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NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Titans believe theyve taken a very big step in winning consecutive games for the first time in more than two seasons.The Cleveland Browns head home still looking for their first victory this season.Marcus Mariota threw for 284 yards and two touchdowns and also ran for 64 more as the Titans held off Cleveland for their first home win this season 28-26 on Sunday .Now the Titans are eager to build with two more games left in this home stand.We have more steps to take, Titans coach Mike Mularkey said.The Titans (3-3) also notched their first win at home against a team not the Jacksonville Jaguars since the end of the 2013 season and their first winning streak since the end of the 2013 season.Mularkey is 3-3 this season, matching the win total his predecessor managed in 23 games before being fired last November.At 0-6, Cleveland is mired in its worst start since the 1999 expansion Browns lost their first seven. First-year coach Hue Jackson said his Browns kept playing hard.We just have to do better, Jackson said.Here are some things to know about the Titans and Browns:AFC SOUTH RUMBLEThe Titans will host Indianapolis and Jacksonville within the next 11 days, giving Tennessee a chance to push its way near the top of a division Houston won last season with a 9-7 record. Thats a big challenge for a team that is 3-16 on its home field since the end of the 2013 season. But Mularkey hopes this win builds the Titans confidence.It cannot hurt you, Mularkey said. Its part of what were trying to do here, the process of trying to build this thing, you need things like this to happen for you. ... Thats a win, regardless of the final score.CROWELL SHUT DOWNBrowns running back Isaiah Crowell ranked second in the NFL two weeks ago only to be shut down by New England a week ago with only 22 yards on 17 carries. He did even worse against the Titans with only 16 yards on nine carries. The Titans held Cleveland to 40 yards rushing on 15 attempts, forcing the Browns to put the ball in Cody Kesslers hands.The rookie, knocked out of last weeks 33-13 loss to New England with an injured chest, threw 41 passes for a career-high 336 yards and two TDs. He became the third Browns rookie to throw for at least 300 yards and was second only to Brandon Weeden, who threw for 364 yards on Dec. 2, 2012, at Oakland.MARIOTAS TARGETMariotas longest pass Sunday was a 48-yard touchdown to wide receiver Kendall Wright, who missed the first three games recovering from a preseason hamstring injury. Wright finished with eight catches for 133 yards, the second-best performance of his career. It also marked the first 100-yard receiving game for this franchise since Dec. 20, 2015.SACK TIMEThe Titans came in tied for eighth in the NFL with 12 sacks this season, and they added six more by six different players taking advantage of a reshuffled Browns offensive line missing left guard Joe Bitonio. Linebacker Brian Orakpo got one in the third quarter for his seventh this season, giving him at least one sack in five straight games and matching his total for all of last season. Coach (Dick) LeBeau is dialing them up, and he knows whats effective so we are just making it work, linebacker Avery Williamson said. Hope it continues.BATTERED BROWNSNot only did Clevelands skid grow longer, so did the Browns injury list. A team that came in with 12 players on injured reserve or the non-football injury list added defensive back Jordan Poyer with a lacerated kidney. Poyer was taken to a Nashville hospital during the game after being injured trying to tackle on a punt return. Obviously, we all know thats pretty serious, so well see where he is from there, Jackson said.---Online:AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: https://twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Teresa M. Walker at www.twitter.com/teresamwalker Wholesale Nike Shoes . 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DENVER -- Quarterback Matt Ryan and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan have plenty more in the vault than just superstar receiver Julio Jones -- and maybe theres a lot more to these Atlanta Falcons than just some early season feasting on the NFLs defensive dregs.The Falcons deciphered Denvers dazzling defense and wrecked Paxton Lynchs first NFL start with a 23-16 win over the Broncos on Sunday, snapping the Super Bowl champs nine-game winning streak with a dominant and perhaps prescient performance.They did it without coming close to the numbers that Ryan and Jones put up last week when they became the first duo in league history to sport a 500-yard passer and a 300-yard receiver in the same game.A week after setting a franchise record with 503 yards passing in a runaway win over Super Bowl 50s other participant, the Carolina Panthers, Ryan threw for 267 yards Sunday and only two of those (covering 29 yards) went to Jones.Today, they came out and doubled me. They took me away and they were like, `All right, youre not going to beat us today, said Jones, adding he welcomed such attention because everybody else is going to step up.That, they did.Using a steady diet of I-formation runs and short passes that put Denvers linebackers in coverage, the Falcons (4-1) handed the Super Bowl champs their first loss since Dec. 20 at Pittsburgh and left the Minnesota Vikings (5-0) as the NFLs last unbeaten team.The Broncos (4-1) were on their heels having to respect the play-action because Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman were so effective running the ball, combining for 119 yards and a 4.4-yard average.Denvers No Fly Zone defense was unimpressed with Jones becoming the sixth 300-yard receiver in NFL history. They dismissed that performance as a bad day by the Panthers, and they stifled Jones all afternoon in Denver.Not that it mattered.Coleman, who played despite having sickle cell trait, which can sometimes be exacerbated at altitude, showed off his breakaway speed by catching four passes for 132 yards to go with his 31 yards on six carries. He caught a 31-yard touchdown pass following Ricardo Allens interception at the Denver 42 in the third quarter that made it 20-3.That sequence sent some flustered fans streaming for the exits as the Falcons finished off the Broncos, who hadnt lost at home since Dec. 13 against Oakland.The Broncos dont have much time to digest the loss. TThey play at San Diego on Thursday night, and their hope is that Trevor Siemians bruised left shoulder is healed by then.ddddddddddddLynch, the 26th overall pick out of Memphis last April, got the starting nod because Siemians bruised A.C. joint in his non-throwing shoulder was still bothering him a week after he was flung to the turf in Tampa.We just didnt think he was ready, Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said before he was taken via ambulance to a hospital because of flu-like symptoms.Actually, it was Lynch who showed he wasnt ready Sunday.He completed 23 of 35 passes for 223 yards with a late TD to Demaryius Thomas and an interception. He was sacked a half-dozen times, including 3 1/2 times by outside linebacker Vic Beasley, who burned right tackle Ty Sambrailo on three of those takedowns.Lynchs footwork was a mess and his overthrows and misfires ruined any chance the Broncos had of capitalizing on the leagues 30th ranked defense, including the NFLs next-to-last pass defense and a patchwork linebacker corps .Im upset obviously because we lost but Im happy I got the first one under my belt, Lynch said. If I get put in this situation again, Ill play better.PROTECTION PROBLEMS: It didnt help Denver that right tackle Donald Stephenson (calf) was deactivated for a third straight week. Ty Sambrailo was repeatedly burned by Beasley before the Broncos moved right guard Michael Schofield over and inserted Darrion Weems.GROUNDED GROUND GAME: The Broncos ground game has ground to a near standstill ever since Stephenson and tight end Virgil Green pulled calf muscles in Week 2. After averaging 141 yards and 4.7 yards a carry in their first two games, the Broncos nosedived to 75 yards and 2.8 yards a carry in their last three games.MILLER TIME: Even in defeat, Von Miller got to the quarterback. He recorded a sack and now has 6 1/2 on the season.LAST GASP: Brandon McManus kicked a 45-yard field goal with 14 seconds left to get the Broncos within a touchdown but his onside kick was smothered by Falcons tight end Levine Toilolo, and Ryan took a knee in victory formation.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton ' ' '