Taywan Taylor's return gives Titans' offense much-needed vertical threat

It’s not easy to overthrow Taywan Taylor, the Titans wide receiver whose blazing speed makes him a vertical threat.

On Sunday, though, Marcus Mariota pulled it off.

On the opening play of the fourth quarter in the Titans’ 26-22 win over the Jets, the Tennessee quarterback unfurled a 50-yard bomb downfield to Taylor, who blew by his man and was wide open before the ball landed incomplete in the end zone, a good 3 yards out of his reach.

“It’s like, ‘Ah!’” Taylor said ahead of the Titans' game against the Jacksonville Jaguars (4-8) on Thursday (7:20 p.m., Fox, NFL Network) at Nissan Stadium, “because, you know, plays like that can change momentum. But we try to do a good job of having short term memory … try to put it behind us. Me and Marcus, we both came to each other and said, ‘We’re coming right back to it.’

Two minutes and 27 seconds later, they did.

Taylor, who had missed the previous three games with a left foot injury he suffered in Week 10 against Dallas, streaked down the left sideline, beat his man again, and laid out for a diving grab. The 44-yard gain led to a Titans field goal.

“We need that vertical threat, a guy that’s going to get the football,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. “They can’t just sit on you. They can’t just sit on routes and bump you at the top of the route. We have to be able to run by them every now and again.”

About five minutes later, Mariota and Taylor hooked up again, this time on a 55-yard strike that preceded another Titans field goal.

"Tay did a good job of finding ways to get behind those guys," Mariota said. "I missed him (on their first deep pass attempt). I mean, it’s just one of those things. I’m glad we had an opportunity to go back and make a couple plays, and he did for us."

After receiving plenty of hype for his performance in the preseason, Taylor has largely underwhelmed during the regular season. He had just 21 catches for 214 yards through eight games before Sunday’s three-catch, 104-yard performance.

"It felt good knowing that Coach, he’s comfortable enough to keep dialing it up," Taylor said. "And Coach, he already said he has all the faith in us to call those plays and he has faith and trusts us enough that we’re going to go out and make a play."

On an offense that ranks 29th in the league with 197.5 passing yards per game, the Titans will need it consistently from Taylor.

"They call them 50-50 balls," Vrabel said. "We were 66 (percent) and, you know, 27 or whatever the rest of it is, 30. I’m not good at my math. What is it, 37 percent? Thirty-three and a third."

Reach Erik Bacharach at [email protected] and on Twitter @ErikBacharach.

More:Our predictions for Titans vs. Jaguars on 'Thursday Night Football'

More:As Titans' offensive line continues to struggle, Mike Vrabel shakes things up