Tennessee Titans vs Las Vegas Raiders Match Player Stats On Aug 27, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Aug 27, 2016

OAKLAND -- If you like offense, the first half of Saturday night's Tennessee Titans' 27-14 victory over the Oakland Raiders provided it.

While neither team wanted to show too much of its hand, because they meet in week three of the regular season, both offenses showed enough in the first half of the contest to be optimistic about the upcoming regular season.

The Titans, who have won just five games the past two years combined, showed a nice balance on offense, scoring on all four of their first-half possessions. Quarterback Marcus Mariota found rookie receiver Tajae Sharpe, who caught a pass over the middle in traffic and raced 60 yards inside the 5 to set up DeMarco Murray's 1-yard touchdown run and a 7-0 Tennessee lead.

Oakland quickly answered on its first possession, continuing a trend for the Titans defense of giving up points on the opening drive. Tennessee's starting defense gave up a touchdown for the third straight preseason game, this one on Derek Carr's 6-yard TD pass to DeAndre Washington to tie the game.

The Titans' next two trips to the red zone stalled out and ended in field goals from Ryan Succop of 34 and 30 yards, as visiting Tennessee took a 13-7 lead.

That didn't last long, however, as Carr went back to work, directing another touchdown drive for the Raiders. This one was finished by receiver Amari Cooper, who made an impressive diving catch against Jason McCourty's coverage for a 29-yard score. The point after pushed Oakland into the lead 20-14.

But Mariota, who was 9 of 16 for 170 yards and added 20 yards on three rushes, came right back using a mix of run and pass to move the Titans back downfield. Rookie Derrick Henry finished that march with a 3-yard touchdown run to give Tennessee the lead for good.

Carr missed a chance to have a third TD as he overthrew Michael Crabtree on fourth-and-2 from the Tennessee 8 in the closing seconds of the first half. Still, Carr finished 12 of 18 for 169 yards and two scores.

For all the offense turned in by the starters on both teams, the only points of the second half came courtesy of the Titans defense, as Sean Spence's vicious hit on Washington knocked the football free. David Bass picked up the fumble and went 45 yards to the end zone for the game's final touchdown.