NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Titans are having trouble moving very far north in their passing game.

On throws of over 20 yards in the air, Marcus Mariota is 2-for-5 for 56 yards, with a touchdown, an interception, a passer rating of 82.1 and a QBR of 58.8.

Because the Titans aren't threatening deep, defenses can move forward without much worry, looking to disrupt DeMarco Murray and the run game as well as the Titans short and intermediate passing game.

The Titans use condensed formations in the hope of creating room for route-runners. Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

Titans receivers don't pull away from defensive backs very often.

“I don’t know if it’s a matter of creating separations, if you feel like you need to create some, you’ve get a lot of things you can do,” Titans offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie said. “You don’t necessarily have to go vertical all the time. You can take them across the field left and right.

“As opposed to north and south, go east and west. Let them try to get through and the guys that are covering them have to get through the mess and all the stuff that is out there. There is a lot of stuff you can do along that line.”

The sort of blazing receivers who stretch the field vertically are hard to come by, he said.

It’s clearly a deficiency the Titans will have to work around this season.

The idea of making east-west plays that have a chance to break north is a good one, but the Titans haven’t fared as well in that department as they need to. The pending return of slot receiver Kendall Wright could help.

Robiskie deploys a great deal of condensed formations -- far from the spread set at the snap that Marcus Mariota is most familiar with -- in the hope of creating room for route-runners to get into.

“That’s the whole process behind it,” Robiskie said. “The other side of it is, when you’ve got a guy that is tight on the left or a guy that is tight on the right, it’s a lot easier for them to crisscross when you’re in a close formation. It makes the guy in the other side of the ball from you decide, he’s got more field to defend.

“Are you going north, are you going east, are you going west? One thing he knows pretty much for sure is you’re not going south.

"But he’s got to now defend the field in all different arenas. Which way am I going? I can be going northeast. I can be going northwest. He’s got to defend a lot of different ways.”

As for the idea that the Titans can’t have success without more long throws ...

Only one team has thrown fewer passes over 20 yards in the air than the Titans. Trevor Siemian has thrown only four such passes for the 3-0 Denver Broncos.

The five NFL teams that have not lost yet combine to average just 8.4 such passes through three games.