To Mike Vrabel, Derrick Henry took control of the game and put the team on his back.
In the Tennessee Titans' 42-36 overtime victory over the Houston Texans at Nissan Stadium, the Pro Bowl running back accounted for 264 of his team's franchise-record 601 yards from scrimmage. Henry ran the ball 22 times for 212 yards and two touchdowns, becoming the only player in NFL history to rush for 200 yards or more in a game in three consecutive seasons. He added to his performance by catching two passes on five targets for 52 yards.
To Henry, it was just another day on the job.
“Other guys make plays,” he said. “Wasn't me. I just had to go out there and do my job. A lot of guys were big in critical moments, all my teammates. Just happy to be on this team, happy to be part of this organization.
“We're 5-0 playing good team football. … All my teammates are doing an incredible job and hats off to them. Ain't nothing about me.”
While it’s true that other players did their part, Henry’s shaped the game in more ways than one. In the third quarter, the Texans, led by quarterback Deshuan Watson, scored 16 unanswered points and took a 23-21 lead.
Just as momentum seemed to be all but gone for the Titans, Henry brought it all back in one play. His 94-yard touchdown run with 9:23 to play and started a frenetic dash to the finish during which each team scored two more touchdowns.
Quarterback Ryan Tannehill said the Titans checked out of their original play call to give Henry the ball.
“Depending on the front coverage, safeties, linebackers, could be all types of different things,” Tannehill said postgame. “But we made the adjustment and then Derrick and the O-line and the receivers did the rest.”
It was Henry’s second career touchdown run of 94 yards or more. Only one other running back, Lamar Miller, had two of that length.
Along the way, NextGen Stats clocked Henry at 21.6 miles per hour.
“That's too slow. I need to get to 22,” he joked. “But guys just wanted to dominate the line of scrimmage. They did a great job of that. Hats to the offensive line. Those guys don't get enough credit. Did a great job and I just had to go out there and do my job. All those guys did a great job blocking, receivers, tight ends, fullbacks, I can't say it enough. Just had to go out there and do my job.”
Vrabel said he has never seen a player of Henry’s stature run that fast. Defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons had doubts of his own, which vanished in a flash.
“Me personally, I didn’t think he was that fast and (Sunday) he showed me he’s going,” Simmons said. “Props to (Henry) man. He’s a workhorse. … That guy, he’s the king.”
Henry’s dominance did not end there.
After the Titans forced overtime with A.J. Brown’s 7-yard touchdown reception with four seconds remaining in regulation, the Titans won the coin toss. That meant they got the ball to start the extra period – and to end the game. Left guard Rodger Saffold said it was time to “clock in.”
“When you do overtime, you get time and a half,” Saffold said. “I know that’s not real for our jobs, but we definitely looked at it as like, ‘OK, now it’s time to really go to work. Let’s go ahead, let’s get this drive, let’s get off the field, let’s get it with a win.’”
Courtesy of Henry, that is what happened.
On the second play of overtime, he caught a short pass near the right boundary. From there, he exploded up the sideline for 53 yards to the Houston 27, his longest catch-and-run of the season.
“That's something that he's been practicing and working on with [running backs coach] Tony Dews,” Vrabel said. “It's looking back, maybe turning his body, getting back to the quarterback, and (Tannehill) gave him a good ball. That was a huge play there in overtime.”
Four plays later, Henry put the finishing touches on the Titans’ first 5-0 start since 2008.
Lined up in a Wildcat formation on third down from the Texans 5-yard line, Henry took the direct snap and bulldozed his way into the end zone.
“Just a Wildcat play inside the zone, going to the right. Just look at the defense, by the way they were forming, our guys were blocking, gap back side,” Henry said. “Just tried to get vertical and got in the end zone. Did a great job blocking. Hats off to my teammates.”
Henry had put up respectable numbers this season, but none of his performances included the explosive, highlight-reel plays he compiled against the Texans. His longest run in the first four contests was 16 yards, and his longest reception gained just six.
His 212-yard, two-touchdown performance made him the fourth running back in NFL history to have three games with at least 200 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in a career. He had three of Tennessee’s four biggest gains on the day and his average per rush (9.6 yards) was better than the offense’s overall average per play (8.6).
“He's consistent, so I don't know if I'm just numb -- I don't want to say numb to it like I expect it at all, but when you see him do it -- I saw on tape before I had got here him making some huge plays, and then last year I get here and I get to see it in person,” Tannehill said. He just has that rare size, strength, and speed combination. It's really extremely rare.
“Most guys have the strengths or size and they're able to make the tough yards inside. Really run over guys and be physical. The thing that makes Derrick special is he has the speed. Once he's in the open field, all right, he makes the safety miss. Now he turns on the gas and he's able to go 95.”
In this case, he carried an entire team with him.
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