NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – (CLARKSVILLENOW) They’ve won their last three season openers, but the Tennessee Titans lost Sunday’s opening game 25-16 to the Minnesota Vikings.
DeMarco Murray scored twice on touchdown passes from Marcus Mariota, which gave the Titans a 10-0 lead at halftime. In the second half, it was an entirely different story as the Vikings scored twice on defense. The first was a pick 6 by Erick Kendricks that was returned 77 yards for a 12-10 Vikings lead.
After the Vikings took a 15-10 lead on a field goal, the defense struck for a second time as Mariota and Murray fumbled a handoff exchange that led to a Danielle Hunter 22 yard scoop and score to put the game away for Minnesota.
Mariota went 25/41 for 271 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, while rookie Tajae Sharpe led the team in receiving with 7 catches for 76 yards. The Titans defense was stout holding All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson to just 31 yards on 19 carries.
After the game, head coach Mike Mularkey said, “The turnovers obviously were catastrophic. I’ve never been in a game where you had one turnover, but two for scores and had a chance to win.”
Quarterback Marcus Mariota agreed. “We really just kind of beat ourselves today. We were moving the ball efficiently. We ended up giving them 14 points and we can’t do that,” he said.
The Titans travel to Detroit next Sunday for a week 2 match-up with the Detroit Lions. Catch the Game on ESPN Clarksville, 104.1 FM & 540 AM.