OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Marcus Mariota and Derek Carr look ready for the season to start after a successful preseason dress rehearsal. Mariota led Tennessee to scores on all four drives he played and Carr threw two touchdown passes for Oakland and the Titans beat the Raiders 27-14 on Saturday night.
With the starters getting their most playing time in the third week of the preseason, the offenses looked in midseason form while both first-team defenses struggled mightily. Mariota had the Raiders scrambling all night, faking out DJ Hayden on an option run and beating Oakland’s top cornerback Sean Smith on a couple of plays.
After settling for field goals on Tennessee’s next two drives, Mariota led one more TD drive late in the half before calling it a night. He finished 9 for 16 for 170 yards and ran for 20 more.
Carr completed 10 of 15 passes for 146 yards. He was able to hit a couple of deep passes, including a 41-yarder to Michael Crabtree on the opening drive and a perfectly placed 29-yarder to Amari Cooper in the end zone for his second TD pass.
Rookie second-round pick Derrick Henry used his size to overpower Raiders defenders at times and rushed for 49 yards on 12 carries with a 3-yard TD run.
The Titans will play their final preseason game against the Miami Dolphins Thursday night in Florida, which you can watch on News 2 and hear on ESPN Clarksville 104.1 FM and 540 AM.