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Marcus Mariota starting to heat up as Titans enter key stretch of season

Don’t look now, but Marcus Mariota is heating up. He looked nearly flawless in a surgical dissection of the Jacksonville Jaguars in a 36-22 win by the Tennessee Titans that wasn’t as close as the score might indicate.

It certainly helps when the run game is cooking, and the Titans’ duo of DeMarco Murray and Derrick Henry cranked out a combined 183 yards on 36 carries and two touchdowns. But Mariota went to work on his own, too, toying with the Jaguars’ defense with his accuracy and touch. He also threw a key block on Murray’s score that seemed to get him and his team fired up.

Mariota finished the game 18-of-22 passing for 270 yards and two touchdowns, coming out midway through the fourth quarter with the game in hand. The Titans scored on six straight possessions — the first time the team had done that since 2007 — to put the game away early. The Titans’ 354 yards of offense in the first half were the most yards by an NFL team in a half this season.

Marcus Mariota was great on Thursday as the Tennessee Titans evened their record at 4-4. (AP)
Marcus Mariota was great on Thursday as the Tennessee Titans evened their record at 4-4. (AP)

Mariota’s best throw of the night might have been the 36-yard teardrop to Kendall Wright for a touchdown, recognizing that he had a busted coverage that must be exploited. It was spotted perfectly and helped display how much better Mariota has been on deep shots this season after an intriguing but ultimately disappointing rookie season.

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We still don’t know what “exotic smashmouth” is exactly, but we imagine it was something close to what the Titans executed Thursday night. They don’t need Mariota to be a hero with this run game; they just need him to be in control.

Over his past four games, Mariota now has completed 77-of-112 passes (68.8 percent) for 949 yards, with 10 touchdowns and only one interception, adding 19 rushes for 149 yards and a TD run. Sure, three of those were at home, and no one will argue that the Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts and Jaguars have provided the stuffest of defensive tests. But the results are encouraging nonetheless.

Now he must do it in key games. One knock on Mariota after his rookie season was that his best games came against the softest defenses the Titans faced.

The Titans evened their mark at 4-4 heading into a key stretch that could define how good their season will be in the suddenly winnable AFC South, even with a 1-2 division mark and a seemingly inexplicable inability to crack the Colts’ code. They go on the road for three of their next four (and yes, Indy is one of them) and welcome the Green Bay Packers to Nissan Stadium.

Mariota has now revved up his game to Range Rover levels, but he’ll be judged by his ability to finish off close games. Even after poor games in the losses to the Oakland Raiders, Houston Texans and Colts, Mariota had the Titans in a position to either win those games or send them to overtime. But late mistakes and breakdowns with the ball in the Titans’ hands cost them in the end all three times.

Mariota turned the page on those losses, vowed to be more accurate and more opportunistic and he was both of those on Thursday. If he can keep his strong play rolling and do it for four quarters, the Titans have a chance to make an unexpected run in Mariota’s second NFL season.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!