A pivotal turning point seemed to come in the final minute of the first half, when Taylor throw a long sideline ball for Garrett Wilson, only to see it picked off and returned down the sideline for a 55-yard score by CB Jamel Dean. The Bucs, in their home opener, had opened a 20-6 halftime lead and the Jets appeared to be dead in the water of Tampa Bay.
But as Taylor said about the pounding, “It’s part of the game. It felt good to get hit.”
And as Glenn said, he, OC Tanner Engstrand and Taylor changed up their approach in their Raymond James Stadium locker room at the break.
“We talked at halftime as far as some of the calls that we knew that Tyrod liked,” Glenn said. “We wanted to make sure we got those in and we got ’em in at a more rapid pace. Just like any quarterback, once those guys get into a rhythm, they start to see the game a lot quicker, and things really slowed down for him.”
The Green & White didn’t have the ball a lot in the third quarter, but at the top of the final frame, trailing by 17 at 23-6, here came the Taylor that fans had seen operate in almost flawless relief in his first season-plus as the primary backup. In the final quarter he completed 12 of 15 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns to the tune of a 138.8 passer rating.
The first scoring strike was an 11-yard slant that Garrett Wilson grabbed and strode with into the end zone standing up to complete a 10-play, 80-yard drive and reduce the deficit to 23-13. Another Bucs field goal was followed by an 11-play, 73-yard march to Taylor’s fourth-and-goal step-up-and-fire 4-yarder to WR Allen Lazard in the back of the end zone. Lazard’s juggle prompted a booth replay review, but as referee Adrian Hill announced dramatically, “The play stands.”
“I thought it was a catch in real time, to be honest,” Taylor said. “I saw 27 [CB Zyon McCollum] reach in, but I never thought he bobbled it until I saw it on the Jumbotron. Even looking at that play, I still thought he secured it.
“And I want to give Allen his credit. He did a great job of adjusting on that play. It wasn’t a look that we had practiced. He did a good job of breaking off once he saw me step up in the pocket and giving me a throw to finish that fourth down with a touchdown.”