Nope, fuel pressure drops instantly to 44ish, like you describe.
Might be worth firing the parts cannon at a new CPS, to see if that helps. Or, maybe a new TPS too.
On a side note, would a new TPS help with sluggish* throttle response.
I am not saying it is your issue, but I personally wouldn't bother with replacing just a tps I would just buy a new throttle body, if it was from a money standpoint I would just buy a used one and roll the dice.
*sluggish might not be the throttle body, that's when I would take a closer look at the maf and see if it is causing shift issue's
if it was jerking and shifting funky that definitely points me to the maf IF the transmission is known to be good
if it "coughs" so to say when giving it pedal for no other reason that has been the throttle body in my experience OR if it idles weirdly low to almost shutting off.
in any case I would try and look at the scanner data and see if anything rears it's head before firing the parts cannon.
check for any vacuum leaks, check that the intake is on securely, especially around the maf and throttle body any un-metered air is going to cause problems
I have seen the maf cause a multitude of problems, my experience has been that at or around or after 160k the maf can be a problem. 160k on a maf is eol in my book