On the winning play from the Saints’ 5, Mariota (28 of 39 for 371 yards) rolled to his right, pivoted and then threw back across the field to his left for Fasano, who was wide open in the back of the end zone.
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The Titans are coming into the weekend after firing head coach Ken Whisenhunt and now Mike Mularkey takes over as the interim coach for the season.
The success for the two quarterbacks continued into the second half, as Brees found Michael Hoomanawanui for his fourth total touchdown of the game and Mariota answered on the next drive with his third touchdown of the game on and eight-yard strike to Justin Hunter.
Mariota has been named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in Sunday’s 34-28 overtime victory against the New Orleans Saints.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Both teams’ kickers missed potential go-ahead field goal tries in the final 2 minutes of regulation.
Brees threw scoring passes of 10 yards to tight end Josh Hill and 38 yards to wide receiver Brandin Cooks in marching the Saints 72 and 80 yards on their first two possessions.
Drew Brees, meanwhile, was 28-39 for 389 yards and three touchdowns with one interception.
New Orleans Saints (4-4) are back home this week to host the Tennessee Titans (1-6) Sunday at noon CT in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
“I’m still shaking”, Mularkey said.
The Titans face the undefeated Panthers (8-0) on Sunday.
“Obviously, it’s unfortunate. It just happens”, Byrd continued, stressing that the play cannot be compared to a fly ball in baseball, in which teammates can communicate without worrying about the opposing team’s players in close proximity. The Saints have now gone 10 straight home games without an interception, by far the longest streak in the NFL.
The former Oregon Ducks star quarterback was fortunate on his first touchdown pass late in the first quarter. “To be honest, I lost the ball in the lights when (QB Marcus Mariota) threw it”, Walker said of his wild touchdown catch.
“You can’t simulate game speed, but that will show up on Sunday when the adrenaline gets flowing”, Mularkey said. But what I saw is a quarterback that could play in any system that you put him in. But even if fans get that change they want to see, they can’t expect a full turnaround mid-season – that’s just not how it works.
Don’t discount the Titans who just fired their coach, got their quarterback back and beat the Saints who had been playing well. If you can not run the ball, you pretty much have no chance to win the game.
A week ago against the Giants, Brees threw for 505 yards and seven touchdowns to lead the Saints to victory over the Giants. Mariota suffered a sprained ankle early in the season and then suffered a sprained MCL that knocked him out the past two weeks. Mularkey delivered on his promise to keep Marcus upright. The Saints have 12 sacks combined in the past three games, with defensive end Cameron Jordan getting five.
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The Titans finally figured things out for at least one week in their win over the Saints.
