Marcus Mariota and the Tennessee Titans caught the nation by surprise last week after the second overall pick led his team to a 42-14 rout over Jameis Winston and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in his pro debut. After throwing four touchdown passes and finishing with a perfect quarterback rating in Week 1, the Titans looked primed to steal another win on the road. While they aimed for their first 2-0 start since 2008, Johnny Manziel and the Cleveland Browns would steal the show with an impressive 28-14 victory.
Manziel got the nod to start after Josh McCown was ruled out with a concussion. The second year quarterback didn't take long to make an impact as he hit Travis Benjamin deep down the field for a 60-yard touchdown pass on his first throw of the game to take a 7-0 lead. Manziel finished the game 8-for-15 for 172 yards and two touchdowns. After forcing a turnover on Tennessee's next series, Isaiah Crowell capped off a seven-play, 50-yard drive with an 11-yard run to put the Browns up 14-0. The Browns' next score didn't come until the end of the first half when Travis Benjamin returned a punt for a 78-yard touchdown and a 21-0 halftime lead.
Cleveland's defense and special teams play were key factors. The defense was fantastic at getting pressure on the quarterback and limiting big plays, while the special teams unit controlled the field position battle the entire game. The Browns offense rarely had bad field position, starting several drives near midfield, while the Titans were consistently forced to drive down the field.
Tennessee bounced back in the second half to make it interesting but the comeback attempt wouldn't be enough. Despite trailing 21-0 at half, the Titans focused on establishing the run to help relieve some of the pressure off of Mariota who was sacked seven times through the course of the game. The adjustment provided a spark as Dexter McCluster rushed for a career-high 98 yards on 10 carries. The emergence of the run game kept the Browns pass rush honest and bought Mariota time to find his receivers down field. Mariota went on to connect with tight end Anthony Fasano and rookie wideout Dorial Green-Beckham for second half touchdowns to cut the score to 21-14 with just under seven minutes left in the game.
After being completely dominated in the first half, the Titans managed to claw themselves back into a one possession game. Just one defensive stop away from getting the ball back to their rookie quarterback to attempt a game-tying drive, the Titans delivered the kickoff. Cleveland came out with every intention of running out the clock. They quickly moved down the field picking up two first downs on four straight running plays. Two plays later on third down, Manziel dropped back to pass on third and six. After evading pressure off the edge from a blitzing Brian Orakpo he scrambled out of the pocket to his left, set his feet and fired a 50-yard game clinching touchdown to Benjamin who finished the game with three total scores. The Browns recorded their first win of the season and improve to 1-1, while the Titans fall to 1-1 with their first loss.