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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Titans have beefed up their offensive line and improved the running game in an effort to give quarterback Marcus Mariota more help.While the supporting cast appears to be much better heading into Sundays season opener hosting the Minnesota Vikings, just how well the Titans do this season is connected to how much Mariota improves from his solid rookie season.And the Titans think Mariota could be much better this year.I would hope to think hes light years ahead of where he was at this time last year, Titans coach Mike Mularkey said. I mean with all the game experience he had last year, all the things that hes had to go through since hes been here, I would think hed be, and again, weve done some things to hopefully even ease him into some things that should help him advance pretty good. So I think he should be way ahead of this time last year.That certainly excites both the Titans and their fans.In his NFL debut after winning the Heisman Trophy at Oregon, Mariota threw for four touchdowns and posted a perfect passer rating in leading Tennessee to a 42-14 win at Tampa Bay. That was a rare highlight for Tennessee in a 3-13 season, but Mariota said the auspicious start did provide some confidence.To be able to have success and win that game just kind of solidified for me that I can play at this level and have some success, Mariota said. It was really a confidence booster and something I used for the whole year.As a rookie, Mariota started 12 games, completing 230 of 370 passes for 2,818 yards . He had 19 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions. The Titans also have simplified some of the playbook to make it easier for the No. 2 overall pick last year at the line of scrimmage.The Titans bolstered the offensive line by signing center Ben Jones in free agency and drafted right tackle Jack Conklin from Michigan State with the eighth overall pick in April. They traded for DeMarco Murray and drafted Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry to give Mariota, the only Tennessee player to run for 100 yards in a game over the past two seasons, more help in the run game.I think Im just a lot more comfortable, Mariota said. You go through an entire year, you experience a lot of different things, you go through a lot of different scenarios Eventually, you get used to it. Im a lot more comfortable.Now Mariota is being counted upon for more on and off the field. His teammates voted him as one of six captains this week.He earned it. He worked his tail off this summer, linebacker and a fellow captain Brian Orakpo said. He really set an example for other people. And other people are now looking at Marcus as a veteran and a guy they can look up to. Thats very important for a quarterback to really be that guy.Game notes Wide receiver Kendall Wright, whom Mike Mularkey ruled out earlier in the week, was officially designated as out for Sundays opener due to his lingering hamstring injury. Wright is the only player listed on the Titans injury report.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/AP-NFL Rob Stanifer Jersey . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. Alex Arias Jersey .Y. - Jerome Samson scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the St. https://www.cheapmarlinsjerseys.us/1191r-jordan-holloway-jersey-marlins.html . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. Marlins Jerseys China . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. Elieser Hernandez Jersey .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Tom Brady has packed and magnified all of his best attributes into his first two appearances of the 2016 season. He has led the New England Patriots to a pair of victories, improving his record as an NFL starter to 174-51. He has thrown for 782 yards, the most of any quarterback over that two-week span, and has six touchdown passes and no interceptions.And, perhaps most notably, Brady has zeroed in on his tight ends like never before.The Patriots have been a tight-end focused offense since 2010, the year they traded wide receiver Randy Moss while drafting Rob Gronkowski and the since-jailed Aaron Hernandez. But what Brady has done in two games with Gronkowski and newcomer Martellus Bennett has been incredible. Lets take a closer look.Brady has targeted his tight ends at nearly twice the NFL average this season, far and away the highest percentage in the league.Percentage of throws targeting TEs, 2016The Patriots, as anyone who watches them regularly knows, like to capitalize on Bradys timing and short-range accuracy with wide receivers who can make plays in the open field. To get downfield, more often than not, they prefer to use the mismatch of a bigger tight end on slower linebackers or smaller defensive backs.In fact, seven of Bradys 11 passes this season that have traveled 15 yards or more in the air have targeted tight ends. And in two games, his average pass to a tight end is traveling farther in the air (8.68 yards, eighth in the NFL) than his average pass to a wide receiver (8.55, 31st).Percentage of throws to WRs 5 yards or fewer downfield, 2016These results are an intense version of what Brady and the Patriots have been doing for years. Brady has targeted tight ends on a higher percentage of throws than all but two quarterbacks over that period (see chart below). He has averaged 8.92 yards per attempt on those throws, the highest in the NFL, and is fifth in air yards per attempt on passes to tight ends.ddddddddddddPercentage of throws targeting TEs, 2010-16Since the beginning of the 2010 season, Brady has thrown 100 touchdowns to tight ends, 15 more than the next-best quarterback (Drew Brees). In two games so far this season, Brady has found Bennett for three scores and Gronkowski for one.The pattern of shorter passes to wide receivers also traces back to 2010. Brady has thrown passes to wide receivers less than 5 yards past the line of scrimmage at a higher rate (31.4 percent) than all but four other quarterbacks. And his average pass to a receiver has traveled 9.61 yards per throw, putting him in some eye-catching company at the bottom of the NFL -- where he ranks No. 44 of 45 qualified players.Lowest air yards per throw to WRs, 2010-16Whats perhaps most interesting is that the Patriots veered from this approach during Bradys four-game suspension this season. Part of the issue was Gronkowskis injured hamstring, which cost him two games, but Bennett was available for all four games. Still, backup quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett targeted tight ends on only 22 passes in those games, the seventh-fewest in the league over that period.To complete the reversal from Bradys typical pattern, the average throw Garoppolo and Brissett made to a wide receiver went far enough downfield to put them in the top 10 of the league for that span.Air yards per throw to WRs, Weeks 1-4, 2016We all know the Patriots can change their offense on a weekly basis based on opponents. But over time, Brady has made it clear what he prefers to do when he has a choice: Tight ends, tight ends and then tight ends again.ESPN Stats & Information senior statistics analyst Jacob Nitzberg contributed to this story. ' ' '