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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Marcus Mariota is showing he can take good care of the football after the Tennessee quarterback took some well-deserved criticism for too many turnovers in his young career.Mariota and his Titans teammates have not turned the ball over in back-to-back games and in three of the last four overall; they are 2-2 in those contests.The second-year signal caller shared the credit with all of the Tennessee offense Wednesday when asked about the improved ball security. Wide receiver Rishard Matthews pointed the finger back at the quarterback.Hes doing a good job making the calls, making the adjustments and getting the ball out when he needs to or taking off if he needs to, Matthews said. So its all on him controlling the ball and everything.That has allowed the Titans (5-6) to improve their turnover ratio to minus-2 in a season where theyve had eight interceptions and lost five fumbles. Mariota was intercepted five times through the Titans 1/3 start, and now he has been picked off just three times over the past seven games.Coach Mike Mularkey said ball security has been a top priority and that the Titans cant talk about it anymore than they do or practice it anymore. The coach believes experience is helping Mariota learn and improve with now 23 career starts.Its some of the bad experiences of what has happened because of those turnovers and the results of some of the turnovers, Mularkey said. Thats a tough lesson to learn for a player. I promise you thats part of the process of him learning how to take care of the football.Mariota also is benefiting from better protection. Hes only been sacked 18 times this season, and thats allowing him to throw the ball down the field more. He currently is tied with Andrew Luck for third in the NFL for the most completions of 20 yards or longer. Mariota has 41 such completions, seven of those for touchdowns, putting behind only Atlantas Matt Ryan (46) and Drew Brees (42).Chicago coach John Fox, who will look to force Mariota into a couple of turnovers when the Titans visit his Bears (2-8) on Sunday, has been impressed.I think Marcus is doing an outstanding job delivering the ball with still keeping emphasis in the run game, Fox said in a conference call.The second-year quarterback also has thrown two or more TDs while posting a passer rating of at least 100 in nine of his 23 games. If he does it again Sunday, Mariota would be just the fourth player in NFL history to do that 10 times in his first two seasons behind Dan Marino (14), Russell Wilson of Seattle (12) and Kurt Warner with St. Louis (11).In franchise history, only four quarterbacks have done that at least 10 times in their entire career led by Steve McNair (29), Warren Moon (26), George Blanda (17) and Dan Pastorini (10).Tennessee is trying to stay in the playoff chase with five games left, and Matthews said having Mariota helps.Weve been fortunate to have Marcus healthy, knock on wood, and hopefully he can continue to make plays for us, Matthews said.Game notes The Titans gave RB DeMarco Murray (toe) the day off Wednesday. LT Taylor Lewan (left knee), CB Brice McCain (knee) and TE Phillip Supernaw (concussion) also did not practice. Mularkey said Lewan is being evaluated daily and hope he can play Sunday. ... The Titans announced a $25,000 donation to The Woodmore Fund for the families of the victims in the Chattanooga bus crash that killed five children Monday. They also will wear a helmet sticker W.E.S. for Woodmore Elementary against the Bears.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL.---Follow Teresa M. Walker at www.twitter.com/teresamwalker Custom Clippers Jerseys . The (11-11-4) Jets are seventh in the Central Division with 26 points. Fifth place Dallas and sixth-seeded Nashville also have 26 points, but the Stars have three games in hand on Winnipeg while Nashville has two. Wholesale Custom Clippers Shirts . "It was nerve-wracking, but we pulled through," said Collaros, who threw four touchdown passes to lead the Toronto Argonauts (8-4) to a 33-27 win over the Calgary Stampeders (9-3) in front of 28,781 fans at McMahon Stadium. http://www.customclippersjersey.com/custom-chris-paul-jersey-large-79x.html . 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Still, Denvers dynamic defense produced four pivotal turnovers in a wild 25-23 victory over the previously surging Saints on Sunday.The Saints offense is real tough and we knew that coming in, said Stewart, who had two interceptions and a fumble recovery . We had a lot of guys out injured, which only made the challenge more difficult. But we had a lot of guys who stepped in and made contributions. That was huge.The game ultimately was decided in the unlikeliest of ways. Denver rookie Justin Simmons blocked a potential go-ahead, extra-point kick by New Orleans Wil Lutz, and rookie teammate Will Parks grabbed the loose ball, returning it 84 yards for a defensive 2-point conversion with 1:28 left in the game.Yet New Orleans might never have relinquished its 17-10, second-half lead if not for two fumbles forced by Denvers defense.The Broncos, who entered the game with the top-rated pass defense in the NFL, intercepted Brees twice in the first half.Stewart made his first interception by anticipating Brees throw down the left sideline and cutting in front of intended target Travaris Cadet at the Denver 9-yard line. The second came when Stewart snagged a pass ripped from rookie receiver Michael Thomas grasp by defensive back Bradley Roby.In the fourth quarter, Stewart once again found a ball landing in his lap when Roby punched the ball away from Thomas after a reception over the middle.Thats a play we work on, Roby said of his strip. In that situation, you have to say to yourself, `Youve got to go for the ball.Denver converted that turnover into Demaryius Thomas game-tying touchdown.Then came defensive end Jared Cricks crushing tackle of Thomas that forced another fumble, recovered by T.J. Ward to set up a field goal which put Denver ahead 23-17 with just under 3 minutes left.Those plays helped Denver overcome Brees NFL-record 56th game with at least 300 yards and three TDs passing.The four turnovers, they cost us the game, Brees said. It made it a lot closer than it probably should have been.Heres what else stood out in Denvers victory over the Saints:PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: Simmons said Denver had picked up on some of the Saints place-kicking tendencies and figured they might be able to block a kick by having a player hurdle the offensive line.dddddddddddd Simmons said the Broncos worked on the play, called Leaper, all week.Its something you work on all the time, Denver coach Gary Kubiak said. Its risky to do because if you touch somebody, its a penalty. There are certain situations in a game where you say it is worth the risk, and this was one of them.ELITE BREES: Brees passed for 303 yards with touchdowns on a 32-yard pass to Brandin Cooks , as well as 3- and 5-yard tosses to Willie Snead. He did it against a Broncos defense that entered the game allowing just 183.3 yards passing per game. Who knows what kind of numbers Brees might have had it three drives werent stalled by turnovers in which the ball was knocked from Michael Thomas hands?MIXED BAG: The Broncos are still living with quarterback Trevor Siemians rookie mistakes. He threw two interceptions and didnt seem to see cornerback Sterling Moore jumping the route on the first or Kenny Vaccaro standing right in the balls path on the second. He also took six sacks. But he made a number of clutch throws -- not just on his TD passes of 14 yards to Jordan Taylor and 2 yards to Demaryius Thomas. He also completed a slew of drive-extending throws and the Broncos converted 11 of 19 third downs.BETTER BLOCKING: Two of Denvers best pass rushers -- Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware -- were held without a sack by a Saints offensive line that was missing starting left tackle Terron Armstead. Andrus Peat took over for Armstead, sliding over from left guard, and Senio Kelemete took Peats guard spot. Denver, which came in with 28 sacks, managed just one on Brees, by linebacker Shaquil Barrett.QB PRESSURE: New Orleans ramped up its pass rush in a big way. The Saints had 11 sacks in their first eight games, but six different defenders got a sack apiece on Siemian: rookie defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, defensive tackle Nick Fairley, end Cameron Jordan, safety Kenny Vaccaro and linebackers Dannell Ellerbe and Craig Robertson.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '