Jaguars have no quick fix for ineffective defense

Marcus Mariota scored the go-ahead touchdown on an 87-yard run midway through a wild fourth quarter, and Tennessee edged Jacksonville, 42-39 Sunday to snap its 11-game home losing streak.

Mariota is coming one of his best performances of the year last week, becoming the first rookie QB to throw for more than 250 yards and three touchdown passes while also running for more than 100 yards.

Titans interim coach Mike Mularkey said he had one thought watching Mariota on his 87-yard TD run.

So if the Jaguars (4-8) are going to win any of their four remaining games, beginning Sunday against Indianapolis (6-6), they’re going to have to overcome an inept pass rush, poor tackling and average coverage skills. Jacksonville is the only team the Titans have beaten in Nashville the past two seasons, but they believe their 42-39 win over the Jaguars gives them something to build upon.

“We’re all going through the same battle”, Bradley said.

“It seems like it gets more and more frustrating every week”, Bortles said.

“It is disheartening”, Jaguars coach Gus Bradley said. Consider Tim Tebow, Robert Griffin III and Johnny Manziel: all three quarterbacks won the Heisman with similar rushing prowess, and all have all struggled to pan out in the NFL. Mariota was intercepted, but that was rookie receiver Dorial Green-Beckham’s fault.

“Hopefully this will carry us through the rest of this season and into the future”, linebacker Brian Orakpo said after the game.

The Tennessee Titans have a win today, moving them out of the number one overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft.

“The coaches here and Paul have helped me learn a lot about football, a lot more than I have in the past”, said Tripp.

A gutsy call to run the ball with five seconds left on the clock paid off for Tennessee as Andrews pounded his way one yard through the pile to tally a third Titans touchdown for the 21-12 score at halftime. Gabbert ended up finishing with 24 points in standard-scoring leagues after doing nothing of any significance before the two-minute warning of the fourth quarter. “The mistake is not learning from it, but I don’t think anybody would have really taken that call back with the way we ran it”. Marcus Mariota threw a touchdown pass to rookie fullback Jalston Fowler, and after Ryan Succop did his thing, the Titans led 21-17 with 4:41 left on the clock.

Even with the high-scoring final quarter, the Jaguars cost themselves when Jason Myers missed two extra points. The Jets may win this game, but I like what I’m seeing from the Titans as of late. On his touchdown catch, he caught the ball in the middle of the field, bounced off a defender attempting a tackle, and ran in for what amounted to a 47-yard score.

Bortles set the single-season Jaguars’ passing record and wide receiver Allen Robinson surpassed 1,000 receiving yards, the first Jaguars receiver to do so since Jimmy Smith in 2005. Baldwin had 94 yards on five catches while getting into the end zone twice.

Just like that, the Titans were back in control with a healthy 28-19 advantage with just under a quarter to play.

They signed third-year linebacker Joplo Bartu, who was cut by the Falcons on November 26, to the active roster and third-year linebacker Sean Porter, who was cut by the Bengals on November 30, to the practice squad. Myers was on the injury report before the game with an injured back.

Cornerback Aaron Colvin complained of ankle soreness before the game but was still able to play.