NASHVILLE, Tenn. – All the questions about whether mild-mannered Marcus Mariota’s personality is fit to lead an NFL team had been answered with a resounding yes well before Monday night.

But his reaction after his 53-yard touchdown throw to Taywan Taylor solidified and symbolized it.

He’s a super polite, low-key guy. But he will grab someone and express a strong message when needed.

Just after he released that pass, he got hit by Jonathan Hankins, who had finally gotten by Quinton Spain. The guard didn’t like the hit and wanted to let Hankins know about it, but Mariota saw Spain’s interest in jawing with the defensive lineman and intervened, pushing Spain toward the extra point territory and pointing.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – In 14 years as an NFL offensive coordinator or head coach, there have been zero instances when Mike Mularkey has seen zero mental errors from a group of wide receivers.

Until Monday night.

Earlier today I wrote about the great field sense we saw from Eric Decker. It turns out that he, Rishard Matthews, Taywan Taylor and Eric Weems didn’t make a mental mistake in the 36-22 win over the Colts.

That is a giant deal for a team that has often spoken of the difficulties created for its quarterback by targets who failed to get to the right spots at the right time.

“I thought it was huge,” Mariota said. “It’s a great step forward. Whenever one trusts the game plan, when everyone trusts what’s going on and trusts that they are going to be where they are supposed to be, we’re able to execute. That’s the standard, that’s what we have to live by…

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- In his best game since he joined the Titans late in the offseason, Eric Decker consistently showed off an excellent understanding of just where he was on the field during the Titans' win over the Colts Monday night.

That’s something the Titans have been craving for years and year, and something recent second-round picks Justin Hunter and Dorial Green-Beckham, who are no longer around, simply didn’t have.

“He is a special player,” Marcus Mariota said. “He finds ways to get open. He did a great job (Monday) in feeling some of those soft zones. When you have a guy like that convert third downs, it’s huge, that very important for the success of the offense.”

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The DeMarco Murray-Derrick Henry pairing worked out perfectly for the Titans Monday night during the team’s 36-22 win, and they are eager for more of it moving forward.

Henry touched the ball 20 times for 132 yards including a late 72-yard touchdown that clinched the win. Murraygot the ball 16 times and produced 87 yards.

The Titans wore down the Colts in the second half as they did to the Jaguars and Seahawks after intermission in their other two wins.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Titans endured a great deal during Monday night's win over the Colts, plenty of it self inflicted. Of course fans remained calm and wanted to see the whole thing play out before going crazy. Oh wait, no they didn't. Which means plenty of fodder for our weekly file reacting to overractive tweets.

I am a Titans fan.. but the Titans are garbage on both sides of the ball. It's a simple fact.

— Jamie Armstead (@j_armstead) October 17, 2017

PK: There are three teams in the AFC with more wins than the Titans. Three. And only eight teams in the whole NFL with more wins. The Titans haven’t played their best yet and they are in OK shape.

The Titans aren't very good at football

Ealon Matheny (@ealon007) October 17, 2017

PK: See above.

@PaulKuharskyNFL who's to blame for bad play calling? Mularkey or Robiskie?

— Brandon (@Branchise) October 17, 2017

PK: Terry Robiskie calls the plays. Including the 72-yard Derrick Henry TD run, the 53-yard TD throw to Taywan Taylor and five third-down conversions on seven plays in the second half.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – His podium interview conducted and concluded earlier than usual, Marcus Mariota sat back in his locker casually chatting with quarterback coach Jason Michael and director of sports medicine Todd Toriscelli late Monday.

Mariota and Michael looked over to Derrick Henry, surrounded by a media throng, and each grinned -- probably about the size of the crowd, the way we strained to contort into position where we could hear the running back and maybe at his army green shirt, that made him look like a military man, or his glasses, which make him look like a librarian.

Henry was smiling too, as he talked through the first 100-yard game of his NFL career and said he was ticked he didn’t hit the mark until the fourth-to-last play from scrimmage, a 72-yard TD run that made the final Titans 36, Colts 22.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – With second-half adjustments that produced a far better pass rush and more effective offense, Titans weaved their way to a complicated 36-23 win over the Colts Monday night.

It ended an 11-game losing streak to Indianapolis and got the Titans to 3-3, even with the Texans and Jaguars atop the AFC South.

Marcus Mariota threw a horrific pick-6 to John Simon in the third quarter but rebounded to engineer a go-ahead drive that moved the score to 22-19 with 10:01 remaining.

The Colts evened it out, but Mariota and the offense recovered and he lofted a pretty 53-yard TD pass to up the right side rookie Taywan Taylor for a lead that stood up.

The defense got a stop on Indianapolis’ nerve-wracking final charge.

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Titans need more electric, game-altering plays and they’ve got a good candidate to provide one in sticky rookie cornerback and explosive return man Adoree Jackson.

If he can provide such a play during Monday Night Football it could be a big part of a breakthrough for which the Titans are desperate. They’ve lost 11 in a row against the Colts, and 16 of their last 17.

The Titans credit Jackson with a team-high seven pass breakups. But the team has only four interceptions and two of them came from guys with part-time work in the secondary, Curtis Riley and Tye Smith. (Jackson was also fourth in the NFL coming into the weekend with an 11.6-yard punt return average.)

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