Marcus Mariota on Monday night threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to Taywan Taylor with 5 minutes, 29 seconds left, helping the Tennessee Titans beat the Indianapolis Colts 36-22 to end an 11-game skid tied for the NFL’s longest active losing streak against one team.
Mariota did not move around much on a cool night after missing a game with a strained left hamstring, but still managed to throw for a season-high 306 yards. He completed each of his three passes on the drive that ended with Taylor’s tiebreaking score.
The Titans (3-3) also ended a two-game skid with the win.
Jacoby Brissett tried to rally the Colts (2-4) to a second straight overtime, but Titans linebacker Wesley Woodyard forced Brissett out of bounds shy of the first down on fourth-and-inches with 2 minutes, 19 seconds left.
Indianapolis coach Chuck Pagano lost his challenge.
Derrick Henry then clinched the win for Tennessee with a 72-yard touchdown run with 47 seconds left. Henry, the 2015 Heisman Trophy winner, finished with a career-high 131 yards on 19 carries.
DeMarco Murray also scored.
The Titans looked like the NFL’s worst scoring defense in the first half instead of Indianapolis, with Brissett directing the Colts to a 13-9 halftime lead. John Simon then intercepted Mariota’s first pass of the third quarter and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown.
However, the Titans forced the Colts to go three-and-out on three of their first four drives of the second half, and Avery Williamson stripped tight end Jack Doyle of the ball after a catch.
Tennessee kicker Ryan Succop went five for five to break the NFL record for most consecutive successful field goals inside of 50 yards. He connected from 48, 32 and 40 yards in the first half and then hit from 23 and 48 yards in the third.
Succop began the day tied with Matt Bryant, who connected on 46 straight field goals inside 50 yards between 2013 and 2015 for the Atlanta Falcons.
Adam Vinatieri, the Colts’ accomplished kicker, got three field goals, including a 52-yarder. However, he missed an extra point off the left upright.
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