Tennessee Titans: 5 Things to watch in game 2

Aug 14, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) fumbles the ball in the first quarter of their preseason NFL football game against the Atlanta Falcons at Georgia Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota had a rough start on Thursday night in the Georgia Dome, but he turned the corner with an impressive 5 for 5 drive and a touchdown before giving way to Zach Mettenberger in the second quarter.

During his 10 play, 80 yard touchdown drive, Mariota looked like a seasoned NFL quarterback. Head coach Ken Whisenhunt called some plays that the rookie was familiar with, but he responded like a pro.

Sunday night will be a different story however. While the Falcons are in a rebuilding mode with their first team defense, the Rams are not.

The Rams run a 4-3 based defense, and are deep with pass rushing talent on the D-line lead, by 5th year defensive lineman Robert Quinn out of North Carolina and free agent acquisition Nick Fairley from the Detroit Lions.

Quinn had 10.5 sacks in 2014 and had 46 tackles forcing 5 fumbles. He has 45 career sacks and will be a test for Taylor Lewan and the rest of the Titans offensive line.

At 6’4″ and 308 pounds, Nick Fairley’s job is stuffing the run at the line of scrimmage. His contribution on the Lions D-line freed-up Ndamukong Suh to do his thing with quarterbacks. Expect him to do the same for Quinn in St. Louis.

The Tennessee Titans coaching staff doesn’t spend a lot of time game-planning preseason games so it will be fun to watch Mariota navigate his way around a top-rated NFL defense.

Next: Offensive Line