Cleveland Browns vs Tennessee Titans Match Player Stats On Oct 16, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Oct 16, 2016

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Titans finally sent their home crowd home happy.

With Marcus Mariota throwing three touchdown passes and the defense holding the Cleveland Browns without a first down for most of the second half, Tennessee held on for a 28-26 win Sunday at Nissan Stadium.

Mariota completed 17 of 24 passes for 284 yards with an interception, capping his second straight three-TD pass week with a 15-yard scoring strike to Anthony Fasano with 6:43 left in the game for a 28-13 advantage. It polished off a 12-play, 80-yard drive that lasted nearly seven minutes.

While Mariota handled the offense, the defense clamped down on Cleveland (0-6) in the second half, not allowing a first down until the 5:32 mark of the fourth quarter and forcing four straight three-and-outs. The Titans (3-3) sacked Cody Kessler six times, their second straight game with a half-dozen sacks.

Kessler, who got the call despite suffering chest and rib injuries in last week's 33-13 loss to New England, hit on 26 of 41 attempts for 336 yards and two scores. But the Browns managed just 40 yards on 15 carries.

Tennessee, which won consecutive games for the first time since the 2013 season's end, opened the scoring when Mariota found Rishard Matthews for an 11-yard touchdown with 10:37 left in the first quarter.

Cleveland got the deficit down to 7-6 with 45- and 37-yard field goals by Cory Parkey, but the Titans made it 14-6 as Kendall Wright made a diving grab on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Mariota with 11:51 left in the half.

Kessler found Terrelle Pryor for a 7-yard scoring strike with 40 seconds remaining in the half, slicing the margin to 14-13 at halftime.

DeMarco Murray, who finished with 65 yards on 21 carries as the Browns keyed on him all game, barged in from the 3 with 9:33 remaining in the third period to make 21-13.

Kessler hit Pryor with a 5-yard touchdown pass with 2:07 left in the game, but Cleveland opted to go for two and failed instead of taking the extra-point kick to make it a one-score game.

That became a real item when Duke Johnson's 1-yard plunge with 27 seconds left cut the Tennessee lead to 28-26. Andre Johnson recovered the ensuing onside kick to wrap things up.

The result was just the fourth win in Tennessee's last 20 home games, dating back to the last game of the 2013 season.

NOTES: Cleveland's list of inactives was led by CB Joe Haden (groin). QB Josh McCown (shoulder), WR Corey Coleman (hand), FB Dan Vitale, TE Randall Telfer, TE Seth DeValve and DL Xavier Cooper were also inactive. ... Tennessee's inactives were CB Cody Riggs, DB Curtis Riley, OLB Aaron Wallace, G Sebastian Tretola, WR Harry Douglas, TE Jace Amaro and NT Al Woods. ... The Browns placed G Joel Bitonio (mid-foot injury) on injured reserve.