NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Adoree Jackosn played at least six snaps on offense Sunday, and he was a threatening presence who gained 30 yards on three touches in a 24-20 win.

Sure, Mike Mularkey and Terry Robiskie should use all the weapons at their disposal, Even with the biggest contribution yet for Jackson, the Titans needed late heroics in order to win a game where they should have crushed it based on a 416-308 net yard advantage and 40:09 to 19:51 edge in time of possession.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. –  Call it to close, call it ugly, call it lucky.

It’s all accurate.

But there was something that felt different about this one at the end, where the Titans found a winning drive and put up the winning score with 36 seconds left against a top-flight red zone defense.

Titans 24, Bengals 20.

I said last week you should expect a zig-zagging team, and the Titans delivered that again while winning a fourth consecutive game sof the first time since 2009.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Welcome to the weekly mailbag, where we cover a lot of ground, not just one item like you will find in some mailbags.

@PaulKuharskyNFL Do you think fans would be more excited about the #titans if Mariota were having a better statistical year? #pkmail

— The General (@mac9nj) November 11, 2017

Is fantasy football causing fans to be overly critical of player stats, particularly QB stats? #pkmail

— Angry Viking (@angriviking) November 10, 2017

PK: Yes, but this is a fan problem, not a team problem. If you’re a fan of a team you need to remain conscious of where fantasy football ends and real football starts. He’s hardly played his best and his stats aren’t impressive. And they’re 5-3. I think his best football this season is still ahead of him, which bodes well for him. But whether his numbers are good or not, I think if you’re a football fan in Nashville and this team stays on its current course, you should probably be more excited about it. (You can not be excited if you don’t want to be of course. But I don’t know that you can claim to be a giant fan if they are 6-3 heading to Pittsburgh and you say “meh.”)

Check out this picture I took Friday. (Yes, I tinkered with some settings.)

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Well, well, well.

We got off to a rough start here with two NFL losses and a college push. I also missed on my prediction of a three-interception game for the Titans.

Is that going to stop me from telling you about things I expect to happen this weekend? Hell no. But we might frame things a bit differently.

So here goes:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – From the outside looking in, some media and fans have a persistent question about the Titans. It buzzes around and I’ve swatted at it, but never landed a direct shot.

Are the Titans maximizing Marcus Mariota?

Many of you will scream no, right away.

But let’s go a bit deeper as I remind you that the league, and the world, is built with shades of gray and things are rarely black or white, yes or no.

Let’s start with what Greg Cosell of NFL Films said on The Midday 180 this week and build from there.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – When play-action teams don’t run much play-action, they usually say it’s because they aren’t having success running it.

But time and time again over the years I’ve see play-action passing work even if runs aren’t successful. It seems it’s not so much about running it well as it is just about running it at all.

“It’s because you still have to respect our run game, no matter what the situation is, if it’s a 1- or 2-yard gain, you’ve got to respect or run game and what we’re able to do,” Murray said. “Obviously they are stacking the box so I think that left some one-on-one matchups. It all plays in in the end, but at the end of the day I think defenses do respect our run game no matter what.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – I’ve been surveying the Titans on who their biggest football influence is.

Here is a sampling of the best answers.

Jurrell Casey: “The most influential person in my football life, I would say is my uncle, Forrest Burns. He coaches me all my life, taking me to the park, working on drills, really keeping me focused and motivated for football. And then my mom, she’s always been a die-hard fan, giving me support.”

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – We’ve doubled up on Twitter characters, and the first thing the vast majority of us did with it is joke about our plan for the extra space.

A lot of people on my timeline tested it out to see what they could fit.

One did a line-by-line of Mike Keith and Pat Ryan’s Titans Radio call of the Music City Miracle. Another listed all the years the Yankees won the World Series. A third saw how many times he could fit “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”