On a night that saw Derrick Henry rumble for three touchdowns and 143 rushing yards on 20 carries, Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen tried to do his best impression of the Tennessee running back and pick up a fourth-and-short that would have given the Bills a first down at the goal line. Allen, unlike Henry, came up short. Ballgame.
That defensive play would have been the highlight of the night for the Titans in their 34-31 win over Buffalo if not for some of the jaw-dropping feats 247-pound Henry was able to pull off earlier in the night on the football field in Nashville against one of the NFL’s top defenses.
Henry, who has eclipsed 100 yards in five straight games and has scored 10 TDs over that span, rushed for a 76-yard touchdown against the Bills and hit a top speed of 21.8 miles per hour during his run, the fastest speed for any ballcarrier in the NFL this season (including Kansas City speedster Tyreek Hill).
Even for the NFL’s best running back, it was an impressive play and the image of Henry surging past smaller, lighter defensive back should be giving opposing defensive coordinators who have to face the Titans nightmares.
“Still too slow,” Henry said afterward. “I’m from Florida, so Florida boys, it’s in the water. If you’re from Florida, you got to have speed. The credit goes to those guys up front, working every day, pushing each other, fighting, pushing the piles, blocking tight ends, fullbacks, all the credit goes to them. I just got to do my job. They make my job easy. Those guys just having the will to want to be better each and every play, each and every week, just that mentality.”
Despite going for only 58 yards in a loss in Week 1, 27-year-old Henry is up to 783 rushing yards through six games and is on pace for 2,219, which would break Eric Dickerson’s 37-year-old record (2,105) and make him the first running back in NFL history with consecutive 2,000-yard seasons.
Henry’s 783 yards on the season are 260 more than No. 2 rusher Nick Chubb and his 10 touchdowns are twice as many as any other back in the league. He led the NFL in both categories the past two seasons and is obviously pacing to finish first in rushing yards and TDs again, something no one has pulled it off in three straight seasons.
“We continue to jump on Derrick’s back and he’s willing able to carry us,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said. “And it’s something that you know that you have in your back pocket and front pocket and we use it and it gave us a big shot of life there.”
The Titans (4-2) will take on the Chiefs (3-3) on Sunday in Nashville.
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