Murray, Titans run to early lead, hold off Broncos 13-10

“We have to move on”.

A low-scoring game was settled in Tennessee’s favour with less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter when Avery Williamson stripped A.J. Avery to force a fumble and hand possession to the Titans.

Twice a visitor to Chattanooga for the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision title game during his playing days at the University of Montana, the first words out of Mariani’s mouth after he learned he was answering questions from a Scenic City reporter were: “Are you all OK down there after the fires?”

Tennessee is 6-6 and in a virtual tie at the top of the South, with Indy and Houston also 6-6.

On Sunday, against the Tennessee Titans, the Broncos made a multitude of errors and two of the worst came late in the game, with all the chips down. Trevor Siemian led the game in passing, completing 35 of 51 attempts for 334 yards and 1 touchdown.

Brice McCain started in Cox’s place and contributed three tackles, along with a pass defensed.

“That is how it is going to be sometimes”, Mariota said. “This is part of the process”. But Tennessee ran for 138 of its 180 yards in the first half in jumping out to a 13-0 halftime lead.

In a driving rainstorm, the Dolphins survived the Cardinals on a game-winning field goal as time expired to improve to 8-5 and stay in the playoff mix.

Denver especially struggled on third down, converting just three of 11 for the game.

“We had some opportunities to make plays there at the end that he would be the first one to tell you that he could make a couple of his plays, too”, coach Gary Kubiak said.

The Steelers are determined to ride perhaps the best back in the game, who enters unrestricted free agency, as far as he’ll take them.

The Titans used the NFL’s third-best rushing attack to control the first half and jump out to a 13-point lead, then held on to beat Denver 13-10 Sunday for their biggest win in years. That finished a 19-play, 74-yard drive that chewed up 8:04. They hold head-to-head tiebreakers over Miami thanks to a 30-17 win October 9 and also the Broncos. Yet Denver’s pass catchers not named Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders dropped the ball during the Broncos’ late comeback bid. While Denver wasn’t able to turn that drive into points, it seemed to create some much-needed momentum. And that won’t be easy given the way this team’s offense has played this season.

“It felt good”, Stafford said of his fumble recovery. “So I am just trying to keep going forward”. “We go back to work tomorrow”.

Marshall has been battling a hamstring injury and on Friday was ruled out for the game.

Even with defensive lineman Jurrell Casey sidelined by a sprained foot, the Titans held Denver to just 18 yards rushing, the fewest yards allowed by this team since September 18, 2005, when the Baltimore Ravens ran for 14 yards. The Titans also deactivated RB David Fluellen, DB Curtis Riley, LB Justin Staples, G Sebastian Tretola and TE Jace Amaro. Denver’s offense found a way to squander each of them, whether it was through ineffective passing, a non-existent ground game (nine carries, 18 yards), or costly turnovers.