INTERCONFERENCE: Mariota, Titans beat Saints in overtime

Mariota threw four touchdown passes, including the game-winning 5-yard TD pass to Anthony Fasano in overtime to lead the Titans to a 34-28 road win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

There’s no taking Mariota’s huge game away from him, and he’ll rank better heading into next week against Carolina, but any huge game by a quarterback against the porous Saints defense has to be taken with a grain of salt.

The Titans went into Sunday’s meeting with the Saints hurting at cornerback and things got even worse as the game progressed. No one has to play outside of themselves.

While Mariota should have a good game, he won’t be able to escape New Orleans without a few bruises.

Steelers 38, Raiders 35: PITTSBURGH – Chris Boswell hit an 18-yard field goal with 2 seconds left to lift Pittsburgh after Ben Roethlisberger left with a potentially serious left foot injury. The Saints did not sack him once.

Mularkey said the Titans had practiced the play for two weeks. “We got a lucky break there”. Mularkey said pulling CB Perrish Cox will be day to day after being pulled from the Saints’ game to protect his hamstring.

The clutch play of rookie Marcus Mariota and the relentless effort of his beat-up defense meant that much to him.

“He’s going to play”, Titans interim coach Mike Mularkey said.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees (9) celebrates after a win against the New York Giants in a game at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. This ended up working, as the Titans did not give up a sack to New Orleans on Sunday. I do not feel like naming players, because it truly is on everyone to make it work.

On the season, the Tennessee Titans average 209.7 yards in passing and 100.1 yards in rushing.

“He’s a real tough kid”, Fasano said after the game. “You are struggling, fighting, scratching and trying to win”. Tennessee totaled 483 total yards of offense, easily their best output of the year, and won the turnover battle thanks to an effort in which Mariota neither fumbled nor was intercepted. That is not acceptable. They know that. It can’t happen.

Following Sunday’s game, Mularkey got emotional.

Tennessee scored its first touchdown on a play that lacked only Benny Hill music as the ball careened off two Saints defenders before falling into the unbelieving arms of tight end Delanie Walker, who sprinted 61 yards for a score that should have been a Saints interception, twice. “I’ve been in a lot of football games, but this is one of my proudest moments as a coach”.

And wins and losses affect the bottom line, which also apparently influenced Strunk to pull the plug on Whisenhunt and thus reset the quest for stability. Ironically, Drew Brees also threw for 28 for 39 yards for 3 touchdowns.

DGB arrives: In his first seven games, wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham had just seven catches.

“The snap, the hold, the fundamentals”, Saints coach Sean Payton said of Forbath’s attempted 46-yarder with 56 seconds left that the Titans’ Cody Sensabaugh got enough of it to make the ball fall far short. “I don’t think yards and touchdowns has anything to do with the encore”. This isn’t a one-guy-calls-off-the-other situation. “You just go for the ball”.