the Jets will play Saturday night in Texas. But I will say this – I thought they came out and responded better in the second half. The play of the game had to be Brandon Marshall’s 69-yard touchdown reception, the play embodied the entire game showing how outmatched the listless Titans’ team was. He’s thrown nine touchdowns and no interceptions over that stretch, bringing him up to 25 touchdown passes for the year. It is meaningful that the Titans’ offense had more first downs on a third-quarter touchdown drive (five) than it had in the entire first half.

“I don’t think we’ve peaked yet”, Bowles said. The rest of the Jets had 131 catches for 1,268 yards. They are in the middle of the race for an AFC wild-card spot in a season when few expected them to be real contenders.

-WR Kendall Wright (ribs) was inactive Sunday, when the Titans fell to the Jets, 30-8. However, Kerley appeared to be walking gingerly after a two-yard return and the Jets announced shortly thereafter that he was doubtful to return with the calf injury.

The Jets’ passing offense hasn’t been that great in the past number of seasons, as neither Mark Sanchez nor Geno Smith led prolific passing offenses during their time as starters. The Titans had a first down at the Jets’ 34, but were unable to move the ball, mostly thanks to sacks by Leonard Williams and Muhammad Wilkerson.

Marcus Mariota is a tremendous athlete.

And while the running game was dictating the pace of the game after the break, the fact that they were only able to produce a kick in two quarters takes away from a first half that gets as close to flawless as it gets in the National Football League. The three sacks Sunday increased Wilkerson’s season total to a career high 12.