The third preseason game is traditionally the dress rehearsal for the regular season. Thus far, Marcus Mariota has played a grand total of three series in two preseason games. He should play at least the first half against the Steelers, and perhaps even into the third quarter for a series.

A Corey Davis sighting

Davis played sparingly against Tampa Bay and not at all against Green Bay the week before. Understandably, the Titans want to be careful with Davis, who has been injury-prone in his brief time in the league. And while his timing with Mariota looked good in training camp, there is another level to duplicating the same feat in game action. The Titans are counting on Davis to deliver big plays in the passing game this season and begin to live up to his draft status from a year ago.

Whether the pass defense improves

In fairness, the defensive scheme has not been very exotic, nor has it contained many blitzes. And when you don’t game plan to find ways to reach the quarterback and leave defenders in man coverage, giving up big plays can happen. Still, for a secondary that has been hailed as a strength of the Titans, Saturday against Pittsburgh would be a good time for them to step up and show some of what those expectations are based on.