Do not be surprised if the Texans finish the season on the wrong side of NFL history.
The Texans host Tennessee in the last game of regular season on Sunday when running back Derrick Henry will try to become the first player in league history to rush for at least 200 yards in three consecutive games against the same team.
Considering how bad the Texans’ run defense has been this season, ranking 31st and allowing 151.7 yards a game, the only way Henry might fail to achieve that record-breaking feat would be for the Titans to get so far ahead coach Mike Vrabel calls off his dogs.
Three times in NFL history a running back rushed for at least 200 yards against the same team in consecutive games — O.J. Simpson (Bills) against New England in 1973, Jamal Lewis (Ravens) against Cleveland in 2003 and Jay Ajayi (Dolphins) against Buffalo in 2016.
Simpson, Lewis and Ajayi were unable to make it three in a row against those teams.
In a game the Titans have to win to finish 11-5 and dethrone the Texans as AFC South champions, Tennessee offensive coordinator Arthur Smith will unleash Henry on a defense that allowed 169 yards rushing in Sunday’s 37-31 loss to Cincinnati.If Bengals’ backups Samaje Perine and Giovani Bernard combined for 160 yards, imagine how Henry will torture the Texans.
Henry, 6-3, 247, has 1,777 yards rushing, a 5.2 average per carry and 15 touchdowns. He’s going to become the first player to lead the league in rushing in back-to-back seasons since the Chargers’ LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006-07.
The Texans are in this embarrassing predicament because they’ve been unable to contain Henry during the last two seasons.
In the last regular season game of 2019, the Texans rested some starters on both sides of the ball because their playoff seeding had been determined. The Titans came to NRG Stadium needing to win to make the playoffs. Henry ravaged the Texans with 32 carries for 211 yards (6.6 average) and three touchdowns in a 35-14 victory.
In the first game this season at Nissan Stadium, where the Texans lost 42-36 in overtime, Henry had 22 carries for 212 yards (9.6 average) and two touchdowns. Just to punish the Texans even more, Henry had a 52-yard reception to set up his 5-yard touchdown run in overtime.
If Henry reaches 200 against the Texans, he’ll have five in his career, putting him in some exclusive company. He’s one of only eight players with at least four 200-yard games. A fifth would tie Tiki Barber, one behind O.J. Simpson and Adrian Peterson, who share the record.
When you realize Henry turns 27 on Monday and plays the Texans and Jaguars — the other victim of his 200-yard performances — two times every season, it’s easy to see him blowing past Simpson and Peterson.
To put Henry’s achievement in perspective, all-time rushing leader Emmitt Smith had one 200-yard game. Walter Payton had two.
Interim coach Romeo Crennel has gone against Henry nine times since the Titans drafted him in 2016. The first seven times the Texans played against Henry, he averaged 51.7 yards rushing. In the last two games, he’s averaged 211.5.
“We want to close in on him and try to get as many guys around him as we can,” Crennel said Wednesday. “He’s a strong, physical runner with really good speed. If you can keep him from getting to the second level, that gives you the best chance to slow him down.”
Part of Henry’s success stems from his nasty stiff arm that has embarrassed defensive players for years. Nobody wants to end up on the ground after Henry has swatted them like a fly.
“We know that it’s a powerful stiff arm, so, basically, it depends on when he puts it out,” Crennel said. “If he puts it out early enough, you can try to break it down to keep it from being a stiff arm.
“But if he’s got good timing with it, which in many cases he does, you’re not able to break it down, and then he hits you in the chest, arm, facemask, wherever. That helps him gain yards.”
Vrabel was the Texans’ defensive line coach in 2016 when Henry was a rookie. He was their defensive coordinator a year later before Tennessee hired him. In the four games that Henry faced the Texans when Vrabel was on the staff, Henry had 35 carries for 190 yards.
Vrabel was asked Wednesday to disclose something about Henry that doesn’t show in his statistics.
“He’s very committed to understanding what his role is within this team, and he does a great job of being ready to go every week,” Vrabel said. “We hand the ball to him. That’s something people probably take for granted a little.”
Henry has remarkable durability. He’s a marked man by every defense, and he withstands a lot of punishment. He’s helped put the Titans on the precipice of their first division title since 2008.
“He’s back in the weight room after games,” Vrabel said. “He’s working with our training staff and weight staff and staying conditioned and recovering. Derrick’s done a great job of playing and being available for us and making a major impact.”
And if Sunday goes the way the Titans hope it will, Henry will make a major impact on the NFL history books.
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