Tennessee Titans (3-3) vs. Cleveland Browns (0-6)
Sunday, October 22nd, 2017 | 1:00pm EDT/Noon CDT
Cleveland, OH | FirstEnergy Stadium | TV: CBS
Nashville, TN – The Tennessee Titans (3-3) travel this week to face the Cleveland Browns (0-6). Kickoff at FirstEnergy Stadium (capacity 67,431) is scheduled for 1:00pm EDT/Noon CDT on Sunday, October 22nd, 2017.
This is the first of four consecutive games for the Titans against teams from the AFC North. Following a Week 8 bye, they will host consecutive contests against the Baltimore Ravens (November 5th) and Cincinnati Bengals (November 12th) before visiting the Pittsburgh Steelers (November 16th).
The game will be televised regionally on CBS, including Nashville affiliate WTVF NewsChannel 5. Play-by-play announcer Spero Dedes and analyst Adam Archuleta will call the action.
The Titans Radio Network, including Nashville flagship 104.5 The Zone, will carry the game across the Mid-South with the “Voice of the Titans” Mike Keith, analyst Dave McGinnis, gameday host Rhett Bryan and sideline reporter Jonathan Hutton.
Titans look for Second Consecutive Win
The Titans will have a short week to prepare for Cleveland. They hosted the AFC South rival Indianapolis Colts on Monday Night Football last week and scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, ultimately prevailing by a final score of 36-22.
Marcus Mariota passed for 306 yards and a score, and Ryan Succop connected on five field goals in the win, which put the Titans in a three-way tie for first place in the division with the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans.
Mariota returned to the starting lineup after missing the previous week at Miami due to a hamstring injury. In his return, the third-year signal caller recorded his fourth career 300-yard passing performance, completing 23 of 32 passes for 306 yards with one touchdown and one interception (99.2 passer rating).
His 53-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Taywan Taylor broke a 22-22 tie with less than six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, and as a result, Mariota was credited with his fifth fourth-quarter comeback and game-winning drive in his first 32 career starts.
Second-year running back Derrick Henry capped the evening with a 72-yard touchdown run in the game’s final minute. With a team-high 131 yards on 19 carries, Henry hit the 100-yard rushing mark for the first time in his career.
Defensively, the Titans limited the Colts offense to 111 yards and a field goal in the second half. The Colts’ lone touchdown in the second half was scored by their defense. The Titans got a turnover on a fumble recovery by linebacker Wesley Woodyard (caused by linebacker Avery Williamson) and held the Colts to only two third-down conversions on nine attempts (22 percent).
About the Cleveland Browns
Last week the Browns were in Houston, where they fell to the Texans by a final score of 33-17 in a game that marked the first career start for second-year quarterback Kevin Hogan. The 2016 fifth-round pick completed 20 of 37 passes for 140 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.
Rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer, a second-round pick from Notre Dame, started the first five weeks of the season for the Browns and totaled 851 yards with three touchdowns and nine interceptions.
One of the Browns’ two touchdowns against the Texans came courtesy of former Titans cornerback Jason McCourty, who returned his third interception of the season 56 yards for a score.
McCourty was selected by the Titans in the 2009 NFL Draft and spent his first eight seasons with the team before signing with the Browns during the 2017 offseason. Former Titans wide receiver Kenny Britt, a first-round pick in the same draft class as McCourty, also plays for the Browns but was inactive the last two weeks with knee and groin injuries.
The Browns are in their second season under head coach Hue Jackson. Now in his 17th NFL campaign, Jackson served as the offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals for two seasons prior to joining the Browns. During the 2017 offseason, Jackson hired former Titans defensive coordinator Gregg Williams to fill the same role on his staff.
