Titans tight end Delanie Walker didn’t dig too deep when searching for the biggest takeaway from the season opener.

In his mind, it was plain and simple.

“We lost the game,” Walker said after the team’s 26-16 loss to the Raiders. “That’s the biggest takeaway. We lost the game, and that is all that matters. They made more plays than us, and they won the game.”

Walker said the team’s mentality heading into Week 2 should be just as clear.

“We should have a sense of urgency,” Walker said. “But that should always be our mindset. If you don’t have a sense of urgency, we don’t want you on this team. So we have to come back, fight back, and try and win next week.”

What happened on Sunday wasn’t what the Titans had in mind to kick off the 2017 season.

The Titans had their moments, but in the end they only felt the disappointment of a season-opening loss. On offense, the Titans didn’t make enough plays in the red zone. On defense, the Titans allowed Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and his receivers to make too many plays on them. Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch also did too much damage.

“It’s very difficult,” linebacker Brian Orakpo said. “I am disappointed, but I know what kind of team we have. We have a lot of football to play, this is one game. We have 15 games to play.”

Titans coach Mike Mularkey gave credit to Oakland.

“(They) put us in our place and beat us,” Mularkey said. “To me that’s two good football teams that played today. I thought it was going to be a close game; it was a close game.

“… We’ve got to do some things better in some areas, but there were some good things we can build off of, and obviously there were some things we can clean up.”

Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota completed 25-of-41 passes for 256 yards in the game, and he scored on a 10-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

Carr, meanwhile, completed 22-of-32 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns. He connected with receivers Michael Crabtree (6 catches, 83 yards) and Amari Cooper (five catches, 62 yards) throughout the day, and also threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to receiver Seth Roberts. Lynch ran for 76 yards tough yards against the Titans.

There was action right out of the gate in this one.

After the Titans failed to recover their onside kick on the opening kickoff, the Raiders scored on an eight-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Carr to Cooper, which capped off a four-play, 50-yard drive.

But the Titans immediately responded, in impressive fashion.

Mariota guided a 12-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a touchdown run to his left. He picked up a key block from Walker on the way to the end zone.

The Titans converted three third-down chances on the drive, with a pair of catches from receiver Rishard Matthews, and then an impressive grab from rookie Corey Davis, who went up high to take the ball away from Raiders defender David Amerson. It was 7-7 with 6:58 left in the first quarter.

The teams traded field goals to close out the first half, and Oakland led 13-10. The Raiders stretched the lead to 16-10 on a 52-yard field goal by kicker Giorgio Tavecchio.

The Titans then cut the score to 16-13 on a 26-yard field goal by Ryan Succop on the final play of the third quarter, but there was frustration. It marked the second time the Titans had to settle for a field goal after a long drive.

“That was critical,” Mariota said. “We couldn’t score touchdowns in there.”

The Raiders stretched the lead to 23-13 on the touchdown pass from Carr to Roberts, who caught the ball in between cornerbacks Logan Ryan and Brice McCain in the end zone.

Succop’s third field goal of the game, a 52-yarder with 4:49 left, cut the lead to 23-16, but another field goal by Tavecchio, this one from 43 yards out with 1:14 left, clinched it.

Davis caught six passes for 69 yards in his NFL debut, and rookie cornerback Adoree’ Jackson also started for the Titans.

The Titans are scheduled to face the Jaguars next Sunday in Jacksonville.

“It’s stupid tough (to lose the opener), especially at home, knowing that we want to control home field advantage as much as possible and make sure no one comes in here and put any points on that board,” Titans defensive lineman Jurrell Casey said.

“It’s definitely a shot to the heart and a shot to my pride to let someone come in here and run up and down on us like that. We just have to come back stronger and make sure we bounce back for the next 15 (games).”

Facing the Lady Cats for the 2^nd time in 10 days, the Coffee County Middle School soccer team welcomed Tullahoma Middle to the CCMS pitch on Friday.  Coffee County was looking for a season sweep after winning the earlier game 3 to 2 in Tullahoma.  On Friday night, Tullahoma got off to a fast start as they dropped the Lady Raiders 3 to 1.

Tullahoma got on the board in the 3^rd minute to put Coffee County in an early 1 nil hole.  The Lady Cats added a goal in the 11^th minute forcing Coach Travis O’Kelley to shake up his defensive positioning.  Coffee County was able to shut out Tullahoma through the rest of the half but gave up a 3^rd goal 2 minutes into the second half.  Jorja Waggoner scored the Lady Raiders’ lone goal in the 58^th minute to avoid the shutout.

Coffee County is back in action on Monday when they travel to Shelbyville to take on Harris.  That conference match is scheduled to get underway at 5:30 PM at Shelbyville Central High.

The walk-off became fashionable at SunTrust Park this weekend. Lane Adams belted a two-run homer off Vance Worley in the 11th inning, capping a 10-8 Atlanta victory over Miami for its third walk-off win of the four-game series.

The Braves’ victory allowed the Nationals, winners over the Phillies, to clinch the National League East. Had Miami prevailed, Washington’s magic number would have been one.
Miami carried an 8-5 advantage into the ninth inning, but Atlanta pulled even on Rio Ruiz’s two-out, two-run single with the bases loaded against Javy Guerra, who inherited two runners after lefty Jarlin Garcia had already allowed a run.
The Marlins had taken the lead in the eighth on Dee Gordon’s pinch-hit homer, which extended his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games. Miami added two runs in the ninth on Christian Yelich’s RBI double and Justin Bour’s sacrifice fly.
After the Braves overcame a four-run deficit to win in walk-off fashion on Saturday night, the Marlins scored three runs in Sunday’s second inning, with J.T. Realmuto collecting the first of his four hits on a two-run double.
Sunday’s game was played during a trying time for the Marlins, whose players and their families are dealing with the threat of Hurricane Irma. The Braves offered tickets to displaced residents of those impacted by the storm. The club announced just under 8,500 tickets were given out on Sunday and 18,562 for the four games.
When Johan Camargo reached on a two-out infield single, the Braves were in business in the ninth inning. With the tying run at second base and the bases loaded, Ruiz tied things up with his two-run single that rookie third baseman Brian Anderson was unable to prevent from leaving the infield.
Julio Teheran will take the mound when Atlanta opens a three-game series at Nationals Park at 6:05 p.m. CT on Tuesday. Teheran has allowed just two runs over his past two starts spanning 14 innings against the Nationals.