Marcus Mariota isn't looking for a scapegoat to explain his disappointing performance Thursday night.
The Tennessee Titans quarterback threw four interceptions in the team's 40-17 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he shouldered at least some of the blame for the loss.
"If you throw four interceptions, it's tough to win," Mariota told reporters after the game. "Those are me. When it comes down to it, I'm the one who makes the decision to throw, and [it was] just bad decisions."
Three of the four interceptions led to the Steelers scoring points on the ensuing possessions, handing nine points on three Chris Boswell field goals to Pittsburgh. It wasn't the best performance from Mariota, but he didn't have the best protection, either. He was sacked five times and regularly pressured in the pocket.
Titans coach Mike Mularkey said the four-turnover performance wasn't all Mariota's fault.
"First one sailed on him, there's no doubt on that," Mularkey said. "He could have used some help on the other ones, especially from the young guys. So, some lessons learned from some young players."
It wasn't a completely dreadful affair for Mariota. He completed 22 of 33 passes for 306 yards. He ran in a touchdown and threw another on a 75-yard pass to Rishard Matthews.
"We made too many mistakes against a good football team ... obviously it caught up to us there in the second half," Mularkey said. "We had opportunities to make it more of a game, and we failed to do so.
"The dam kind of broke in the second half because of all of the mistakes."
