The Titans fell behind the 49ers 16-3 in the first half of Sunday’s game before they made a change on offense that got them back into the game.
Coach Mike Mularkey went to the no-huddle as they increased both their offensive tempo and effectiveness. Quarterback Marcus Mariota threw two touchdowns as the Titans scored 17 straight points to move into the lead. They couldn’t hold it and lost 25-23, but wide receiver Rishard Matthews liked the decision to go to the no-huddle and hopes there’s more of it in the future.
“I’d rather have Marcus calling the shots,” Matthews said, via ESPN.com. “There’s proof in the success when that happens. I’d like to do no-huddle more. I know we’d all like to do it more. We definitely talk about it a lot. Sometimes we go into it a lot. Sometimes we don’t. This game we stayed in it, and I feel like we were pretty good when were in it.”
Matthews didn’t talk about the team’s play call on third-and-two with the 49ers up by two and just over a minute left to go, but it was another spot where some would have likely chosen to put the ball in Mariota’s hands given the day he was having. Mularkey opted to give the ball to DeMarco Murray, who was stuffed to set up a field goal that left the door open for Robbie Gould to win the game with another kick as time expired.
The loss didn’t knock the Titans out of playoff position, but it left them vulnerable to falling out of the mix over the last two weeks. We’ll see if that leads to a change in offensive approach against the Rams on Christmas Eve.
