NASHVILLE – After a disappointing loss to Miami to open the season, the Tennessee Titans pulled out all the stops to hold off the Houston Texans 20-17 in Tennessee’s home opener Sunday at Nissan Stadium.

With starting quarterback Marcus Mariota sidelined with an elbow injury and the offensive line also ravaged by injuries, the Titans used some new wrinkles to spark the offense and get some momentum on the first two drives.

The Titans scored on a fake punt and then used the Wildcat extensively in a scoring drive that ended with a touchdown by former Western Kentucky wideout Taywan Taylor and gave Tennessee a 14-0 advantage.

“We knew it was going to take a little bit of everything,” Taylor said. “(Head coach Mike Vrabel) said it wasn’t going to be pretty, but we’ve got to get it done. We’ve got to find a way, whatever it is, we’ve got to execute to make it work. So that is what everybody has been priding themselves on this week. We know we had some guys down, some of our top guys, our top playmakers. We said we’ve got to step up, no matter what was called, we just had our mind on executing.”

Tennessee’s first bit of trickery came on the opening drive. Lined up to punt at its own 34-yard line, Tennessee instead caught the Texans off guard with safety Kevin Byard taking the snap and firing a pass to a wide-open Dane Cruikshank, who raced to the end zone for a 66-yard score.

“I think my last throw in high school was a touchdown, so I think Vrabel must have seen my high school tape and he drew it up for me,” Byard said. “It was something we had been working on all training camp and in practice and it was just a certain look that we were getting. We got the look last week, but we didn’t want to run it, so this week we knew we could run it.

“I’m surprised they (the Texans) gave us the look. Like I said, the coaches trusted me to make the throw and to actually call it and it worked out. It was a great swing in the game.”

Vrabel said the aggressive call was his way of setting the tone for the game.

“We’re going to stay aggressive throughout our time together here in Nashville,” he said. “We just get tired of people putting 10 guys up there, so we like the guy that we got throwing the ball up there. We got a lot of confidence in Dane and we’re going to stay aggressive.”

That aggressiveness continued on the next drive, with running back Derrick Henry taking five straight direct snaps – allowing the Titans to move all the way to the Houston 31. The drive ended four plays later with Taylor taking a screen and racing 18 yards for the score.

“Just trying to give ourselves the best chance to win,” Vrabel said. “The coaches were able to install it and Derrick was able to execute it with (tight end Luke) Stocker and Taywan. It’s not something that’s easy. You got timing, the leg lift, I mean, I’m proud of our guys.”

Despite the two early touchdowns, the Titans needed a couple of late field goals from Ryan Succop to secure the victory, but Byard said it was the aggressiveness to start the game that helped set the tone for a big win against an AFC South foe.

“It was an impressive day by our entire team today,” Byard said. “We were talking about all week ignoring the noise. There was so much talk about injuries and stuff like that but as Titans, what we do is stick together. I think that’s what we did today. We came together and played as a total football team – offense, defense and special teams.”

Taylor added that Sunday’s new wrinkles will give future opponents a little more to think about when preparing for the Titans.

“The defense has always got to be on their toes, because we can do a lot of different things,” Taylor said. “(Offensive coordinator Matt) LaFleur is creative with what he wants to do with us. He utilizes all of us in different ways. Like I said, everybody tries to do a good job of knowing what to do for one and like I said, going down and executing and playing fast. When we do, good things happen.”{&end}