NASHVILLE, Tenn. —The Tennessee Titans (1-1) play their first home game of the 2015 regular season this week against the Indianapolis Colts (0-2). Kickoff at Nissan Stadium (capacity 69,143) is scheduled for noon CDT on Sunday, Sept. 27.
The game begins a rare span for the Titans that includes four home games and a bye. The next away game the Titans will play is Nov. 1 at Houston, giving them five weeks during the regular season without a road contest. In the 56-year history of the organization, that has happened only three previous times: 1960, 1964 and 1967.
Fans attending the game are encouraged to participate in the LP PENCIL Box School Supply Drive. LP PENCIL Box, a collaborative non-profit venture between PENCIL Foundation and LP Building Products, offers Nashville Metro teachers the opportunity to acquire school supplies for the city's most in-need children. Collection locations will be positioned outside of Nissan Stadium to collect items from erasers and pencil boxes to hand sanitizers, colored pencils, pens and rulers.
THE BROADCAST
This week's game will be televised regionally on CBS, including Nashville affiliate WTVF NewsChannel 5. Tom McCarthywill handle play-by-play duties alongside analyst Adam Archuleta.
The Titans Radio Network, including Nashville flagship 104.5 The Zone, will carry the game across the Mid-South with the "Voice of the Titans" Mike Keith, analyst Frank Wycheck, gameday host Rhett Bryan and sideline reporter Jonathan Hutton.
Additionally, Westwood One Sports will broadcast the Titans-Colts game to a national audience. Kevin Lee (play-by-play) and Ross Tucker (analyst) will have the call.
**
TITANS LOOK TO REBOUND AFTER WEEK 2 LOSS**
The Titans found success in Week 1 of the season, traveling to Tampa Bay to get a 42-14 win over the Buccaneers. In Week 2, however, they were unable to discover the same formula in Cleveland and ultimately fell to the Browns by a final score of 28-14.
The Browns tallied the game's first 21 points, keeping the Titans off the scoreboard until the third quarter. Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota got his team back in the game with touchdown passes of 19 yards to tight end Anthony Fasano and 13 yards to wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham, but it was not enough to overcome three total touchdowns by Browns receiver Travis Benjamin (two receiving touchdowns, one punt return for a touchdown) and three takeaways by the Browns defense.
Through his first two pro games, Mariota has completed 34 of his 53 pass attempts for 466 yards. The second pick in the 2015 NFL Draft has six touchdown passes and zero interceptions, giving him an NFL-best passer rating of 129.9. It is the highest rating by any Super Bowl-era quarterback (since 1966) in his first two career starts.
Also, Mariota's six touchdown passes are the most in NFL history in a quarterback's first two career games. Only four previous quarterbacks had ever completed as many as five touchdown tosses in their first two contests: Johnny Green (Buffalo, 1960), Greg Cook (Cincinnati, 1969), Mark Rypien (Washington, 1988) and Gus Frerotte (Washington, 1994).
**
THE COLTS **
The Colts are 0-2 for the second straight season after opening with a 27-14 loss at Buffalo, then dropping a 20-7 contest to the New York Jets on Monday Night Football.
Colts head coach Chuck Pagano and quarterback Andrew Luck are in their fourth season together in Indianapolis. The Colts finished 11-5 and earned playoff berths in each of their first three seasons, including 2014, when they won the AFC South and made it to the AFC Championship Game.
Luck joined Dan Marino and Peyton Manning as the only players to pass for 4,000 yards in two of their first three campaigns. He also led the NFL with 40 touchdown passes in 2014, and his 86 touchdown passes in his first three years rank second in history behind Marino.
Luck is one of several players for Indianapolis with Pro Bowl experience. Two more Pro Bowl weapons were added during the offseason via free agency: former San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore and former Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson.
